Doing Gordon Ramsey the Right Way

Doing Gordon Ramsey the Right way

Never before has such foul language proved itself as a major business tool. By now, I do hope you have heard of Gordon Ramsey, host of "Kitchen Nightmares", "Hell's Kitchen", MasterChef and Master chef junior. He is a guy whom you would see in a television shouting more F*** sound than a characters in "wolf of wall Street movie".

If you cannot handle foul language and abrasive personalities, do not watch Gordon's show! Lol, His father was an alcoholic while mom a cook and nurse. A guy who went to more than 15 different schools on childhood, This is Gordon Ramsey!!

He is rude, loud, in-your-face, and LOVES swearing to get his point but frankly he just gets honest when he becomes angry. He just want everything perfect just like any good chef in the world. It is very important to get rid of donkeys and identify, appreciate the real talents and that's what he has been doing over years. Chef like Ramsey, who charges $200000 booking fee for a function are not made in 1 day. He is top five richest chef in world after Alan Wong (the only billionaire chef) and Jamie Oliver. Some regard him as a culinary entrepreneur while other regards him as a self promoter. 

I am not going to go too much into Gordon's past and about him, He is now working on his 31th restaurant and most of all have multiple Michelin stars to their name. He has multiple best selling cookbooks, about 27 books, 5 television shows and a video game Gordon Ramsey: Chef blast, where he provides his exclusive recipes. 

Let's talk about kitchen nightmares(this is the show I am watching back from years) The story line behind a kitchen nightmare:

Gordon comes into restaurants that are almost ready to close their doors, for any one of multiple different reasons. He has 1 week to turn the business around and make it a success. The business is failing apart,

What is Gordon Ramsey Formula for business success?

Gordon's formula for a 7-day business turnaround is one that every one of us should pay close attention to our business. If you are looking to increase your sales, the ideas below will help you see new ideas you have never thought of before. The formula is really applicable throughout the globe.

Step- 1: Figure out what you are selling now

Sounds basic - but is it really? When Gordon first steps into one of the restaurants he is about to makeover, he sits down for a meal and start inspecting the menu. You have to start inspecting your Menu honestly. Moreover, If you have knowledge about menu planning then you can segregate food items into plow horse, cows, stars and puzzle. 

While Ramsey waits for the different dishes he ordered, he watches carefully for the way the staff works, their attitudes, the way they treat customers, and the way customers are enjoying the food (total environment of restaurant)

When the food shows up, he is usually disgusted in what they are passing off as main course meals. This is because the food items are far worst from his expectations.(He is served ready made frozen meal, which he hates the most in his life, most of the time). Being trained by roux brothers, Marco Pierre white, Guy Savoy and many great chefs, he expects a certain quality in food items for him. 

Also, most of the restaurants that he steps into are almost always seriously lacking enough customers to stay in business.

Step - 2 : Who is behind this disaster they call a restaurant?

This is where the real truth starts to come out. He interviews the owners, the servers, the head chef and the kitchen staff. Usually, he finds one or two of them passionate about the business, the rest of them are putting in time for payrolls. You have to be honest in this step and personally interview each of the employee for any feedback. 

Typically the ingredients are low grade cheap ones or the menu confusing with too many options, and the actual food being delivered not worthy, with poor service. This is where the restaurant fails.

Step - 3 : Find out what the customers really want

The first thing to be done - ASK THEM. Ask through survey, look for market trends, look at your competitors and look what they are providing. 

Find out what is missing on the restaurant scene. Find out what foods the customer want the most, or that they have a tough time finding. Find out which restaurants are doing best in your area - then go in there to sample their food and service, always looking for ideas to improvise upon. Benchmark them!

And, very important, if it is a seasonal business or location, make sure that the restaurant caters to those who live there year round! Those are the people who keep the restaurant open and catering to one-time tourists/seasonal fosus is a sure-fire way to bankruptcy because you can't survive with a six month business.

Step - 4 : Find the signature dishes

Such a simple concept that so many businesses completely ignore.What is the one dish that the head chef of your restaurant enjoys making the most?

Usually, Gordon finds out that the chef has an incredible signature plate that is not on the menu. Why? The owner is usually the problem. As Gordon says, owners should never write the menu, the head chef should be the one to design the menu.

Step - 5 : Simplify the menu and the number of choices

Too many choices leave people confused and lacking in direction. Make sure you priotise fresh, healthy foods as possible. It also over complicates what is required in the kitchen to deliver what was promised to the customer in the menu.

The menu is typically cut in less than half and the customers are usually very happy about the change. You can refined your Menu. Also, a large portion is not a secret to restaurant success. Smaller portions reduce waste, and keep customers coming back for more.

Step - 6 : Systems are the key to success

Once the new menu has been created, putting systems in place to ensure consistent delivery is key. Being able to double business in a week, without loss in quality or without increase wait times, is something Gordon does in every restaurant he walks into. This is the area you have to improve your service. The service should be similar all the times, no matter if 10 or 100 people are dining out in restaurant. 

Step - 7 : Feet on the street marketing

Last, now that everything is in place and the systems have been tested on a smaller scale. Getting the staff all geared up in uniforms, loaded up with their new signature dishes, they hit the street and let anyone and everyone try out the new menu choices will be our priority now.

This 7-step formula above sounds simple, but it consistently turns failing restaurants around in 1 single week. This is where the restaurant owners, executive chefs and restaurants manager fails. 

Remember, the customers love the new choices, the staff should much more be  motivated to deliver consistent service, and the restaurant very quickly starts to make a profit. No restaurant progress with killing your employees bread.

Gordon usually revisits the restaurant after a month or two to see if they have held together all the new changes. 9 times out of 10 they have held it together, stuck with the changes, and are enjoying more money than they have experienced in years.

And yes, this does apply to our business to, in simple language/summary-

• Figure out exactly what you are selling now
• Who is behind your business? What do the customers see? What do they think?
• Find out what the customers really want? Selling ice on mount Everest is not going to promote your business.
• Find your signature offer.
• Simplify the number of choices.
• Systems are the key to success
• Feet on the street marketing

Last, a few side lessons from Gordon: It is about the image you portray. use only the finest ingredients in areas as possible, the customers will enjoy then. Don't take anything personally - take it seriously. Live for today, plan for tomorrow and Be a good listener. Nevertheless, he is one of my favourite chef and the chef whom I like to meet in the future!