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Allowing Customers To Host Parties At Your Restaurant 
By: Patricia Farnham
Many restaurant owners will be approached by people wishing to use part of their establishment to host a party. If they love the food at the restaurant, they will honor you by asking if you can help them with the arrangements. For many people, this is much easier than preparing the foods for the occasion on their own. Since there are many different reasons to host a party, you may be approached about this quite often.
It isn't going to take you long to figure out that allowing your restaurant to be used for parties is a great way to get people in the door and to increase profitability. It is a great way for new people to be exposed to your restaurant. This is your chance to give them a great experience. If that happens, they will likely come back with other people to dine in your restaurant. They may also decide to host their next party at your restaurant as well.
It is best if those attending a party at your restaurant are able to have a private area. This way they won't be disturbing others that are dining in the establishment at the same time. You may have a banquet room available for them to use or a sliding door that can section off a portion of the restaurant for their use. Make sure you have some guidelines in place for the use of the restaurant for the party.
Depending on the number of guests at the party, you are going to make a great deal of money of off the event. Therefore, it really isn't necessary to charge them a fee for using the facility. You may want to charge a small deposit though that they will get back after the event as long as they have cleaned up all of their decorations and things they brought in with them.
It is very important that you have plenty of staff to work these types of parties. You are going to have regular guests in your restaurant at the same time. It isn't reasonable to think that your regular staff will be able to take care of both things at the same time. If the host of the party isn't happy with the service, you can be sure they won't book with you again. If your regular customers are left waiting because of the party they may not come back again either.
The process for booking the parties needs to be carefully considered. It is best if only one or two people are in charge of it. This way problems with scheduling can be avoided as much as possible. You don't want to create issues for those that have trusted you to help them have a very successful party.
There is a great deal of information that has to be obtained in order for the party to be successfully booked. Find out the date and the times that they will need to have the space. You also need to find out how many people the estimate in attendance so you can prepare your staff accordingly. Discuss issues such as being able to decorate for the event if they want to and cleaning up afterwards. Some may ask you if they can bring in other food items to share and that is something you will need to consider as well.
You will need to decide if you will have the guests at the parties order off of the regular menu. You may be willing to offer a discount for a large group in order to get them to come in and each there. Discuss the issue of them bringing in other items as well. You may discover they want to bring along a cake and some ice cream for the event. If you are in agreement with this, offer a place to store them until they are ready to use them.
Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles
Patricia Farnham has a long, successful background in the restaurant industry. To read her opinions, warning and advice on how to open a restaurant and other topics, visit her web
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