31.1　What Makes a Restaurant Last: QSC

A restaurant cannot succeed just because its food or service is good. In the restaurant world, the yardstick said to matter most for measuring that success is QSC. Q stands for quality, S for service, and C for cleanliness. Each is the first letter of the English word.

Restaurants that succeed for a long time are said to be strong in all three, whether they think about it or not. The key word here is "long." A restaurant may be busy for a short time after appearing on TV or in a magazine. But it is almost impossible to succeed for a long time without high QSC.

Why McDonald's succeeded

QSC is said to have been first advocated by Ray Kroc, the man who in effect founded McDonald's. No hamburger company has been as financially successful as McDonald's. Is that because it spent money on advertising? No. It could spend money on advertising because it had already succeeded and made a profit.

Q (quality) is not only taste. It is quality that includes the food, the design of the restaurant, the atmosphere, and even the price. If you pay more, there are many tastier hamburgers. But if you look at the balance between price and taste, in other words, value for money, the story changes.

S (service) is not only the words you use with guests. McDonald's has easy-to-understand menus with photos. When you order, freshly made food comes out quickly. A good location, such as near a station or easy to reach by car, is a form of service in itself. No matter how delicious the food is, if a guest has to wait 30 minutes, that time is a loss for the guest. McDonald's meets the wishes of a great many people to a high degree.

C (cleanliness) is covered in detail in the next section. The goal is a restaurant where even people who care a lot about cleanliness can eat comfortably.

The Association's materials sum it up like this. Third-rate restaurants pay attention only to Q, such as the food and the interior. Second-rate restaurants put effort into S as well as Q. First-rate restaurants also take care of C.

31.2　Cleanliness Is Management Itself

Many people lose their appetite just because a table or the floor is sticky. Trash on the floor, insects crawling around, a dirty restroom. Many people who see these things will surely never come back.

A newly opened restaurant is clean. But as time passes, it can become a restaurant that no longer feels clean, without anyone noticing. This happens often. To prevent it, McDonald's holds up the motto "clean as you go." It means "wherever you go, clean at all times." The goal is to "keep the restaurant as it was on opening day."

Matsushita Konosuke, the founder of Panasonic, once topped Japan's list of the highest earners. When asked the secret of success in business, he answered, "First, do the obvious things properly." When asked what the obvious things were, he answered, "When your sign fades in the sun and changes color, do not leave it; fix it." This is the same idea as aiming to keep the restaurant as it was on opening day.

How famous restaurants clean

This is a story from the time when the Japanese restaurant RyuGin, which earned three Michelin stars, was in Roppongi, Tokyo. Its regular day off was Sunday every week. At RyuGin, after service ended on Saturday night, the whole staff cleaned the restaurant straight through until about 6 a.m. the next morning, around the time of the first trains. From the ventilation fans to the ducts, they polished everything themselves until it shone. They did this for hours, every week, without fail.

Chef Yoneda Hajime of the French restaurant HAJIME has an unusual background. He was a designer of electronic components before he became a chef. He earned three Michelin stars in 1 year and 5 months, the shortest time in the Michelin Guide at that time. Chef Yoneda has said: "Clean the air conditioner vents every day. Do not leave dust even in places guests cannot see. When you aim for a restaurant without a single speck of dust, a crisp, dignified atmosphere fills the room. God is in the details." He has also said, "An essential quality for a chef is to be bothered by even a single speck of dust on the floor." That a chef so devoted to cleaning earned three stars in the shortest time is proof of how important cleanliness is.

Why chefs shave their heads

At famous high-end Japanese restaurants, many chefs shave their heads. There is a reason for this. It keeps hair from getting into the food. There is also no risk of their hands touching hair products. A chef's shaved head is also proof that the restaurant puts effort into C. A crisp, dignified atmosphere fills the restaurant, and guests can eat with peace of mind. In fact, many restaurant owners say their sales went up just because their chefs shaved their heads.

Can you leave cleaning to outsiders?

Some people say that cleaning is not the restaurant's core business, so it can be left to a cleaning company. That might shorten working hours and reduce the number of people who quit.

However, when you work hard to polish the restaurant, the tableware, and the tools yourselves, your attitude toward cleanliness changes. You learn to value things, and that changes how you handle ingredients during advance preparation and service. A restaurant that simply leaves cleaning to outsiders feels different from a restaurant where every person tries to keep it clean to a high standard. Note that McDonald's does leave cleaning to a company, whose staff come in outside business hours. Even so, McDonald's makes sure every employee understands how important cleanliness is.

Temples and shrines that are World Heritage Sites

Picture a temple or shrine that is a World Heritage Site. Do you know of any popular temple or shrine that is not well cleaned? Such temples and shrines are, without a doubt, thoroughly cleaned. Without cleaning, an old wooden building is just a haunted house. The wood decays, dust builds up, the garden runs wild, and people stop coming.

On the other hand, when the wood is wiped clean every day for many years, it gleams with a deep luster. It takes on a sense of history that new things do not have. Only by continuing this kind of care are such places recognized as World Heritage Sites. A building does not lose its charm because it is old. It loses its charm because no one keeps cleaning it. Make thorough cleaning part of your restaurant's culture.

Kawaroku: cleaning, greetings, and answering the phone

The company Kawaroku is known for buying hotels that are about to go bankrupt, or already have, and turning them into popular hotels. What should you do to turn around a hotel that is about to fail? Many people think you should change the interior, hire good cooks, change the prices, and put effort into advertising. But many hotels that fail have worked hard at exactly those things, and failed anyway.

Almost all hotels that fail are not doing the obvious things. These are cleaning, greetings, and answering the phone. They are simple, obvious tasks, but it is hard to keep doing them properly. Kawaroku carries out these three thoroughly, and has turned traditional inns on the verge of closing into popular business hotels.

Hair on the floor, built-up dust, a dirty toilet. With these, guests will not come back. A surprising number of hotels do not clean under the beds or behind the side tables. A hotel that cleans only the places you can see is never truly clean. Guests sense whether a place is clean without checking each of those spots. At Kawaroku, the president himself gets down on his knees and polishes the floor with a cloth. The ceilings are cleaned thoroughly, too. The goal is just what the title of Takarada Keiichi's book says: Chiiki de Ichiban Pikapika na Hotel (The Shiniest Hotel in the Region), published by Asa Shuppan. You learned about greetings and answering the phone in Chapter 26.

For a sushi restaurant, cleanliness is not only about appearance. Causing food poisoning even once can destroy all the trust you have built up. A single case of food poisoning can even put a restaurant out of business (Chapter 3).

31.3　Making It a System: 5S

To take your cleaning one level higher, aim for the standard known as "Toyota's 5S." The 5S are seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke. When written in Roman letters, each one begins with S.

1. Seiri　Getting rid of things you do not need.
2. Seiton　Arranging things so you can take out what you need right away, at any time.
3. Seiso　Cleaning things.
4. Seiketsu　Keeping things clean. Cleaning is important, but this is even more important.
5. Shitsuke　Creating systems that keep things from getting dirty, and building the habit of following them. This last one is the most important of all.

Asking "why?" 5 times

For each case of dirt, trash, or clutter, always ask "why?" 5 times. That way, you pin down the real cause and fix it. The goal is a system where things do not get dirty even if someone tries. The other goal is shitsuke, the discipline to follow that system. There is a deep reason for asking 5 times, and this system hints at why Toyota is successful.

Here is one example from a sushi restaurant. It is an example for explanation.

1. Why 1　There is shari (sushi rice) on the floor of the tsukeba (the chef's work area behind the counter). Why? Because it falls from the chef's hands while shaping nigiri.
2. Why 2　Why does it fall? Because the rice container is far from the chef's hands, and rice drops on the way.
3. Why 3　Why is it far? Because there is no fixed place for the rice container, and it changes from day to day.
4. Why 4　Why is there no fixed place? Because unused tools sit on the counter, and there is no room.
5. Why 5　Why are there unused tools? Because there is no rule for putting away things you do not need.

In this example, if you only wipe the floor, the same thing will happen tomorrow. Put away the unused tools (seiri). Decide where the rice container goes (seiton). Make sure everyone follows that (shitsuke). Then shari will rarely fall on the floor.

In a restaurant, it is important to build systems where the staff keep things clean every day, even a little at a time. To prosper for a long time, you must firmly establish systems that keep bacteria from growing, and the habit of following them.

31.4　Hiring and Training People

For a long time, the sushi world has said, "Watch and learn." You watch your seniors' hands, think for yourself, and steal their skills. Skills learned this way have real strength. But if a restaurant today relies on this alone, problems arise. It takes a long time to learn, and more people quit without ever being taught.

Hygiene in particular cannot be learned just by watching. Why keep food at 10°C or below? Why wash your hands twice? A chef who does not know the reasons may do things the same way in a hot country or in a restaurant with different equipment, and cause an accident. Teaching the reasons in words builds safety for the next generation (Chapter 26).

Writing procedures

Try writing out the restaurant's work on paper. How to cook the rice and mix in the vinegar, how to prep the fish, where things go in the refrigerator, and cleaning before opening and after closing. Write down the order of steps, the temperatures and times to keep, and the reasons. If you add photos, people from other countries can understand them too.

With written procedures, what people are told does not change depending on who teaches them. Even on days when the owner is off, the work can be done with the same quality. When you change how something is done, rewrite the procedures too.

The order of tasks

It is common to give new staff tasks in an order like this. First, handwashing, cleaning, and washing dishes. Next, helping with advance preparation and cooking the rice. Then rolls and tamagoyaki (Japanese omelet), then filleting and slicing fish, and finally shaping nigiri and working the counter. At every stage, the first thing to teach is the hygiene rules. When someone can do one task, recognize it in a way the person can clearly see, and move them on to the next task.

Evaluation and pay

What must someone be able to do to be recognized as fully trained, and how will their pay go up? If the owner keeps this only in their own head, the staff cannot see their future and feel uneasy. Make a chart listing the tasks to be learned, and check them off one by one. Then both the staff member and the owner can see where things stand now. Put into words, as much as you can, how pay is set and the conditions for a raise.

Be careful about how you scold, too. Attacking someone's character in front of others, or hitting them, does not help people grow. In Japan, all employers are required to take steps to prevent power harassment (bullying or harassment that uses one's position) in the workplace.

31.5　Protecting Your Staff: Labor Basics

If you hire even one person, you as the owner must follow the rules for employers. Here we list the basics of Japan's rules. Rules differ by country and region, and even in Japan, they change when laws are revised. Always check the rules for the country, the region, and the time you will operate. When in doubt, consult the Labor Standards Inspection Office or a licensed labor and social security attorney (sharoshi).

Working hours, breaks, and days off

Under Japan's Labor Standards Act, working hours are in principle limited to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. However, there is a special exception that allows up to 44 hours a week for restaurants and some other businesses that always have fewer than 10 workers. To have staff work beyond these limits, you must sign an agreement called an "Article 36 agreement (overtime agreement)" with a representative of the workers and file it with the Labor Standards Inspection Office. You must then pay extra wages at no less than the set rates.

Breaks must be at least 45 minutes if the working time exceeds 6 hours, and at least 1 hour if it exceeds 8 hours. Days off must be at least 1 day every week, or at least 4 days in 4 weeks.

Here is a summary of the table in words. Working time is in principle 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. Overtime requires an agreement, filing, and extra wages. Part-time workers also get paid leave. The minimum wage changes every year and differs by region, so check the amount every year.

What to decide when hiring

When you hire someone, give them in writing their pay, working hours, days off, job duties, and so on. Do not rely on a verbal promise alone. Once you always have 10 or more workers, you must create work rules (the restaurant's rules on how people work) and file them. In principle, people under 18 may not work from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. When you hire people from other countries, check their residence card to confirm that they are allowed to work, and within what scope.

Insurance

If you hire even one person, even a part-time worker, you must enroll in workers' accident compensation insurance (national insurance that covers injuries and illnesses at work or while commuting). A sushi restaurant, with its knives, boiling water, and wet floors, is no stranger to injuries. Employment insurance (insurance that covers things such as losing your job) applies to people who work 20 hours or more a week and are expected to be employed for 31 days or more. These conditions are scheduled to be widened by a revision of the law. If the restaurant is run as a company, you must enroll staff in health insurance and employees' pension insurance from the very first employee. For a sole proprietor's restaurant, the treatment depends on the number of workers and other factors. The conditions for part-time workers to join are also still being revised.

Protecting chefs' health

Employers must have staff take a health checkup when hired and once a year after that. For people who regularly work late at night, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., it is once every 6 months. In addition, stool tests are essential at a sushi restaurant.

The health of your staff is directly linked to the safety of your guests. Norovirus continues to be shed in the stool for 1 week, and in some cases up to 1 month, even after symptoms are gone. A chef who has had norovirus must not go back to work that involves touching food directly until a stool test confirms the virus is gone (Chapter 3). A chef with cuts or festering wounds on the hands must also be taken off any step that involves touching food with bare hands.

31.6　The Habit of Looking at the Numbers

The more skilled a chef is, the more closely they look at the condition of the fish every day. In the same way, make it a habit to look at the restaurant's numbers every day. The tool for this is the daily report. A daily report is a record of how the restaurant did that day, in numbers and a few words.

What to write in the daily report

Every day, write down sales, the number of guests, the average spend per guest, purchases, and loss. The average spend per guest is sales divided by the number of guests. For loss, write the name and amount of anything thrown away or ruined. Also add a word about the weather and any canceled reservations.

Here is an example from a made-up small sushi restaurant. All the numbers are examples for explanation. Suppose that one day, sales were 240,000 yen and there were 20 guests. The average spend per guest is 240,000 yen divided by 20 guests, or 12,000 yen. Now suppose that on the same day of the week the following week, there were again 20 guests, but sales dropped to 200,000 yen. The average spend per guest is 10,000 yen. Since the number of guests did not change, you can tell that each guest ordered less. The numbers give you clues to think about.

Looking back each month

At the end of the month, put together the month's daily reports. Do a stocktaking (physical inventory count) and work out the food cost you actually used that month (Chapter 28). Then compare the food cost percentage, labor cost, rent, and profit with the previous month and with the same month last year. The food cost percentage is the food cost divided by sales. The share of sales taken by food cost and labor cost together is called the FL ratio. A common guide is that it should be no more than 60% of sales. You learned how to read the numbers in Chapter 27.

What matters is not to use the numbers to blame people. If you scold someone who honestly wrote down a loss, no one will write them down after that. Numbers are material for making the restaurant better.

31.7　Preparing for Emergencies

No matter how careful you are, accidents can happen. So that you do not panic when one happens, prepare before opening and review your preparations every year.

Getting insurance

Here are some kinds of insurance a restaurant should consider. Liability insurance, for when a guest is injured or property is damaged. Product liability insurance, so-called PL insurance, for when the food you served makes a guest ill, and insurance that covers the cost of sympathy payments after food poisoning. Fire insurance, for when the restaurant or its equipment is damaged by fire or water leaks. And business interruption coverage, which makes up for losses while you cannot operate. In particular, check before opening whether you are covered if you must stop operating because of food poisoning.

When an accident or complaint happens

You learned in Chapter 3 what to do first when you get a report of suspected food poisoning. You learned about dealing with guests, contacting the public health center, apologizing, and preventing it from happening again in Chapter 26. The principle common to both is: do not hide anything. For this reason, keep purchase slips, and keep daily records of refrigerator temperatures and staff health. Records help you find the cause. They can also show that the restaurant was not the cause. Post a contact list in a fixed place in the restaurant: the public health center, the insurance company, suppliers, and staff.

Preparing to keep the restaurant going

The biggest weakness of a small restaurant is that it stops if the owner falls ill. If you write procedures and train a second-in-command, the restaurant keeps running even when the owner is off. Also decide in advance how to judge the food in the refrigerator, and what to do about business, during a power outage, a water outage, or an earthquake. Raw food whose temperature history you no longer know must be thrown away, even if it feels wasteful. And keeping several months' worth of cash on hand will support you when you have no choice but to close for a while (Chapter 27).

None of this is glamorous work. But only restaurants that keep doing the obvious things properly every day will last a long time.