Hospitality Careers: Expert Guides and Resources

Running a bar isn’t for the faint of heart. Besides the daily needs of running a bar — for example, what condiments to keep behind the bar and what to put on the menu — you also have to deal with the rigors of management, such as keeping your employees honest, staying on the right side of your state alcohol control board, and dealing with patrons who've had a few too many.

To run a bed and breakfast (B&B) inn, you need to take care of business issues first, then go about the business of caring for your guests.To make sure guests get the best impression of your B&B, train everyone who answers the phone, get rooms ready the right way, and do the prep work for the "breakfast" part of the service.

Running a restaurant is a tough business. Coming up with the concept, designing the menu, hiring the right staff, and running it from day to day are all difficult and time consuming. You need to develop the right attitude, promote the restaurant, keep an eye on the competition, and communicate with your customers.

Running a successful food truck is tougher than it may appear. You must plan and prepare everything that a fine dining establishment does (except the china and linen napkins), such as concept development, menu planning, and hiring and keeping a great staff, but then you have to take your kitchen on the road and provide your customers with out-of-this-world food and service.

Salaries, food costs, food truck costs, business taxes, commercial kitchen and office rent, equipment leases, phone bills, postage — the expenses associated with running a food truck may seem to never end. However, your ability to get a firm grasp on these cash outflows can play an important role in your business’s success or failure.

Depending on your daily driving routes, your food truck will be seen by thousands of people every day. So what should you include on its exterior? You can include your logo and images that display your food items in a colorful and appetizing light. Also include anything that you feel your customers need to know about how to find or follow you at a later date, such as your website URL, phone number, or the ways they can follow you on Facebook or Twitter.

Every food truck owner has his own challenges; this aspect is just part of life in the business world. If you don’t have a strong culinary background and need assistance in putting your menu together, hiring a local chef or a consultant with the expertise, answers, and solutions you need may be a great option.

Unlike restaurants, food trucks are often operated by a small staff composed of individuals working a variety of roles. The size of your truck will help you determine the number of staff members that can efficiently and comfortably work inside of it.In some cases, food truck owners have two or three sets of employees: those who work on the truck and others who work at the commercial kitchen or in the office.