Owning and leading your own restaurant, bar or food business can be incredibly rewarding. We also know how many challenges it poses, and whilst we might try our best to solve them, sometimes we just need to ask for advice.

Our resident expert Madeleine Geach from The Good Life, provider of leadership coaching and courses for the hospitality industry, gives us incredible insights on how to navigate some common issues that business owners face on the daily.

1. Managing people you’re close to

2. Delegating

3. Setting and keeping high standards

In small, close-knit teams, it can feel hard to switch between roles: colleague, comrade and boss.

• Signal when you are in boss mode: frame conversations. Simply saying something like “with my manager hat on” at the start of an interaction allows a shift from banter to business. What words could you use to show you need to have a manager conversation?

• Aim for adult-to-adult: a family feel can slip into you playing the role of ‘parent’ and your team ‘children’. Avoid parenting your team (for example controlling, overprotecting, or doing things for them). Adult them instead: delegate responsibility, trust people to be capable, communicate directly.

Trusting others to do the work. Guilt about not doing it all yourself. Both of these can get in the way of delegating to your team. What could you be delegating? What would this make time for?

• Reframe how you see delegating if awkwardness or guilt are getting in the way. Delegating is not dumping work on people, it’s trusting your team. Often it’s a way to develop them and teach them new skills. Nothing bad about any of that.

• Begin with the end in mind. Explain clearly what you need them to achieve by when. Give them the tools they need. Explain why it’s important. It’s motivating to see the big picture. Follow up and feedback at the end.

You may feel like you are constantly nit-picking or micro-managing. Or maybe that you are letting things slide to keep the peace and don’t want to ruin the vibe.

• Be ‘tough on standards, not on people’. You are focussing on performance but not the person. Instead of ‘you are not doing x right’ try ‘this is how I want you to do x’. Explaining why helps. This is feedback, not criticism so leave any emotions at the door and keep to the facts.

• Choose your battles. Identify 3 non-negotiables and focus on these. This will stop you needing to pick up on everything. Once you’ve picked your focus areas don’t be afraid to give feedback and remember the power of positive reinforcement and praise too.

4. Stuck in service

5. The £££s

6. Never switching off

This is the difference between working FOR the business and working ON the business. As an owner you need to be spending a significant part of your time working ON the business.

• Be clear with yourself. This is too important to squeeze around full-time service hours. The marketing, financials and long-term planning are what will make your business a success. Start by defining for yourself how many hours a week they deserve and how you will make sure this happens.

• Communicate transparently to manage expectations. Let your team know how much you will be by their side and how much you will be out of service to make the business work. Don’t apologise or feel bad. This is also where the business needs you.

Got the money sweats? If you are not a natural numbers person, this can feel overwhelming. If you are, skip to number 6.

• Choose your accountant carefully. Make sure you have one who is able to explain things clearly. Not all can. Write down all your questions and pick their brains. They will probably do this for free. But even spending some money here can save you £s.

• Make it your aim to be financially literate. It’s normal not to know this stuff at the start. Don’t expect to but do make it your mission to upskill. Who do you know who has the knowledge? What networks might be able to help you?

Picking up endless texts on your day off? Managing things from afar when you finally get a holiday? To build a sustainable business you need to recharge and recover. You and the team all have the right to disconnect and will work better for it.

• Have a simple comms policy. You shouldn’t need to be checking email or your WhatsApp group during time-off in case something urgent happens. Have a clear way for people to contact you in an emergency (e.g., a phone call) and make sure you communicate what an emergency is. Role model this and don’t expect a reply from your team during their off time.

• Share the load by having at least one person on your team who you can fully handover to. Have agreed times when you or they are on call and communicate these to your team so you can both fully switch off and take a break.

Running a successful business isn’t just about ambition, brilliance, and boldness. Sometimes it’s the daily, little things that can trip you up the most. Learning how to effectively manage your team and knowing how to trust them, as well as getting your standards clear and prioritising your time so you’re not letting any important part of the business slip, are fundamental to a smooth operation. And finally, you can’t forget to take a step back; everyone deserves time to recharge, including the owner.