Soft openings and the first week of comps
Pre-opening control checks fail when nobody owns discount authority before friends-and-family night.
Friends-and-family nights are generous by design. Without a written comp rule, they also train supervisors that discounts are improvised. That habit survives into paid service.
What we pressure-test
During a pre-opening control check we ask who can authorise a full comp, who can discount above a set percentage, and how those decisions appear on the guest check. If the answer is “the chef will know,” the checklist gets a red mark.
A workable minimum
- Named roles for comps versus staff meals
- A reason code list short enough people will use it
- A daily print or export of discounts reviewed by the opening manager
- A plan for how VIP lists expire after launch week
Launch week will still be chaotic. The goal is chaos with a trail.