Every time you enter a restaurant, you should check whether they use the reservation concept. Do you observe the little white card on the empty table, telling you that others are coming soon. Tough luck if it was the last table.

Business Patterns are very useful concepts. There are also many pattern and these are useful because they help you solve issues where others have been dealing with before. The queue is one of them that is used in nearly any business today

A reservation is another pattern. Why are reservations important, who will use them and what do they solve for your business...And what problem do they bring?

A pattern is a solution that has been used to solve a problem and the way it has been achieved could be used in other areas. A reservation is a very common business pattern. Where the Queue pattern belongs to the production process, the reservation pattern is often used in the business area of sales.

But although the reservation is used in sales, the concept of a reservation is much more an intermediary function; a broker in between the demand and the supply. If you are uncertain about the expectations of the sales, you could introduce a reservation mechanism to organize the pre-sales. Doing this will give you an idea of the demand, and helps to organize the real sales process.

Airline companies use the reservation in order to establish the price levels; if there are many reservations the price will go up, until the last minute flights where the reservation is no longer possible.

Yet, reservations also entail some problems. Figure yourself entering this little restaurant. The tables are all reserved. Yet most of them empty. A reservation can solve risks, but also carries new risks.

If the process you need to organize is neither massive nor complex, you shouldn't choose the concept of a reservation. Especially for this little restaurant with an authentic image; the reservation doesn't fit with the style.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

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