Building an exceptional restaurant team from scratch

When opening a new restaurant, the to-do list in massive. How to prioritise? Flora understood that success begins with people. The fundamental challenge was clear: how to build an exceptional team from zero—before the doors even open.

Deliberate hiring

Brothers Sjoerd and Sijbren Bartlema partnered with Soigné during their critical pre-opening phase, recognizing that assembling the right team would be their most important foundation. They needed more than just people to fill positions; they needed enough talented candidates to make deliberate choices about team culture and fit.

With just a landing page and Instagram account in place, Flora leveraged Soigné's recruitment tools to create an efficient hiring funnel.

Instant results

The impact was immediate and impressive:

• Within just two weeks of launching their pre-opening campaign, Flora received over 30 qualified applicants
• 20 interviews were scheduled through Soigné.
• 90% of their team positions were filled pre-opening.
• Applicants continue to flow in, building their talent pool for future needs

More automation

As Flora's success continues, Sjoerd and Sijbren are among the first to adopt Soigné's advanced automation features. Running payroll has transformed from hours of work into a simple overview to check and approve. For entrepreneurs managing complete operations themselves, Soigné handles their HR in minutes.

People are the product

Six weeks after opening, Flora received a review from Dutch newspaper AD: "The young service staff is relaxed and friendly, while also consistently sharp and alert (...). Everything we get served is great to excellent. Flora has everything it takes to grow into a top hit."

This case exemplifies our philosophy: in hospitality, your team is your product. Everything else follows.