Double Your Restaurant Profits And Fight The Recession
This morning I woke up and found this interesting article on Yahoo!. It was a market analysis of eight restaurants in the US that are still making a good dollar after the recession hit the country near the end of 2007.
All emphasize value, whether it’s huge portions or quality for less.
It’s exhilarating to know that at a time when less people are eating out, at least eight restaurants are doing it right.
So is there any other way to generate good money from running a restaurant business at such a bad time in the economy? Yes. As a matter of fact, there are three! Here are some tips.
1. Train employees and keep customers happy
Let’s face it. Employees and staff are your biggest budget drainers. So it makes sense that they should be your biggest asset. A good menu is nothing without the chef to prepare them and waiters to bring food on the tables.
Train your employees to work briskly and efficiently. Review your training programs; make sure they address the issues needed to improve your brand service.
How does this make you money? Well-trained employees mean good service. Good service means happy customers, and happy customers are known to spend more than the average ticket.
2. Prepare detailed reports to reduce food costs
A good restaurant owner values the importance of statistics. A restaurant business deals with food, sure, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned about the numbers and figures that show up on your monthly budget report.
I suggest you list down the top ten or five ingredients you spend the most money on every month. Then find ways to cut back without sacrificing quality – remember the Yahoo! article. Schedule a talk with your distributor and check if they could find you a cheaper alternative that’s similar or maybe even better.
While we’re on the subject, consult with other distributors and see if they could make you a better offer. Business is business. If there’s more value on the other side of the fence, then scoot over. I believe customers think the same way. If they didn’t like one thing about your restaurant, they won’t eat in your restaurant. Period.
3. Empower employees by talking incentives
Here we go again – employees. This time, the aim is to make them stay longer and work harder on your behalf.
Not every employee is motivated by the same thing. Some work for money, some work to kill time, some work for personal satisfaction. But even so, the one thing common about them is that they’re always excited to hear about additional benefits. I mean, come on, who isn’t?
Some ideas for incentives include sharing a small percentage of profits with seasoned employees, implementing a monthly rewards program for the employee who showed the best performance, rewarding top sellers with a monthly bonus, etc.
These are just rough ideas off the top of my head. I’m sure you could formulate your own ideas based on your scale of business and budget constraints.
How does this make you money? It’ simple. The longer someone’s worked for you, the more efficient he or she becomes. In the end it boils down to bringing out the best performance from your staff.
I’d be happy to hear more tips on how to invite more customers during the recession. Share your ideas by leaving a comment below.