9 out of 10 new businesses fail and the common cause of
failure is their inability to make profit. Restaurant businesses are no
exception; you may have the best chefs, ideal location and sufficient marketing
budget, but if your restaurant operations lack efficiency, you are losing
marginal profits.
A restaurant’s profitability largely depends on efficiency
which can be acquired only by implementing processes. Once you have efficient
processes in action, you avoid wasting energy, materials, time, money and
efforts, and as a result your restaurant grows.
As a new restaurant owner, finding ways to improve your
restaurant’s efficiency can be challenging. There are tens of areas that need
your attention and you don’t know where to start. This article will discuss the
five essential steps with which you can improve efficiency and profitability of
your restaurant. Each step will guide you through practical tips for setting up
processes that will help your restaurant be more efficient. Profit follows the
efficient operations.
1- Set up an Efficient Inventory Management System
Nothing is worse than running out of key ingredients in the
middle of preparing an order. Having a good inventory management system in
place can ensure this never happens. Get a robust inventory management system
as a top priority.
There are various inventory software available in the market,
and with a little research you can find one that best suits your business. Make
sure, it is cloud based inventory management so you can access it from anywhere
anytime.
Moreover, you should also have a trusted vendor like GoCheetah for on time and hassle free
delivery of ingredients. GoCheetah is mobile app available for both iOs and
Android. Once signed up, you can browse the catalog and add items to your
basket, and get next day delivery. With your first order, you automatically
create a shopping list which you can reorder whenever needed. You can also
signup for a subscription plan which will enable you to save more.
With efficient
inventory management you know when you need to restock and with a trusted
partner like GoCheetah you can restock your supplies on time.
You save a lot of time, money and effort with this single process
implementation, let’s move to the next steps.
2- Set up an Efficient POS System
With an efficient POS system, you can drastically improve
back-end and front-end restaurant operations at once. This streamlines your
day-to-day operations and enhances the productivity of employees, i.e. taking
orders and sending them to the kitchen. But most importantly, it offers in
depth data for analytical purposes, i.e. per order value, average daily sales,
peak hour sales, data about seasonal sales and promotions and so on.
With this data handily available, your can take timely
actions to fix deficiencies and formulate new strategies to improve your
overall business.
3- Invest in Your Staff
Providing your staff with the best software is a great way
to improve the processes, but it’s not enough. You also need to train them to
use these software effectively.
Moreover, you also need to train your employees for stress
management (handling the peak times), crisis management, customer services, and
all this requires time and money. Do not hesitate in hiring
and training the best staff possible.
Show your employees that you want to help them be the best they can be
in their job and they will surely work hard for you and remain loyal.
4- Invest in Customer Experience
At the day end it’s all about customer’s experience, because
they are the people who will help you build reputation.
Enhancing customer experience, doesn’t require any rocket
science. Simple things can make big difference; for instance, using a
tablet-based system (whereby the servers open tabs and take orders) can enhance
customer experience while improving the efficiency (cutting down wait times).
If your restaurant has a home delivery option, consider free
delivery, innovative packaging and complementary dessert coupons for their next
visit to the restaurant.
Get your customers and prospects engaged in healthy
conversations over social media, value their opinion, engage them in contests
and promotions and let them become your brand ambassadors and advocates.
5- Attract Strategic Partnerships
Strategic partnerships can skyrocket your brand, so consider
such opportunities right from the beginning. There can be hundreds of ways for
restaurants to utilize strategic partnerships, but let me discuss a few popular
ones.
- Partner up with local
businesses and offer a discount to every referral. - Partner up with event
management companies for catering services in their events. - Partner up with delivery
services like Uber Eats, Zomato etc. - Partner up with food
manufacturing companies to use their ingredients and get included in their
marketing materials.
The more strategic partners you have the more business you
will get, but choice of right strategic partner makes a big difference, so
choose wisely.
The Bottom Line:
There may be tens of other ways to improve efficiency &
increase profitability of your restaurant business, and you cannot do all at
once. Going step by step is the key to success. The above five are great to
start with and put your business on a growth track. Once these processes are
set well, you can start exploring the other options.
