Business
Builders

Boost Your Bottom Line During Inflationary Times

Last year restaurant operators saw wholesale food price increases of 7.4 percent – the biggest jump in nearly three decades. With this and all the other challenges operators are facing in this economic climate, how do you improve profitability without jeopardizing quality or the guest experience? Instead of just focusing on lowering costs or increasing prices, expand your focus to raising profits – mainly by building sales and containing costs through more effective training, management and execution.

The road to increasing revenues and profits begins with training. You can do everything else right—marketing, purchasing and cost-cutting—but it’s those front-of-the-house employees, your servers, cashiers and/or bartenders, who decide whether you’re able to keep guests coming through the door and move the merchandise you’ve purchased.

Creating an Action Oriented Workforce:
Taking your Team to the Next Level

You've taken your time recruiting and carefully selecting a top-notch team. You’ve provided your staff with scrupulously comprehensive training. You’ve established open lines of communication with your employees, taking pains to ensure that everyone feels comfortable asking questions and raising concerns.

You’ve done everything that a manager is supposed to do. But somehow, you still sense that something is missing from your team’s dynamic. Sometimes, even the most highly-qualified, carefully-composed teams encounter a bit of difficulty getting up to full speed. Although all of the right elements might be in place, your team may still lack that certain something that makes everything “click.”

In Every Economic Climate, Ideas to Help with the Hardest Things

In this fast paced world, it becomes more important than ever to avoid overwhelming your customers by offering too many choices on your menu. Silence is golden. White space is good. You need to view your menu page as valuable real estate. Items that aren’t earning their keep (contributing toward your bottom line) need to be very carefully considered.

What are the two hardest things for an independent restaurateur to do?

# 2 - Raise Menu Prices

Tips to Spring into Cleaner, Safer and More Profitable Operations

Spring Cleaning is a traditional way to celebrate the end of winter.  But did you know that it’s also a great opportunity to improve your overall food safety practices and your bottom line?

Coolers are a natural place to start.  Discard any expired product or anything that’s questionable.  Clean and sanitize all shelving and interiors of the units, including walls, floors and ceilings.  Make sure all lights have undamaged shields, and clean any shields that have condensate or mold.

Take this opportunity to “zone” the coolers to ensure that Potentially Hazardous Food (PHF) is stored to prevent cross contamination.  Organize so that raw PHF is not stored over Ready to Eat items, and stored with lowest to highest required cooking temperatures from top to bottom.  This will ensure adequate bacteria kill occurs in the event of cross contamination.  In other words, cooked and Ready to Eat foods on top, then fish and seafood, beef and pork (check local code), then ground beef, and raw chicken on the bottom.