Top 10 Tips to a Fat Bottom Line

#1. Use the intuitive technology to proactively drive performance & accountability

Point of sales, time & attendance, accounting, reservations & inventory systems have come a long way.  Most automate, most feed live data to each without the need for data entry.  Find the right software for you. Choose an intuitive package that integrates, reduced admin hours and provides clean virginal data untouched by human hands.

Purchase orders, invoices, inventory flowing straight into an accounting software systems without human hands not only ensure clean data but reduced admin hours each week.   Live revenue flowing straight into time & attendance gives you a live v’s rosted wage cost this can be used to steer the ship, account managers accountable and ensure a proactive approach to wage management as apposed to reactive end of week/month approach.   Use clean, untouched, live data to create a culture that forecasts, measures against live sales & live actuals to promote action now not at the end of the week.  Let your integrations and software solutions do the admin, price check and keep your suppliers honest.

#2. Share the results

Give you managers & kitchen team access to performance results.  Involve them in the budget/target setting process to ensure ownership and buy in. Knowledge is power and who doesn’t like a goal and being in a position to achieve it? Free up the information, set targets, share progress toward results proactively on the day not at the end of the week or month.

#3. Review

Make time to review. It is often hard when you are in the business to make time to access market condition and review. Make the time it’s important!  Review competitor prices. Review your own pricing strategy against market.  Review supplier pricing against market, do not set and forget.  Review sales by hour  against wages to ensure lazy rostering or over rostering in minimized.  Every % makes a difference.

#4. Check the checker

It is often impossible to be on the ground all of the time. Trust is an important factor when running a hospitality venue. This said it is always important to check the checker. Are freebies going to friends and family, is pack down commenced early and last drinks halted to aid your teams social life?  Takings going into tips or loose rostering, time fraud.  It’s your business and trust only takes you so far.  Initial spot checks, counts, audits at random days and times – its your right to check the checker.

#5. Link incentives to tips

Most hospitality people live week to week, pay to pay. Nothing speaks louder than cash. Incentivize business performance with smart cash.  Instead of giving a cash bonus ensure a fair tip structure (rewards skill and hours works) and add cash to tips  when results are achieved. By incentivizing tips you are ensuring good service as your service team must perform and leave guests needs exceeded to achieve the tip in the first place.   Common tip incentives usually revolve around average spend, wage % or % profit.  If exceptional results are achieved reward through tips prioritized service levels and rewards at the same time.

#6. The perfect pour, the perfect plate

Create a culture where everyone knows what the perfect pour and perfect plate is.  Portion & Pour size should remain consistent both from a customer expectation point of view and for a cost control point of view.  All of your team members should feel empowered to sent a plate back, question a pour size.  Invest in staff training create an image board, a bar and kitchen bible. Ensure all team members are encourage and rewarded for pulling up errors before they hit the table.  Consistency is King. 

#7. Mystery shop

Your team know who you are and know to look busy when you enter the room regardless of the surprise, time or day of week they know its you.  A mystery shop doesn’t have to be performed by a consultant or professional – friends, family, other industry contacts, good customers can all be used to Mystery shop. Create a template, a hit list and action items and enlist support to gain clarity in your absence.

#8. Preventative maintenance

Maintenance issues are costly and breakdowns can impact trade.  Be proactive and create a preventative maintenance schedule. Ensure air conditioners, compressors, beer systems, refrigeration, washers kitchen equipment locked into a maintenance schedule.   Regular upkeep and maintenance in advance will reduce costly call outs and repairs down the track & ensure no disruptions to trade.

#9. Review trading hours

Opening breakfast, lunch, dinner seven days a week is not always the way to generating profit.  An empty venue with no customers sends the wrong message to potential new customer plus comes with associated costs.  It is fact the market changes, the community around your changes and the social, political, economic & environmental climate changes over time. Just because it has been done a certain way historically doesn’t mean it will keep working.  It is better to open less with more customers in peak trade than open more with less customer and down time.  Don’t be afraid to realign the goal posts and adjust your hours, reduce your rosters inline with what is working now.

#10. Streamline

Streamline the operation. Is it more efficient to buy in a product or make it? Is it more efficient, less steps to move the ice-well from point a to point b. Is buying fresh juice cheaper than the wages it takes to squeeze it yourself.  Look at the the way you do things and the energy that goes into every task and process. Ask yourself and your team is there a smarter way?  This could be changing your layout, moving equipment, changing a recipe, buying in, tweaking the service style.  What ever the solution creating a culture where the team feel heard and able to voice ideas on how to work smarter not juts harder is a very good place to start.