For people who appreciate great food served in a welcoming and friendly atmosphere, owning a restaurant means living the dream.
But owning and running an eating-and-drinking establishment takes more than just a love of all things culinary. Owning a restaurant, dedicated as it may be to providing memorable experiences, is as much about the business side of the equation, and increasing productivity while maintaining quality is the goal.
And the best way to achieve this goal is by introducing time-saving techniques into your daily strategy. The following can help you streamline your processes and boost your bottom line while growing customer satisfaction:
1. Create Protocols
Putting processes in place that you can use over and over again to perform the same tasks saves time and money.
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel with each new employee, dish or food prep process. Create protocols for training, ordering, scheduling, seating guests, food prep and even dishwashing, and have them ready to follow no matter who is doing a specific job.
Knowing that you can rely on these protocols frees you up to do the things that others cannot. Review and tweak protocols as needed, and encourage input from those who do the jobs regularly as to how the protocols can be made even more efficient.
2. Purchase POS Software
Impos’ restaurant POS systems take the guesswork out of running a restaurant so you can streamline supply ordering, floor management, costs of goods, price increases, inventory management, payment tools and reports.
The systems integrate purchases, menu prices and inventory, letting you adjust prices based on solid data, decreasing waste and increasing profitability, so you can run your restaurant with a few touches of your dashboard.
3. Streamline Scheduling
One of the most time-consuming parts of restaurant ownership is managing staff. Knowing how many workers you need per shift based on peak operating statistics and balancing those needs with requests for schedule changes can take so much time that there’s little left for staying ahead of day-to-day problems.
Using a scheduling app takes the guesswork out of staffing issues by predicting how many workers you need and when you need them. A scheduling app also makes it easier to manage staff at multiple locations and make last-minute changes when necessary.
4. Use Downtime Wisely
Every restaurant experiences downtime at certain times so develop protocols that include food prep, table prep, cleanup, organization and inventory during such times. Breaks are important and necessary for every staff member, but downtime should not always equal break time.
When everyone stays busy getting ready for the next rush, your restaurant will always be running at peak efficiency. Train your staff to determine what needs doing and do it rather than waiting to be asked.
5. Disconnect From Personal Technology
Checking email, text messages and social media throughout your workday can eat into the time you spend running your restaurant.
Avoid answering phone calls unless they are from a family member who needs you immediately, such as a spouse or child. Plan a certain time during each day to listen and respond to voicemail and text messages.
If necessary, add a caveat to your outgoing message that lets callers know you will return their call or text within 48 hours. This keeps you on task and cuts down on distractions during the busiest hours of the day.
