Equipping your restaurant well to increase its profitability

At the end of the month, many restaurant owners are faced with a simple observation: they are unable to generate a sufficiently large margin to maintain a sustainable business. This is mainly due to the fact that some people confuse turnover and margin. A restaurant may very well generate a figure that changes each month, but if the volume of expenses also increases, the margin is still low.

Thinking directly about increasing sales is a classic mistake when talking about profitability. Profit growth increases thanks to your sales, but also decreases because of your expenses. In this article, we explain to you how to increase the profitability of your restaurant by developing your productivity.

Reducing direct and indirect costs

Direct expenses

Expenses that appear on a balance sheet during a monthly cash close are called “direct expenses”. Indeed, these are expenses that must be paid periodically. So, the more the restaurant owner cuts his expenses, the more margin he gets.

• On the goods

For the supply of goods, the manager of an establishment has the possibility of negotiating with its suppliers or at least taking advantage of the seasonal promotions they offer.

• On stocks

Reducing stock also reduces direct costs. To do this, the possession of a good cash register software such as Lightspeed, Zelty or SumUp will allow you to have permanent control of the evolution of your stock.

• Operational expenses

Operational expenses are the expenses related to the operation of your business: energy consumption, commission, staff salaries... Certainly, the more your business progresses, the more important these expenses become. Therefore, it is advisable to never lose sight of this point.

Reducing indirect costs

Indirect expenses can have an impact on net profit at the end of the month. It is wise to anticipate these costs well.

How can we avoid or reduce these types of problems? By constantly monitoring the sales of each dish, you will be able to estimate the daily or weekly consumption of the dishes. You will know which product attracts your customers the most and will be able to adapt your purchases accordingly.

Better staff management

For a restaurant owner, managing human resources is very time consuming. Recruiting, maintaining training plans, managing holidays, illnesses or unexpected absences... These are the daily missions of a restaurant manager. This represents a significant waste of time for them, and therefore less time to participate in the good management of the establishment.

An effective solution to counter this is the implementation of HR software offered by many companies such as Snapchift for example. It is a tool that allows you to create high-performance schedules, to involve all restaurant employees, to prepare payrolls automatically and to no longer waste time with administration. This only takes restaurant owners a few hours and allows them to focus on what matters most.

Increase the average basket with an order kiosk to boost your sales

Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to increase sales prices to increase your average ticket.

With an order kiosk, customers always have the pleasure of choosing what they want to eat without feeling rushed or even paying a lot for food.

Thanks to the interactive interface of kiosk, it is possible to make suggestions for complementary products to customers. At the same time, they will be able to discover promotions or special operations. This is how a kiosk can significantly increase your turnover. In addition, investing in this type of tool no longer represents a significant cost for restaurant owners. They can get cheap control kiosks, with starting prices starting at 1500 euros.

Develop a good loyalty program

A customer with a loyalty card consumes more than a new customer. In addition, attracting him to his restaurant is much less expensive than the investment required to acquire a new customer. For loyal customers, it is possible to increase their average basket thanks to points accumulated on past purchases. You encourage them to change their habits, by moving towards more expensive products.

A good loyalty program like the one offered by Pongo is a tool whose ambition is to regularly attract your customers while encouraging them to choose targeted products. Building loyalty requires a homogeneous staging within the restaurant. It contributes to forging a brand identity that is unique to your establishment. At a glance, your customers always recognize you. The basis of a good loyalty program is that it is fair and a source of recognition for the customer, as well as useful for the good development of the restaurant.

Analyze your results

A restaurant owner must always monitor the evolution of his average ticket every day. So, it can determine if the trend has improved compared to the previous month. If yes, it can analyze and highlight the products that led to this increase. If it is specifically the work of one of the employees, do not hesitate to highlight it so that the others can follow suit.

You also need to track sales in order to see which products are the best. Once the list of best sellers is established, all the ingredients that compose them must be identified to reduce costs. This is the time to reduce direct costs, for example, by renegotiating the cost of buying products from suppliers in order to improve the profitability of restaurants.

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