According to Forbes Magazine, 19% of restaurants that open fail in their first year, mostly because they are under-funded and ill-prepared to weather challenges that may arise. However, once restaurant owners reach their one year anniversary, new-restaurant jitters subside and it’s time to focus on streamlining operations.
Many restauranteurs are constantly seeking restaurant management tips that allow them to expand their customer base and generate repeat business. To help them meet these goals, many restaurants install point of sale (POS) systems and mobile management solutions to help track inventory, increase accountability, and reduce risk.
Here are three restaurant management tips to help your operation run more smoothly.
1. Keep a close watch on operations-anytime
Owning a restaurant means working long hours in your eatery in addition to back office work. There are only 24 hours in a day, so restaurant owners who like to spend their time in the front-of-the house or working alongside staff in the kitchen, may need to perform back office work via remote management. Owners and managers can use this software, for example, to generate detailed reports that tell them how many of each menu item was sold in a certain period so they can forecast their future needs. Remote management capabilities are critical for restaurant owners who operate more than one location, because it’s physically impossible for them to be everywhere at the same time. Heartland’s Xenial Mobile Manager gives you the ability to manage multiple locations from the same app, pinpoint shrinkage, receive at-a-glance sales figure comparisons, and keep an eye on key metrics like sales and labor.
2. Find and eliminate sources of shrinkage
Stay alert for signs of problems that can lead to shrinkage, like theft due to loss or unauthorized voids and discounts. Although it’s an unfortunate reality, one of the most valuable restaurant management tips is to be aware of employee theft. No one wants to believe that the employees you trust would steal, but the National Restaurant Association estimates that internal employee theft is responsible for 75% of inventory shortages and about 4% of restaurant sales. Three-quarters of employees steal from the workplace at least once, while half steal repeatedly. If food is disappearing without explanation or cash drawers are over or under frequently, it’s time to investigate. A mobile management solution can alert you to unusual activity at any of your locations, like voids or refunds before it becomes a more serious loss. Managers can view, sort and share the details of live guest checks via email and text, so it’s easy to identify the culprit before theft gets out of control.
3. Minimize labor costs
Restaurant labor is costly, so keeping tabs on this expense in real-time allows you to schedule employees more effectively and make changes on the fly. When overtime hours are about to go into effect, a mobile management solution will send an alert directly to your device. This gives you the chance to review the schedule and shift employees around to reduce labor costs, so there are no expensive surprises when it comes time to submit the payroll. This is a restaurant management tip that can save you big money, especially if you’re using a mobile management solution to monitor labor expenses at more than one location.
Restauranteurs who want to be hands-on in their eateries or have several locations to manage should focus on simplifying their operations. If you’re looking for restaurant management tips, one of the most valuable is to implement a solution like Heartland’s Xenial Mobile Manager that sends you information in real time to reduce labor costs, monitor for sources of shrinkage, and stay informed of sales and inventory.
