As a restaurant owner, you know there’s always room for improvement.
Whether it’s customer service, speed, quality, or behind-the-scenes factors like marketing and finances, there’s always a way to improve operations in some fashion.
The restaurant industry is dynamic. Unfortunately, many restaurant owners don’t understand that constant updates are crucial to staying at the top of your game.
Otherwise, you could get left behind.
4 Simple Yet Effective Ways to Improve Operations in Your Restaurant
These versatile tips can help improve your restaurant operations at a systemic level.
Certain things you simply can’t change like the cost of certain food items. As a valuable part of the New Mexico economy, you don’t want to sacrifice quality but you can probably tweak plenty of other areas.
1. Develop a Concrete Training Program
If you don’t have a centralized training protocol that means employees are training new hires how they do things.
Your workers may all be amazing but this type of decentralized training also means that everyone is not on the same page.
Form a concrete training program and make sure employees are all trained using the same procedures.
2. Create Food Cost Cards and Reduce Food Waste
There probably isn’t a restaurant on the planet that prices plates, orders inventory, and creates their menu in a 100% cost efficient manner – food cost cards can help this.
Keep track of how much each portion of every ingredient costs. You’ll have an accurate idea of how much money you’re making from each item every time. Use this handy, free Restaurant Food Cost Calculator for Portion and Menu Costing.
Do customers often end up with lots of leftovers? Do you frequently over-order or throw out expired ingredients? Update your portion sizes and place inventory orders accordingly.
3. Make Sure Workers Have All the Tools They Need
As a restaurant owner, you know that profit margins are razor thin. Certain things you simply can’t change. You can, however, improve operations by creating a more efficient environment for your team.
How do you know what they need? Ask them.
It could be an extra point-of-sale computer to ring up checks, more glassware, user-friendly online ordering, or an outsourced call center. Find out where they get frustrated and enlist the help of proper tools.
4. Ensure Your Staff Embodies the Mission Statement
Take your mission statement seriously – it’s why you get up every morning and do what you do.
Keep all employees involved in the process of developing and tweaking your mission statement. By providing some autonomy, they’ll feel invested in the company’s outcome.
Join New Mexico Restaurant Association to Improve Your Restaurant Operations
We are New Mexico’s leading organization for restaurant owners united by common goals and values. We provide several benefits such as great insurance rates, music licensing discounts, important educational resources, and much more.
Join NMRA today to receive all the member benefits that can help you improve your restaurant operations or contact us to learn more.
