6 Ways to Alleviate Rising Food Costs

Watching the bottom line is essential to operating a profitable business, and finding ways to alleviate rising food costs in your restaurant is crucial to success. With today’s escalating transportation costs adding to the variable price of inventory, it can be extremely difficult to monitor profit and loss areas without software that is designed specifically for the restaurant and food service industry.

The following list provides 6 ways to alleviate rising food costs in your restaurant for increased profits.

1) Monitor P&L Daily, Weekly and Monthly

The restaurant and food service industry requires you to vigilantly monitor your profits and losses in order to succeed. The average profit has decreased significantly from an average of 18% to 24% to an average profit of 6% currently, which means only a slight increase in losses can severely impact success and must be caught and corrected as soon as possible.

2) Eliminate Waste

Eliminate waste in the kitchen through every available means. Calculating portion costs and implementing portion control, and monitoring the results is one of the quickest ways to turn around losses. Perishable items that become outdated or are past their prime quickly drive up costs as does the practice of ordering items that are out of season. Weigh and measure portions consistently.

3) Keep Records

Keep records that include inventory and food waste, and personally take stock on a regular basis. All food, beverages and other items should be accounted for as waste can quickly eat up profits.

4) Order Food From a FoodService

Ordering food from a food service is typically less expensive than purchasing it at a nearby market. Over and under ordering can both add to your overall costs, although in different ways. A quick turn around is important in this industry, as perishable items go bad and frozen items can become freezer burnt or develop an old flavour. Orders that are short often mean filling in from local suppliers who not only charge more, but may not carry the same quality of food. 

5) Build Relationships

Relationships are important throughout the food service industry. Building a strong alliance with suppliers, employees and customers is crucial to your success. Knowing what specials are offered by suppliers can help with menu planning for increased profits. Employees who are preparing and serving the food need to care about the business and feel appreciated, while also understanding that it is a business. Customers walk through the door for a good meal and great atmosphere, meaning quality meals at affordable prices is important. 

6) Implement Inventory Control

Implementing inventory control software provides restaurant owners and managers with the tools they need to determine where waste occurs and to monitor inventory. Becoming pro-active with easy to use software can help you quickly determine when losses occur and why. Equally important, you will be able to plan menus and set prices quickly and easily based on current supplier costs as well as changes in operating expenses. 

Now it’s your turn. How do you control food costs in your restaurant? Leave a comment below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system follow the link IdealStockControl

6 Tips for Controlling Labour Costs in the Restaurant Industry

Labour costs are one of the most important costs of running a successful restaurant. How do we determine its effect on business?

An effective gauge is the labour cost percentage: divide the amount owed for payroll with the amount earned in sales. The goal of any restaurant should be to keep this percentage below twenty percent, as anything more than that is too costly.

Here are six tips to keep that number from approaching anything unreasonable.

1) Cross-Training Staff

Cross-training your staff is an essential tool in combating unhealthy labour costs. By preparing workers to handle other jobs that need filling as necessary, the restaurant is able to better focus on keeping the number of workers needed in a given day low. When the prep cooks are able to operate the grill and the hosts can act as back-up servers, you eliminate the need for a specialized, diverse staff. The beauty of cross-training is that it maintains the same level of production quality your restaurant is known for without bleeding money on unnecessary labour.

2) Regular Audits

While cross-training your staff, it might be a good idea to also perform regular audits on their performance. By observing how each member of your staff operates during a given work-day, you can better assess their time management, as well as how to construct your schedule around certain parts of the day that are “down-times.”

3) Hourly Wages

Although restaurants normally operate on fixed wages, extra staff on busy nights should be shifted to hourly wage rates. As simple as it may sound, it will drastically improve the effect labour costs have on payroll when workers are only taking in a variable amount based on how much they’re actually needed on those intense work nights.

4) Adaptable Schedule

Along the same lines as monitoring staff performance for “down-times,” it’s also a good idea to regularly change the schedule as needed. Instead of relying on fixed work schedules, an adaptable schedule allows you to react accordingly to shifts in projected sales, as well as other important business concerns.

5) Resist the Urge to Panic Hire

“Panic hiring” is the temptation to hire the best from a pool of applicants with, at best, limited quality. It might seem like a good idea when your crew is overworked and undermanned, but consider the long term effects before making a hasty decision.

For one thing, it won’t do anything to directly address the labour cost problem, as you’ll be spending more to keep new recruits under your employ. The logistics of training them is another problem. If your crew is already overworked, adding an extra employee with no training will do nothing to increase your efficiency.

6) Over-Staffing

Just as it might be tempting to hire extra employees when the situation seems desperate, care should also be given when scheduling too many people for one night. Only schedule as many people as necessary, don’t attempt to account for any unforeseen consequences as that’s ineffective managing and will only increase labour costs in the end. Ultimately, this one shouldn’t be a concern if you’ve been following our other tips as outlined. 

How do you control labour costs in your restaurant? Leave a comment below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system follow the link IdealStockControl

Building a Better Guest Experience in your Restaurant

For a restaurant to be truly successful it should offer incredible food and excellent service to its customers enticing them to come back again and again. A guest experience can be enhanced simply by employing a mix of training exercises along with gathering customer input.

Involving Restaurant Guests to Improve Customer Service

Comment Cards

A restaurant relies on repeat customers as well as new arrivals. It’s important to involve them in order to help improve the overall experience. That can be achieved simply by giving your guest comment cards to fill out. Questions on the comment card should be varied, giving them an opportunity to voice their opinions about the quality of service they received.

Was the food served promptly?

Did your food server take care of all your needs?

Was your food server courteous and attentive?

Did your food server offer suggestions for advertised specials?

It’s important for restaurants to know how their guests feel about the service they received.

Additional Customer Service Tips

1) Comprehensive and Ongoing Training

A good restaurant should develop a sound orientation program designed to give new members of its wait staff comprehensive training on food service. For established wait staff, it’s also important for restaurants to implement an ongoing training program so that the quality of customer service can be maintained and improved. The comment cards turned in by guests can go a long way in helping to determine the type of training required to better serve the needs of guests.

2) Hire the Correct Wait Staff

Being a good waiter/food server is more than just delivering food to restaurant guests. It’s about being able to multi-task. Having a clean look, a courteous attitude and the ability to give customers exactly what they want and need are attributes that go a long way in improving the overall guest experience.

3) Acknowledge Each and Every Guest

It shouldn’t only be the wait staff that’s ensuring that each guest is receiving quality customer service. It should be a shared responsibility. A good front-of-house manager should be invested in their guests’ quality of service as well. They need to be checking in at each table to ensure their experience has been enjoyable. On-duty managers and chefs likewise should be actively engaging guests, making them feel welcome. A good manager will be able to gauge how much attention guests want as some like to be left in peace.

4) Word of Mouth is the Best Advertisement

Restaurants rely heavily on word of mouth in terms of its reputation. If a guest has enjoyed their experience, they’ll share that with others. However, they’re also far more likely to share a bad experience than a good one.

 It becomes incumbent upon any restaurant to utilize whatever tools and resources available to help improve the quality of customer service. By employing the right training solutions to reach that goal, restaurants can easily improve the overall guest experience and avoid the stigma that a bad customer service ranking can bring.

One final tip, be sure to monitor social media so that you can quickly respond to compliments, and even more importantly to complaints.

What strategies does your restaurant employ to build a better guest experience? Leave a comment below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system follow the link IdealStockControl

Top 5 Tech Tools for Restaurants [INFOGRAPHIC]

Restaurant operators have to work harder these days to keep up with the most successful chain restaurants. While large restaurant chains enjoy the benefits of broad customer bases, independent restaurant owners are using a variety of new technologies in order to get ahead. 

The following five tech tools are the used in the hospitality and foodservice industries today:

Which of these tools does your restaurant employ and what success have you achieved? Leave a comment below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system  IdealStockControl

7 Tips for Handling Customer Complaints in your Restaurant

If you are going to work in the food service industry one thing you are bound to be faced with are customer complaints.As the old saying goes, “. . . you can’t please all the people all the time”. Eventually no matter how good the food or how good the service someone is going to be unhappy. This doesn’t have to be a major event and it doesn’t have to ruin your day. By following these seven simple suggestions, the majority of customer complaints can be handled to the satisfaction of all concerned.

1) Be Patient

You may or may not believe the customer is always right but the customer is always the customer. They pay the bills and provide your income. Right or wrong they deserve to have you listen patiently to what they have to say.

2) Be Courteous

Regardless of how the customer acts, short of physical violence there is no excuse for behaving in a less than courteous manner. This can be very difficult, especially if the customer becomes abusive but remember that other people including other customers will more than likely be observers to everything you say and do. Be sure they only have good things to say and that no one can lay any blame on your actions if the situation should escalate.

3) Listen Attentively

In a great majority of situations a customer will be satisfied just knowing that you care enough to take an active interest in what they are saying. Give them your full attention. Don’t look away, don’t look bored and don’t act like you have somewhere else “important” to be. Whether you feel it or not, make the customer feel like the centre of your world.

4) Don't Contradict

A customer with a complaint may not always have a valid complaint. Displaced aggression or perceived slights can often lead to a complaining customer. Contradicting them or trying to inject reality into the situation will only make matters worse. Never expect unreasonable people to act reasonably.

5) Apologise and Ask for a Solution

Kind words and perceived remorse on the part of the establishment makes a customer feel cared for and will greatly reduce any emotional energy the complainer may be carrying. Rather than trying to figure out what the customer wants, it is often much quicker and simpler to ask the customer what will make them happy.

6) Give

Always give more than is required. If the customer wants their meal to be complimentary, give it and offer their next meal to be free as well.

7) Give Up

At some point you find a customer that is just not a nice person. There is nothing you can do or say that is going to make them happy. Sad, but it is a fact of life, some people aren’t happy and have no intention of being happy. With these people the best you can do is simply ask them to leave. Don’t worry about them giving you a bad name. These people either don’t have friends to tell or their friends are like them and you don’t need the headaches. 

Now it’s your turn. What has been your experience in your restaurant and how was it handled? Leave a comment below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system for controlling restaurant food cost IdealStockControl 

5 Tips for Building Customer Loyalty [INFOGRAPHIC]

Owning and operating a restaurant in today’s economy can be a challenging proposition, which is why it is so important to build customer loyalty.  In truth repeat customers make up the bulk of any restaurant’s customer base and word-of-mouth advertising can do wonders for building up your clientele.  

But how do you go about building customer loyalty in the restaurant industry?

While any one of the following five suggestions will help to increase your business, implementing all of them is highly recommended and definitely possible given a little time and planning.

Which of these strategies does your restaurant employ? Leave a comment below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system follow the link IdealStockControl

Top 6 Tips for Managing your Restaurant Effectively

The restaurant business is one that only thrives with the help of good management and professional employees. When dining out you know how easy it is to become annoyed with poor service and bad food. As a manager, you must always be on the lookout for ways to improve the quality of the food and employee performance to keep customers happy. Below are the top six tips for managing your restaurant effectively.

1) Lead By Example

In order to be an effective manager, you must show your employees what good customer service looks like. Have them observe you interacting with customers. Ask the customers if they are having a good experience and thank them for coming. This shows your employees what you expect them to provide in order to ensure customer satisfaction.

2) Quality Service

There should be a standard operating procedure in place so that each employee knows your standard for providing service. Someone should greet the customer immediately upon entering the restaurant. Their drinks order should be taken no later than two minutes after being seated. The waiter or waitress should check in on their customers every few minutes to ensure their glasses are full and they are enjoying their meal. Be sure not to overdo this though; a good server will be able to judge how much interaction a client is comfortable with. Going above and beyond will keep the customers coming back. Make quality service a priority.

3) Friendly Environment

Every manger should be aware of their work atmosphere. It is your job to make it pleasant for both the customer and your employees. Look for ways to continually improve on communications with your employees and let them know you are available to talk if they have any issues. Hire the best employees you can find and treat them with respect. This will ensure that they are content with their work, which will make the customer experience that much better.

4) Keep Costs Down

One of the biggest problems that you may face is keeping the cost of running your business within your budget. Keep accurate records by tracking the costs of food, labour, and other expenses. Ensure that you review your expenses periodically to ensure that you are meeting your goals and keeping costs down.

5) Discipline and Reward

Taking care of your employees sometimes requires discipline. In accordance with your employee handbook ensure that when rules are broken, the employee responsible is disciplined quickly and properly. This let’s everyone know that you mean business and following the rules is mandatory. The same goes for rewards. When an employee does something great, be sure to recognize them and let their peers know as well. This goes a long way in letting the employees know you are paying attention to their hard work.

6) Exceptional Food

No restaurant can survive by serving bad, cold, or otherwise unacceptable food. Make sure that every plate served to your customer is of the highest quality. If, there is a problem with a customer’s meal, work to replace it immediately. The customer will be happy you will get repeat business.

Being a good manager is more than just showing up. Taking care of the customers and employees keeps the restaurant running smoothly and keeps you in business.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system for controlling food cost IdealStockControl

More of Less Suppliers: Which is Better for your Restaurant?

In the foodservice industry a vast number of critical decisions have to be made. One of those decisions owners must decide on is how many suppliers they are going to utilize for their restaurants. Is it better to have a few, select suppliers or a vast number of them? 

The following points will assist in answering this question:

1) Very Specific Ingredients

Looking at the ingredients used in recipes is one of the biggest steps that need to be taken into account when making this decision. If your restaurant uses very exotic ingredients or spices that are difficult to find, it might be difficult to have multiple suppliers. Only a select few suppliers in the area may have these items in stock. On the other hand, it could be helpful to have a few backups in case one of the suppliers eventually decides to stop selling the item altogether.

2) Quality of Food

A major concern arises when we discuss the quality of the food. Having too many providers means that the quality could suffer from time to time. If you have a number of suppliers bringing in the meats, vegetables and so forth, it’s almost impossible to have products of all the same quality. In a more casual establishment, customers might not notice a slight variation in taste; however, no guarantee exists that the change in food will go unnoticed.

3) Supplier Stability

In today’s economic climate, it is difficult to tell whether a business is going to stay afloat for any length of time. As a result, having a number of suppliers in your network could be of major assistance to you. If, for example, one shuts its doors, you will still have others waiting in the wings. Still though, in order to keep their business, you will have to use them on a regular basis. Otherwise, they will go out in pursuit of more regular clients.

4) Financial Matters

One of the benefits associated with remaining loyal to a particular supplier is as your relationship grows and strengthens; the supplier might be inclined to give you deals on certain products. If you are constantly jumping around from supplier to supplier, no opportunity exists to build such a relationship. On the other side of the coin, having a network of suppliers means you can be more choosy with your price. In the event that one supplier is not giving you the price that you want, you can certainly negotiate a little by comparing the price to another supplier. If the initial supplier won’t give you the price you want you can move on.

5) In Conclusion

Having both more and less suppliers each has its own benefits. With fewer suppliers, you can possibly get a lower price in the long run, find specific ingredients and control the quality of food. With more suppliers, you have more negotiating power, an array of food choices and better economic stability. The route you choose is up to you and what is best for your particular business.

Whatever decision you make, try to select suppliers with knowledge and insight into your specific industry. This way they can advise you on new trends and products. The correct supplier will be able to help you with preparation and staff training. They will hopefully also assist you with product samples and demonstrations.

Now it’s your turn. How do you decide on the number of suppliers? Share with us below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system for controlling food cost IdealStockControl

How to Drive Traffic to your Restaurant Website that gets Customers Through the Door

Your website is a virtual business card and it holds far more information about your business than a piece of paper or small card. In addition it can be accessed from any country, city or household in the world with an internet connection and computer.
Getting customers to your website is a little harder than handing out business cards. The best way of driving traffic to your site, and ultimately through the door, is to use the following multiple proven methods:

1) Print it

Perhaps, the simplest way to drive traffic to your restaurant’s website is through a printed card placed at each table. List your site and encourage visitors to go to it. Every piece of your marketing material should include your website address.

2) Social Media

Drive traffic to your website with social media. This can be achieved in multiple ways. For example, you can use social media to attract attention to a ‘scavenger hunt’ on your website to find the latest entree your restaurant will serve. You can jump on Twitter trending topics. If they like what you have to say, they may follow you and even visit your website. Moreover, social media promotion is only limited by your imagination. There are many ways to promote businesses and their products that have yet to be discovered.

3) Coupons

Coupons are an immensely successful tool to drive traffic to your restaurant’s website. Everyone loves free stuff! Coupons can be used for a free appetizer or dollars off. They do not have to have a high value amount. They only need to be high enough to encourage your customers to visit your restaurant instead of your competitors. Restaurants can make use of a PDF file or image placed on their website or a service, like coupons.com to make the coupons printable. Always place the coupon on your website to make that the first stop for prospective diners.

4) Giveaways

Giveaways do not need to be elaborate. A fabulous prize and an entry form is all that’s required. Make your website the only place where customers can enter. Combine social media marketing and print to make the giveaway more successful.

5) Blog About It

A restaurant’s website should utilize the blogosphere with a blog on their site and guest posting. A blog on your website keeps your site updated which satisfies the rules of search engines to maintain the site’s ranking in the search results. It also establishes the restaurant as an expert in its field and provides a reason for site visitors to keep coming back. Guest posting is when your restaurant (or a freelancer writer/ghostwriter hired by you) creates a blog post for another blog that promotes your business and establishes the restaurant further as an expert. Guest posts include a link back to the website, so readers can learn more about your restaurant.

6) Fill Your Site with Information

While filling your site with relevant and detailed information sounds a bit elementary, many restaurants forget that all sites need the basics; a detailed menu, ‘About Us’ page, promotions, and other personal details, for customers to read and obtain a better sense of your business. Without these, what exactly is the intent of getting people to your restaurant’s website? A website is a restaurant’s virtual business card and it should reflect the business’s image.

Driving traffic to your website begins with a good website and a marketing plan. A combination of the above methods will bring customers to your website and hook them into coming back. Continue with these efforts to keep traffic at optimal levels.

What methods do you use to get traffic to your website and subsequently through the door of your restaurant?

7 Tips for Selecting the Best Wines for your Restaurant

Offering a wine menu means you must weigh several elements, including your overall concept, your clientele, your food menu, and whether your staff will be able to sell the wine you select.  Get these elements wrong, and you may be stuck with a costly, slow-moving inventory.  Get them right, however, and that jovial clinking of wine glasses will sound like an old-fashioned cash register.

Here are seven tips to think about when creating your wine list:

1) Know Your Concept

What is your theme and who are you trying to serve? If you run a casual burger joint, a wine list may be unnecessary.  But if you offer gourmet burgers as part of an upscale menu, then a wine list may be not only be appropriate, but vital. Do some research of the restaurants in your area to get an idea of what they are offering and what they are charging?

2) Choose Your Supplier Carefully

Ask any contacts in the beverage industry whom they use, and how successfully they compete on conceptual fit, price, and variety. Meet with distributors at your restaurant so they can understand your concept. Ask about their best sellers, but don’t be afraid to offer lesser-known labels that may better fit your theme. Your prospective vendors will want a mutually beneficial sale, so they’ll typically make good suggestions. Make sure that you use at least two distributors.

3) Involve Your Staff

If you have a separate chef or wine steward, include them in the decision, or even delegate them to make recommendations for your approval. Enlist your servers help as well. Your staff will drive your wine sales, so if they don’t like the wine they taste, you will have trouble selling it.

4) Offer Variety

Although a list of 15 wines may be sufficient, try and offer several varieties, even a few which may be new to most customers. Offering recognizable wines with new ones will not only give the guest the comfort of familiarity but also position your establishment as a place where they can experiment. Ensure that you include light, medium and full bodied white and red wines, as well as sweet and sparkling wines.

5) Create Value for Yourself and your Customers

Purchasing wine will obviously affect cash flow; so if you choose expensive wines, make sure they offer something for which customers will pay a premium. Unlike your food, to which your chef and servers add value, customers know the retail cost of your wine, to which you add no value. Remember: not all expensive wines will fit your concept, few of your customers will appreciate the difference, and some of your best-selling wines may be the most affordable, especially those from places such as Australia, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa, etc.

6) Maximise Your Food Pairings

Select wines that enhance the widest variety of menu items. Many guests choose wine based on their choice of entrées. Consider listing appropriate pairings on your menu and train your servers to make suggestions when possible.

7) Manage Your Inventory

Before creating your inventory, you will need to budget for your initial order’s cash flow impact. You will need enough climate-controlled storage to house your wine, without spoiling, until poured.

We end off this blog post with a quote:  “I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.” –  W.C Fields

Now it’s your turn. Any more tips? How do you choose your best wines? Share with us below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system for controlling food cost IdealStockControl

Ideal Software Named Constant Contact All Star Winner

We are delighted to announce the news that Ideal Software has been named a Constant Contact© 2012 All Star winner. We are thrilled to know that our efforts in reaching and engaging our customers via eMail and other online marketing tools has been successful. We would like to express our gratitude to you, our loyal customers and fans, for receiving this honour. Our emails are made with our customers and supporters in mind, and so to this end we thank you for engaging and interacting with us.

How Do You Become a Winner?

Any Constant Contact customer can be chosen as an Allstar. Criteria Include:

1) Having been a customer in 2012

2) Consistently high open rates (greater than 25%), click through rates, and low bounce rates

3) Regular contact with your audience, or publishing at least 2 events

4) Completing two of the following Constant Contact activities:

- Adding list growth tool Join My Mailing List to your website

- Adding Join My Mailing List to your business Facebook page

- Regularly viewing your reports to see how you’re doing

- Sharing your emails or events on social media using social share

- Adding social media Follow Me links to your emails or events

We welcome your feedback, in our continuous effort to improve on our emails, on how we can better tailor information to your foodservice needs.

8 Tips for Getting the Most out of Restaurant Design

Owning a restaurant can be a stressful job, let alone facing the prospect of restaurant design. In an effort to help lighten the burden, we’ve developed eight tips to assist you in getting the most out of restaurant design.

1) Design your Concept Around Three Words

By taking the concept for your restaurant design and breaking it down into three easily digestible words, you give yourself some room to explore ideas while at the same time giving your design focus towards a set of specific goals. Words like fresh, fast, affordable, or fancy are all evocative phrases that can help give your amorphous idea a solid structure to build upon.

2) Separate Personal Preferences from Customer Preferences

Unless your restaurant is themed around you, it’s a good idea to leave any personal preferences behind when constructing your dream restaurant. You want the design to be reflective of your personality, but ultimately be about the consumer’s wants and needs.

3) Don't be Afraid to Seek Outside Help

As previously mentioned, owning and managing a restaurant can be stressful enough on its own. Having to work at the restaurant’s design as well can be a daunting task. With that in mind, don’t be afraid to hire a professional restaurant designer to help take care of aspects that you can’t be bothered with. Aside from some of the more inconsequential details, professional designers can also help with the important parts that you might otherwise not be knowledgeable in, such as the materials and specs for restaurant spaces.

4) Search for Inspirational Images

The internet is an unlimited resource for finding images online that you find to be representative of your restaurant’s design. Don’t just look for other restaurants to imitate though, be open about the type of images you find inspirational and collect them into a collage to provide your restaurant designer. This will help immensely when it comes to them turning your vision into a reality.

5) Be Specific and Communicative

Along a similar vein, be sure to keep constant communication with your restaurant designer to ensure they’re always on the right path. Don’t make them guess at your goals as that will only result in disappointment on either or both ends.

6) Keep an Open Mind

While it’s a good idea to be vocal about what you do and don’t want from your restaurant design, keep in mind that any professionals you hire are considered professional for a reason. Before rejecting any ideas, take a step back and try to see the problem from your restaurant designer’s point of view.

7) Pay Attention to Your Budget

Attempting to design a restaurant without setting up a budget in advance is a surefire recipe for future disaster. Always keep your budgets in the back of your mind when making decisions concerning the look of your restaurant. This way, you avoid any future disappointments when you realize the dream restaurant your building can’t be completed due to a lack of funds.

8) Study Available Timelines

Product delays and reselection can seriously impact the construction stage of restaurant design. Know the timelines for the furniture and other details you wish to include in the restaurant to avoid these inefficient and preventable costs from piling up.

Now it’s your turn. Any more design tips? Leave a comment below.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system for controlling food cost IdealStockControl