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

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

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

Is Your Restaurant Website Mobile Friendly?

Consider the needs of the consumer, and your product will generate strong brand loyalty. This bit of solid advice finds application in every aspect of business, but especially in a restaurant’s website. The Internet has unarguably replaced the telephone directory as the primary source of commonly sought information. Customers visiting a restaurant’s website are seeking specific information. The customer needs you to tell them what they want to know without having to hunt for it. You need to reward your customer for taking the time to visit your restaurant’s website.

Factors to Consider:

Restaurant websites rank among the top categories visited on a mobile device. Customers want to know where, when, and how to find a restaurant. Mobile site design needs to bear these factors in mind, and give the customer clear information as quickly and efficiently as possible. Mobile browsing applications don’t always correctly render complex formatting or animated objects; simple designs load more quickly and accurately, allowing the customer direct access to information. Frequently accessed information should be placed prominently on the page; customers should never have to search for the restaurant’s operating hours, telephone number for reservations or carry-out orders, or location. It’s okay to put complex information like maps and menus behind a link, but make those links prominent. Menu imagery and visual presentation is important, but search engines cannot index image files that aren’t correctly tagged with metadata.

Content to Consider:

Customers browsing the restaurant website have placed themselves in an ideal position from which to be reached by the marketer. This is the best time to provide the customer with information immediately relevant to their decision but which they didn’t even know they needed. Specific restaurant ads such as featured menu items, limited-time offers, and specialty services must be actively brought to the customer’s attention. Customers who have taken the time to visit your restaurant’s website want to know about you; they just don’t always know which questions to ask. The best design practices place these important but secondary elements of the site either behind a prominent link or “below the fold” where the customer has to scroll to see them.

After the customer has discovered new information about your restaurant it’s time to reward him for taking time to visit. Website-exclusive promotions can result in immediate conversion of undecided consumers. A mobile reservation system can cut wait times or deter customers when a restaurant is in the weeds;  helping the customer avoid a negative experience is just as important as generating a positive one. Customers can browse the menu while they travel, and discover related businesses. Every restaurant exists within a community of businesses; taking time to direct interested consumers to them builds consumer rapport and can generate back-links. An interactive feedback option lets a restaurant gather valuable information about the customer’s experience.

In Conclusion:

Mobile website design requirements share many commonalities, which may be customized to the needs of a restaurant. Visual designs should use high-contrast text areas and be vertically aligned. Large images present loading and display problems; animated and interactive objects require specific software support not always available for mobile displays. The site should be easy to navigate, present the customer with important information not commonly sought, and reward the customer for time spent visiting.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

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

March 2013 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IDEALSOFTWARENICHENOTESMARCH2013

Less Is More: A Case for Fewer Menu Items

While it may be tempting to offer your customers a large selection of menu items, it is actually far more profitable for your business to limit your menu. Read on for insight into why less is more when it comes to menus.

Fewer Items, Fresher Food

By reducing the number of items on your menu, you can focus on sourcing fewer ingredients. This guarantess fresher items for your customers, especially if you focus on getting in-season, local ingredients to guide your menu items. Consider reducing your menu to a small stable of easily sourced items, then allow for a number of rotating items informed by whatever is available in your area during that season. This will give your menu the benefit of appearing current, whilst still offering customer favourites to inspire loyalty and repeat visits.

Rethink Specials

One way to reduce the number of menu items while still offering your customers variety is to begin using daily or weekly specials. Look critically at the menu items that are ordered most frequently. These are the dishes that should make up your regular menu because they have been proven to be successful. Frequent orders means less waste and less loss of profit. Once you’ve narrowed down your menu to the sure-fire winners, take a look at some of the higher-priced menu items. Consider offering these more expensive, exotic items on an occasional basis. This allows you to order a very small quantity of a more expensive ingredient, like lobster, and simply list it as a special until you sell every portion. Train your service staff to highlight the scarcity of these special menu items, which should increase their value in the customer’s eye and lead to higher sales and swifter movement of your inventory.

Consider the Price

As you work to limit the number of items available on your menu, take a hard look at your menu pricing. Are you charging a reasonable price for the items presented? Pricing too low means you may risk your own profits at the sake of high turnover. Pricing too high means alienating potential repeat customers. Strive to offer a range of dishes on your menu to allow customers the chance to splurge or eat within their budget. A good time to reassess your pricing is after a full menu overhaul, including a redesign of the physical menus. This way your repeat customers will see that you are working to improve your service and inventory, not just raise prices.

Portion Variety

One way to add variety to a small menu and cut costs is to offer variety in the portion size of your dishes. Many restaurants offer small and large versions of each dish, which allows customers to pay for only what they know they’ll be able to consume. This can help you better manage your portion control in the kitchen by giving you an opportunity to think about what you’re offering on the plate per dollar spent. Portion variety is a great way to have a menu with several different choices without going overboard on a huge inventory. You can even offer combinations with several small portions of a few dishes for customers looking to sample new dishes, while still offering traditional sizes for repeat customers craving their favorite meals.

What are your thoughts on fewer menu items? Leave a comment below.

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

January 2013 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IdealSoftwareNicheNotesJanuary2013

December 2012 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IdealSoftwareNicheNotesDecember2012

Opening a Restaurant? Why Location is Important.

Location. Location. Location. It’s a cliche for a reason. Before you fold the napkins or add a dash of anything, you need to settle on a location. This should never be an afterthought. You can have the best food in the world and still be hungry for customers if you are not in the right location. Location is really the key to the success of your restaurant. Even if you have the “perfect” spot in mind, don’t get too attached until you do a little research first.

Here are four factors to consider on finding the correct location for your restaurant.

1) Population

Are there enough people in your area to have a regular customer base? You don’t want to rely on Census Bureau data alone. You want to check factors such as neighborhood demographics and population projections. If, for example, there is a heavily Italian population in your desired location, you’re not likely to have much success with a Japanese restaurant. One way to determine if a location is right for your restaurant is to do a site study. A less expensive alternative is to do a little research on your own. If you contact the local municipality where you want to locate your restaurant, they can provide population projections and other useful info.

2) Accessibility

Building a restaurant by a busy highway is also a cliche for a reason: it works! You may have the right demographics and population requirements, but it doesn’t matter if customers can’t easily get to your restaurant. Even if there are plenty of ways to get to your restaurant, you’re not in the clear just yet. Look at details such as current traffic patterns and projected traffic patterns to determine if congestion will be a major barrier to customers trying to make it to your restaurant.

3) Parking

So, the population in your desired location is just fine for your expected customer base and there are no major barriers to keep customers from getting to your restaurant. The next step is to look at your parking situation. Ideally, it would be best to have your own parking lot for customers. If this is not possible, you’ll want to check on the availability of public parking. Dig a little and find out how busy your desired location is at different time of the day. While crowds are great for business, non-stop crowds may not be so great for parking – especially if people are just parking by your restaurant because it’s convenient.

4) Visibility

Visibility also plays a role when it comes to location. This is why it is more expensive to locate a restaurant right in the heart of the downtown shopping district. It is great to have a cool website with a link to a Google map showing exactly where you are located, but don’t underestimate the impact of walk-in business. More customers than you might think make last minute dining decisions based on what restaurants they happen to see when walking or driving while they are hungry.

In Conclusion:

Location can make the difference between a successful restaurant and a good idea that never really got off the ground. It is all about finding the right ingredients – the right combination of a desirable location, key demographics, and available parking – when cooking up a recipe for a successful restaurant.

What has been your experience when starting your own restaurant? Leave a comment below.

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

November 2012 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IdealSoftwareNicheNotesNovember2012

October 2012 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IdealSoftwareNicheNotesOctober2012

Portion Control and Food Cost

Portion control is an essential element of food cost and quality control. It reduces food waste, ensures a consistent and quality product, expedites food preparation and service, and has a big impact on food cost.

Any extra food added to the customer’s plate is money coming out of your bottom line.

While an extra ounce of soup or a handful of cheese may seem insignificant, these amounts added up per dish over an extended period of time are costing you thousands per year in additional food cost. Excessive portions also contribute to food waste, both in terms of plates coming back half-full and over-ordering of stock; that is your profit going into the garbage every day.

The best way to get a handle on food cost is to keep an open dialogue with all of your staff, assess if and where waste is occurring, and have a mechanism in place to ensure that each portion is consistent in every dish that leaves your kitchen.

Assessment:

When you create your menu, you should also allocate portions for each menu item and price them accordingly. The general rule of thumb is that each dish on the menu should cost 30 – 40% of the selling price in order to cover expenses and make a profit. Lack of consistent portions makes it impossible to assess the true cost per item. Talk to your servers and your dishwashers. They can provide information about what is coming back to the kitchen. If certain dishes are constantly coming back half-eaten perhaps you need to rethink that particular dish and alter it or eliminate it from the menu altogether, or adjust your portion sizes.

Prevention:

A successful restaurant is a team effort, and it is important that all of your staff are on the same page and have the necessary equipment to ensure product quality.

- Provide pictures of each plated item illustrating the correct portion sizes and plating.

- Provide a chart that lists the correct portion of each item in all food preparation areas.

- Pre-portion condiments, sides, and sauces.

- Order pre-portioned stock where practical and make sure that all bulk items are portioned out and appropriately labelled and stored as soon as possible.

- Have and an adequate amount of the correct sized storage containers, ladles, and scoops for each menu item as well as a variety of measuring cups, spoons, and scales.

These measures not only help to ensure less waste, they also speed food preparation and service, especially at peak times. This makes certain that your customers get what they expect every time they dine: consistently good-looking, tasty food, in fair portions, at a reasonable price.

Love of good food and the ability to share it with others is the main reason you opened your doors in the first place; proper food portioning practices help to ensure that they stay open.

September 2012 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IdealSoftwareNicheNotesSeptember2012

Ideal Software supports #SmallBusinessFriday

How to Choose the Correct Music / Lighting / Décor for your Restaurant

Music, lighting, and decor play a vital role in setting the overall tone and feel of a restaurant. In some cases, it's attention to detail that really sets a restaurant apart from the competition and keeps customers coming back. It all comes down to the "if a tree falls in the forest" theory. If you have the best food in town, but you have poor lighting, outdated decor, and music that's reminiscent of your last trip to the dentist's office, are people really going to want to eat there? Here are some tips on choosing the right music, lighting, and decor for your restaurant:

1. Setting the Tone with the Right Music

Selecting the right music for a restaurant is a major decision. You generally have three basic choices when it comes to music in a restaurant. Some restaurants go with traditional elevator music. Sometimes the owner picks his favorite tunes and sometimes the staff is allowed to choose. All of these options can produce mixed results among your customers.

• Elevator music - This is the safest choice, but does it really match the tone of your restaurant? If you're running a sports bar and restaurant, do patrons really want to hear a watered down version of "My Heart Will Go On" while watching the big game?

• Owner-selected Tunes - Restaurants have personalities and who better knows what the personality of their restaurant is better than the owner? The only real drawback is if the music doesn't really match with the theme of the restaurant. This approach tends to work better in casual dining settings rather than "fancy" restaurants that rely more on ambiance.

• Staff-selected Tunes - If you're going to allow the staff to select the music, it's best to set some ground rules. You don't want music that's going to offend or annoy your customers. This means no profanity, heavy metal, or rap - unless this fits in with the style of your restaurant, except for the profanity. All music, regardless of what it is, should be kept at a low level in the background.

2. Finding the Right Balance with Lighting

Do your customers really need to be blinded by a bright light from above while trying to enjoy a romantic moment? Do you really need soft mood lighting to enjoy a pizza? The lighting that you need for your restaurant depends on several factors such as the time of day, the theme of your restaurant, and even the specific area of your restaurant that needs some form of lighting.

• Breakfast - Lots of light is needed to set a bright, energetic tone for the day.

• Lunch - Moderate lighting is fine since you don't really want people to linger as you're trying to turn tables over quickly.

• Dinner - Low intensity light tends to work best for most restaurants since you want people to take time to enjoy their meal and unwind. This is especially true in a fine dining restaurant.

• Fast food and family restaurants - These kind of places should be well lit to provide a comfortable, bright and fun atmosphere.

• Theme restaurants - Use fun lighting such as colored lights to match the theme of your restaurant.

3. Bringing It Together with the Right Decor

The decor of your restaurant should reflect your personality and the overall tone of the restaurant. A pizza place and other casual dining spots generally reflect the personality of the owner. More upscale restaurants generally have a simple decor so as not to detract from the food and atmosphere. Whatever your decision is for the decor, you want to be consistent. Color schemes should match and your decor should match the overall feeling you want to create when someone walks in the door.

In Conclusion:

First impressions are important, especially when it comes to the restaurant business. It can be overwhelming when trying to select the right music, lighting, and decor for your restaurant. If you're not sure where to start, contact a professional designer to get some ideas to get you started. Get a few trusted opinions and get as much advice as you can. Take time to consider factors such as the theme of your restaurant, the type of mood you want to set and how practical your lighting choices really are. You want to create an atmosphere that displays your style and sets the right tone for your customers.

7 Tips in Determining Restaurant Menu Content and Prices

There is one question that every restaurant owner has to address when setting up their business, and that is “How do I determine my restaurant menu content and prices?” While there are a number of considerations that can help you in answering this question, you need to be aware of the fact that it is by no means a static question.

In other words, setting the cost of the items on your menu (or resetting the cost of them) is something that will need to be done multiple times over the course of your establishment’s lifespan. But where do you start? The seven tips listed below should help you in getting started.

1) Determining COST:

In order to correctly determine the prices on your menu, it is important to be able to price your menu items properly. To do this it is imperative that you understand how to determine the cost of your products. This includes everything from wholesale product costs to delivery fees (when the item first shows up in your establishment) to cooking costs as well as wages and overhead in order to determine exactly what it costs for you to be able to provide this particular dish. While it may seem like a lot of work to do for every item on your menu, you may well be surprised to find out how much you are underselling. Once you have determined the costs you can then (taking into account your competition of course) determine a profitable price point.

2) It's All About the Price Point:

When you are starting out in the restaurant business, a good rule of thumb is to take the cost of each dish (see tip #1) and then double it or triple it (In South Africa, an acceptable cost of sale for food overall should be 32- 40% and beverage 25 – 35% giving an overall cost in the 30 – 37% range- if other costs such as labour and rent are below 10% each, you will still be able to be profitable with a food cost in the 45% region). Of course you will want to take into account what your competitors are charging for the same or similar items. In fact, when it comes to things like specialty desserts and coffees it is not unusual to see a 300% markup. So don’t be afraid to add a little extra. If you track your sales you will quickly be able to determine what the public is willing to pay and can adjust your prices accordingly.

3) Understanding the Price Barrier:

There is a point above which most customers will not go. This point is called “The Price Barrier.” While you may find some individuals who will buy the item, the bulk of those who eat with you will not touch it as it is not a good deal for them. While you may be able to get away with a slightly higher price if you specialize and produce something with a little extra (a steak with all the extras for example) most of your middle income customers will stay below this barrier.

4) Knowing Where to Display your Prices on the Menu:

The art of displaying your menu prices is one that depends a great deal on your individual establishment. While having a standard dish/price column may be expedient for diners to determine whether they can afford a dish, if you’re selling upscale foods you may want to have the price listed below the description of the item to make sure your customers read about the food before dismissing it out of hand.

5) Take Demographics into Consideration:

While considering the demographics may seem like something you would expect from a corporation of chain restaurants, know this; being able to determine what the class of diners that your establishment appeals to can help you determine what you should set for prices, and even how your menu should be designed. Upscale clients tend to pay more on the whole and prefer reading about their food before they decide whether or not to order it as opposed to those for whom price is the primary concern.

6) When Food Doesn't Sell:

It’s a horrible feeling when your food isn’t selling. However, there are ways to ensure that even the worst failure of a dish brings you some sort of return. One of the best ways to do this is to make the dish a “special” by placing it in a high visibility area of your menu, having your servers bring it to the diner’s attention, and by lowering the price (or even offering 2 for 1 deals) in order to get it moving. You can even take advantage of your Twitter or Facebook page or send out special email runs to regular customers in order to advertise your special. Who knows, you might have a sleeper hit brewing that just needs a little nudge!

7) How Prices Affect Establishment Image:

Keep in mind that choosing the price for your menu is a direct reflection on your establishment. It’s true! As much as we might not like to admit it, upscale establishments almost always cost more than middle or lower class establishments. The higher the prices, the fancier your clientele is going to expect your establishment to be. Can you deliver? Do you have the ambiance and the service to back up the high menu prices? If so, then go ahead and raise your prices; however, be prepared to lower them if your clientele decides that there is a point above which they cannot go.

These seven tips are by no means the only factors to be considered as you determine the pricing of your menu. However, by following the advice listed above, you will most certainly see a change in the profitability of your establishment. In a few short months you will see positive changes that you might never have thought possible. All it takes is a little time and attention to detail.

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