Have you ever wondered how restaurants like McDonald’s and Chipotle are able to run so efficiently, with little to no wait time, even during the busiest lunch hours? The secret, of course, lies in the restaurant systems they’ve put in place to keep things running smoothly. In this article, we’ll teach you how to make your restaurant business as efficient as possible by systemizing its key areas. Let’s get started!
Outline the tasks
A restaurant is a business full of tasks. From ordering fresh produce and meats to making sure you have enough staff on duty and proper sanitation procedures, there’s always something that needs doing in your restaurant. In order to optimize efficiency, it’s important that every task within your business is clearly outlined, defined, and completed by someone other than yourself or your general manager.
Identify the best tools
Finding and using tools that help you run your business can save you time, money, and headaches. If you’re not using systems, practices, and technology to simplify operations in your restaurant, start by identifying your weaknesses and thinking about what will be most valuable. Do you need better inventory management? Do you need an easy way for customers to pay their bills? Is there a task (like cleaning or accounting) that takes up a lot of time each day but could easily be outsourced?
Start using systems that suit your business
If you’re a small business owner, you probably wear many hats. While nobody expects you to be an expert in every area of your business, you should at least have a general understanding of everything going on inside your company. If something needs fixing or adjusting, take charge! A good place to start is with systems—software programs and checklists that help run your restaurant more smoothly. Systems can help structure your back-of-house activities like inventory control, tracking employee hours, and scheduling shifts.
Automate where possible
It’s a good business sense not to overlook opportunities for automation. Taking a little time upfront can save you valuable time and money in managing your restaurant over its lifetime. It’s also true that automating where possible will make it easier on your staff and make for a better experience for your customers. Make use of software, hardware, and services that can streamline your restaurant operations.
Buying new hardware and implementing a management system requires substantial investment. But automation doesn’t have to be expensive. For hardware, you can take advantage of loads of quality refurbished computers. They perform as well as newly bought ones but at a fraction of the cost. These computers can already handle a lot like managing logistics, tracking orders and deliveries of customers, and organizing the restaurant’s inventory.
Online & offline POS system
The right point of sale system will allow you to track all aspects of your business, including food costs, labor costs, inventory levels, and supply purchases. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar restaurant or an online business selling hot meals for pickup, Your restaurant POS systems should be able to keep track of every transaction and let you know where your margins are slipping.
Many restaurants use cloud-based systems that can integrate with their existing websites so customers can place orders online, pay for them securely, and have their orders ready when they arrive. Cloud-based systems also make it easy to share data with other departments within your company such as accounting and human resources.
For example,
if someone calls in sick or quits suddenly, you can easily make adjustments to your staffing schedule without worrying about missing critical information.
Give team members ownership
Give your employees ownership of their tasks and allow them to flourish by showing off their skills. Not only will they take pride in their work, but also be more motivated and feel like part of a larger team working toward a common goal. And you’ll reap all of these rewards for little out-of-pocket costs since happy employees perform better at less pay.
Involve your staff in the decision-making process
Everybody can contribute a lot to every part of your restaurant business. Therefore, it’s important that your staff is involved in making decisions and actively participates in the decision-making process. This will provide them with a sense of ownership which eventually leads to better outcomes for both you and them. Additionally, ask for feedback from time to time and include their input when possible.
Analyze if it works, then iterate.
A successful business is all about trial and error. Sometimes you’ll work tirelessly on a project, only to have it fail miserably. Other times, you’ll come up with a quick fix that makes all of your problems go away. The trick is figuring out which approach is right for each situation and then implementing it in your restaurant.
Conclusion:
In order to run your restaurant smoothly, it’s important to systemize as much of your business as possible to save time and money without sacrificing efficiency. Learn how to do this with these helpful tips from the service industry experts at [Bdtask].
