Securing restaurant recipes is a matter of strategy. It is not enough to just open an establishment and wait for customers to come to consume, because there are actually a multitude of factors that play a role in the financial success or failure of a restaurant. In this article, we recap several key points that allow you to maintain a constant level of profits :
Have clear goals
It seems obvious to be able to answer this question, but some restaurateurs nevertheless open establishments without really knowing why they want to dedicate themselves to this kind of activity, while that is what the rest of the decisions depend on. To deepen a passion for gastronomy? To manage a business that allows you to live reasonably well? To earn money for a while? To revolutionize the world of catering? To perpetuate a family heritage?
Each motivation involves different paths . Opening a creative cuisine restaurant involves a financial strategy that will not be the same as that of a fast food franchise, for example. The very location of the restaurant may be affected by these goals. Some restaurants, because they do not have well-defined objectives, are located in areas that do not correspond to them and end up collapsing. To take an example, a French cuisine restaurant located in a very touristic area of Madrid is likely to garner less revenue than a restaurant specializing in typical Madrid dishes.
Have a development plan
It is essential to have a business plan that makes it possible to control investments and profits and hence ensure the restaurant’s income. The easiest way is to establish monthly revenue forecasts, with an estimate of the occupancy rate of tables and cutlery sold over this period, then subtract production costs and charges.
In this sense, profitability would be achieved when the restaurant’s revenues cover at least double its production costs. Likewise, of course, everything depends on the capacity of the restaurant, but starting from the hypothesis of a round figure, which can vary from 7,000 to 50,000 euros per month, it is possible to define lines of action.
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Be careful
Who wants to sell out and see their establishment still prosperous? Everybody ! And it’s good to have that attitude from the start. However, it is better to set more realistic goals before making utopian revenue forecasts. For this reason, from a financial point of view, it is advisable to consider different scenarios : an ideal scenario (you get more than you expected), a normal scenario (you support the establishment), a other less favorable (you have losses).
This makes it possible to anticipate the different variations that may appear over the seasons, changes in consumption habits, etc. It is also useful, to ensure more security when it comes to assuming risks, to implement new strategies to attract customers, or to make important changes to the structure of the establishment.
Stay well organized
Another key point in preserving the restaurant’s recipes is to ensure the proper coordination of all operations. Reservations, customer service, inventory management, and even communication with the kitchen have to work like a orchestra .
This level of organization makes it possible to save time, optimize table occupancy, adjust investments to the real needs of customers, avoid waste and therefore preserve the restaurant’s receipts. TheForkManager is a reservation management software that allows you to perform all these tasks in a simple and convenient way.
Planning the gastronomic offer as a strategy
The menu is one of the restaurant’s best sellers . It is therefore important that it is designed in accordance with the sales expectations of the establishment and of course according to the preferences of the customers.
A technique generally used in catering is menu engineering , which consists of carrying out an analysis of the establishment’s gastronomic offer, defining which dishes are the most profitable, and depending on the results, positioning these dishes strategically. in the card in order to make them as profitable as possible. Read this article to learn how to apply this strategy in your restaurant.
When you have a well-defined gastronomic offer and the necessary ingredients to make it happen, the ideal is to put in place a good recycling plan , creatively reusing leftovers such as shells, skins or seeds in your recipes. Many restaurants have already opted for this solution to reduce the loss of raw materials and save on production costs.
Guarantee the restaurant’s recipes through marketing actions
One of the most effective ways to maintain sales today is to adapt to marketing trends that are popping up around the world. Consumption habits are constantly changing, and if the restaurant knows how to take this into account, it will always have a competitive advantage.
It can be said that a restaurant offering extended kitchen opening hours, dishes for celiacs, which accepts dogs, which organizes brunches on Sundays and afterwork events two Thursdays a month, will certainly have more chances. to fill his cash drawer than a competitor who neglects these needs.
To keep abreast of these needs, it is necessary to actively monitor opinions on the Internet , both on TheFork and TripAdvisor profiles, as well as on those of social networks. This will help the restaurant owner to know what needs to be improved in order to attract more customers.
Obviously, for all these events to give good results, it is essential to promote them on publications on social networks and to make them known to customers through e-mail campaigns, carried out using the restaurant database.
Ultimately, the financial success of a restaurant depends on many factors that must be managed in parallel. It is a complex task but perfectly achievable if the two main conditions are met, namely a clear objective and the motivation to achieve it. We sincerely hope that this is the case with your restaurant!