How to increase profits in your food business.
You can apply certain strategies to increase the profits of your food business and they include:
Menu Optimisation: Include items that bring in and increase profits! Assess and monitor these items continuously. If they are not based on standardised recipes that are priced in real time then stop trading!!! Now review and remove the ones that are slow-moving or with very low margin. Take my onsite 1:1 menu planning masterclass that is 20& funded and let's ensure your menu is working for you and not against you: Skillnet Restaurant & Hospitality | Tracie Daly
Customer Preference: Redo your menu by accounting for fresh ideas from your customers. Don't base your menu on this strategy but by bringing in a special that you name after a loyal customer can create a fun and positive reaction. Everyone dreams of having their own cafe (most do) so you can give them that opportunity in the blink of an eye. It boosts customer morale, it can increase sales and opens doors to new customers!!! If it sells well then it becomes a serious contender to take permanent prime real estate on your menu!
Partner with Food Delivery: Use third-party delivery platforms to increase your sales and profits. But understand the cost of doing business with them (up to 30% of all sales are taken by the delivery service providers). The volume at which this option can bring to your business annually can sometimes justify that overhead but only if you create a menu for this service and trial and test it first for stamina (will the item travel well/ hold its heat/ arrive as delicious as when it left the kitchen...). Then assess margins and understand that items that are high in labour and low in cash contribution cannot make your menu! Be strategic, be informed and be clever! Business is money!
Use Cafe/ Restaurant Software: This can help you to improve management, reduce costs, and optimise expenses as you can access real-time reports and make informed decisions essential for the health and well-being of your business.
Customer Loyalty Programs: Introduce loyalty programs to increase lifetime customer value. This is essential in this day and age. If you do not see value in this then put your 'closed' sign on your door and walk away! Adding value back to your customer's experience is the most valuable strategy you can employ for customer retention. Like any plan or decision- unpack it, understand it and don't screw yourself by offering too much- be clever!
Sell Merchandise: Start selling branded merchandise. Buy in small amounts starting off. Create a sales strategy and implement a social media campaign to highlight this new and fun offering. You can't just create it and hope it sells itself so sit down and create a plan for the next 12 months of how to drive and push sales. It is a non-perishable item which helps!
Use Social Media: Use social media to engage with your customers directly but stop posting SHIT photographs. I have a 20% funded onsite phone food photography course where I drive to your business, train you directly and use your space and place to create the perfect image set-up. Then you press repeat and populate all social media platforms with mouth-watering food photography! Follow this link: Skillnet Restaurant & Hospitality | Tracie Daly
User-Generated Content: Ask loyal customers to share pics on social media platforms to get free advertisements. Actively (daily, weekly prompts) drive this space. Be gentle and firm!!! Ask a direct question- "Please feel free to snap and post, our handle is @__________, and we would love to share your post"
Use Targeted Ads: Use clever ads to target relevant audiences based on your seasonal offers, new news, and fun upcoming events. Contact your LEO or R&H SKillnet and take a course in this space so you know what to do. Spending money to make money only works if you plan, measure, amend and try again- repeat!
Focus on Staff: Retain the best talents, train them well, and pay them well. Be clear and set objectives and KPI's. BE realistic also. It always takes longer for change and improvements to count so check yourself in and your staff will feel less scrutinised- this is a game changer!
Food Wholesalers: Purchase raw materials from wholesalers to reduce costs. Price around weekly and monthly or risk being shafted- this is something I see all of the time because the phrase "I'm too busy to do that" is thrown about all too often. You choose your priorities and if this isn't one of them then why are you in business if not to ensure stabilisation, growth and success for all involved?
Minimise Food Waste: Avoid wastage with proper inventory management, refrigeration, production sheets, sales versus waste (goods made, goods unsold, goods binned)..... If you are not amending, increasing or reducing production volume based on insights captured then close your doors! Staff generally don't take this space seriously because the owner drops the ball over and over so no real records are being kept to assess, review and amend within this space. If you are not obsessing over minimising waste then close your doors!
Optimise Employee Scheduling: Prevent overstaffing or understaffing with proper management. But what is more important- train and retrain and retrain continuously so that the team on are capable and confident within their roles. This means you need three team members instead of 5!!! Training is the most cost-effective strategy to reduce labour costs- now I have your attention!
Lower Utility Bills: Switch to LED lights, use energy-efficient appliances, and stop letting shitty old equipment drain your pocket of profits. You must spend money to make money so ensuring the team have the equipment that works to do their best job allows you to increase production, reduce labour and reduce energy use!!! You win on three levels.
Running a food business is intense. No one ever talks about how much an Independent food business owner is responsible for because it is a never-ending list! Your focus is critical for your business to stabilise and grow. If the foundations are rocky then you will remain in fight or flight where you are constantly putting out fires. It doesn't have to be that way- hire specialised industry experts and take back control by stabilising your foundations, putting in place systems and understanding your true role as an owner-operator. A mindset shift must occur in order for you to get out of the way of your businesses success! Avail of funded 1:1 services where you and your business are the focus. This 1:1 approach is proven to increase revenue overnight. Here are my 1:1 part-funded services: Skillnet Restaurant & Hospitality | Tracie Daly
Stop wasting time and let's collaborate- tracie@traciedaly.com
Success leaves clues.....