Why Shift Your Restaurant Focus in 2022
Why Shift Your Restaurant Focus in 2022
At this moment you are probably way beyond your breaking point in your kitchen. The pandemic seems it’s never going to end. Food cost is through the roof with the supply chain still limited. Wages have increased drastically and finding staff is nearly impossible. 2022 is going to continue to be a year of transition with continued challenges, but things will gradually improve. This is exactly why you need to shift your restaurant focus.
It’s Time To Improve Your Bottom Line and Quality of Life.
The first thing is to stop looking back…things are not going to go back to the way they were. We have all been forced to adjust to a new way of life and not all of it is negative.
Adjusting your hours, for example, increases your quality of life and decreases labor and food costs. This is something pre-pandemic we did not do properly. We were of the mindset that the more hours we worked the more money we would make. There were slow hours, even days that we were simply wasting money instead of making money. If you are producing good food on a consistent basis, people will come when you are open. Shorter hours with the same amount of customers means busier days. This increases profit and reduces overhead. In fact, a lot of restaurants have adopted hours of Thursday to Sunday. Their profits are soaring due to their restaurant’s focus.
How often pre-pandemic did you analyze your food cost and adjust menu pricing? Chances are never or not enough. Rising food cost has forced you to take another look and make necessary adjustments. If you have not done this, what are you waiting for? Need help? I am a phone call away!
Supply chain shortages should have taught you not to pigeonhole yourself into specific menu items. For example, do not write on your menu a Brioche bun simply write bun. If brioche is out this week, switch to a potato bun or pretzel roll. Bottom line, customers are coming in for your cooking and they will take it how and when it comes.
Ways To Shift Restaurant Focus
- Stop looking backwards and look ahead
- Adjust your hours of operation
- Decrease labor costs
- Raise your prices
- Make your menu smaller and flexible