Minimizing Food Costs for Your Restaurant

Minimizing Food Costs for Your Restaurant

by | Sep 30, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

Whether you’re a brand new restaurant that’s just getting started or an established restaurant with a long history of success, controlling food costs is one of your top priorities. You don’t want to deliver anything less than the quality your customers have come to expect. On the other hand, you don’t want to overspend, either! Try some of these tips for minimizing food costs while still providing the excellent quality that every customer expects from your restaurant.

Know What Your Menu Items Cost

Have you ever taken the time to evaluate what each item on your menu actually costs you to create? Check out the individual cost of the ingredients and add them up in order to determine how much you’re really spending on each dish. Some of those premium dishes may end up costing you more than you think! Knowing how much you’re spending on each item will help you determine how you need to change your restaurant spending.

There are some things that are worth offering discounts on, even if the restaurant makes little or nothing on them.

Check Out the Menu

Do you have items on your menu that simply aren’t selling? Are there ingredients that you must purchase on a regular basis, but which often go bad before anyone orders meals that contain them? If so, it’s definitely time to change your menu.

You should also take food costs into account when developing your menu. Are there dishes that are above the regular price point for your restaurant? There are some things that are worth offering discounts on, even if the restaurant makes little or nothing on them, but you should be sure to evaluate the actual use of each of these menu items.

Evaluate Portion Sizes

Portion sizes can have a huge impact on the cost of each dish. If your dish is designed to have four ounces of meat, but the chef often tosses six ounces in arbitrarily, you’re wasting food. Make sure that you have a standard portion size for each dish. It won’t just help slice food costs; it will also help customers know what to expect every time they order their favorite menu item.

You should think outside the box and find ways to use as much of the food you’ve ordered as you can.

Control Your Inventory

Ordering food that ultimately goes bad is one of the biggest wastes of your restaurant’s food budget. Keep an eye on what’s coming in and what’s actually going out. Don’t let yourself run out of key ingredients, which could cause a problem for customers, but don’t over-order, either! Instead, create an inventory system that keeps the right amount of food coming in for your restaurant.

Watch the Waste

There’s a lot of potential for waste in many restaurant kitchens. From careless prep work that results in perfectly good food being thrown away to dishes that use only a portion of a meat or vegetable, then fail to recycle it for later use, you can find yourself throwing food away quickly – and throwing money away along with it. Look for creative ways to use as much of every piece of food as possible.

That doesn’t mean that you should attempt to use things that aren’t typically edible, but it does mean you should think outside the box and find ways to use as much of the food you’ve ordered as you can. Monitor the employees performing prep work to make sure they understand how to use the food properly.

Reducing food waste, controlling your inventory, and changing your menu to reflect the desires of customers and the needs of the restaurant will all help keep your restaurant running smoothly on a lower budget. The more attention you pay to the way you prepare your food, the lower your food costs will be. Often, that means that you can charge less for key dishes, keeping your customers happier, too!

You might also like…

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up
How to Avoid Surprise Health Inspections at Your Restaurant

How to Avoid Surprise Health Inspections at Your Restaurant

by | Sep 26, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

A restaurant can be a dangerous place, filled with razor-sharp cutting utensils, slippery floors, super-heated liquids and bodies moving at lightning speed in a confined area. It’s the type of hazardous environment that is a magnet for health inspections conducted by both the Occupational Safety and Hazards Administration (OSHA) and other workers’ compensation authorities. 

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. The key is to think safety, starting from senior management all the way down to the people bussing tables. It also comes down to something as simple as the design of the restaurant itself. Here are some suggestions, courtesy of Restaurant Hospitality and OSHA, on how the design of your restaurant can go a long way in reducing workplace injuries.

In the kitchen:

  • Buy countertops and cutting surfaces that can be adjusted to the right height for different workers.
  • Install dumbwaiters to transfer food products between floors.
  • Install sinks that are at the height of most workers’ hips. This helps prevent strain in dishwashing.
  • Buy thick rubber mats for use when kneeling.
  • Make sure that all the equipment, utensils, pots and pans needed in the kitchen are within reach of the shortest worker.

In the front of house:

  • Install coat racks at chest height.
  • Install hip-height bar sinks and ice storage at bars.
  • Install computer workstations for ordering that are adjustable with touchscreens.
  • Install lights at ordering computer workstations with dimmers that direct light upward, toward the ceiling.
  • Design at the bar is important, too. The distance between the bartender and customer should measure 22 inches or less.

Workers in the restaurant should:

  • Store heavy and frequently used items on racks that are no lower than hip height and no higher than chest height.
  • Limit very low and overhead storage to items not often used.
  • Rather than bending, stooping or kneeling, work at levels between your hips and chest. You should work in your power zone while sweeping the floor.

Owners and managers should:

  • Create a written safety policy in your handbook. This should address separately the hazards most frequently encountered by employees. Work rules must meet or exceed OSHA standards. Work rules need to be in writing and be distributed to all.
  • Communicate the rules to employees. Ensure management is on board and all new employees are properly trained prior to starting. Implement continued training safety and establish safety committed, view vendor demos and educate workers on most frequently encountered hazards.
  • Take steps to discover violations. Oversee safety inspections, walk-throughs and audits. Watch for hazards or rule violations. Do periodic safety self-inspections.

Eventually, health inspections will find their way to your location, preferably just on a routine inspection and not because of some catastrophic workplace injury involving hot soup. But by using the information we’ve outlined above you will survive your next OSHA visit because you will have substantially reduced your risk profile.

You might also like…

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.

Sign up
Best Tips to Advertise Your Restaurant’s Happy Hour

Best Tips to Advertise Your Restaurant’s Happy Hour

by | Sep 23, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

At the end of the workday, many people have just one thing on their mind: happy hour! They’re hungry and thirsty and as a restaurant or bar of any type, this is a real asset. The thing you need to know though is how to advertise your happy hour so you can make the very most of it. With this in mind, here are the pro-tips.

Understand Happy Hour’s Purpose

Unfortunately, many bar owners think of happy hour as a stand alone part of their day when it’s really not. Happy hour is a transitional time you should use to drive traffic to your bar or restaurant that evening.

Don’t think of a busy happy hour as a success. While it may help you break even, it’s not a success unless you have a busy lucrative dinner or evening. As such, happy hour is actually a traffic and sales driver. You want this traffic to stay for a full-price dinner, which means you need really compelling advertising for that.

Ramp Up In-House Marketing

You want to create a special place or, at the very least, have posters and signs around your establishment advertising happy hour. Make sure these show a list of the deals you’re offering. This way, even if your customers missed happy hour, they know to come in for it tomorrow.

It’s important you train your team on running a successful happy hour.

It’s also important you train your team on running a successful happy hour so they can turn it into a profitable experience. By investing in walking your guests through a happy hour to an enjoyable dinner or late night experience, you’ll bring in more business. Make sure your staff is ready to offer recommendations, talk up full-priced signature items, and, of course, answer questions about the specials.

Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Most bars and restaurants understand how important social media marketing is when it comes to bringing in customers. However, what many don’t understand is how helpful it is for advertising purposes, especially when it comes to happy hours.

Why? Because lots of people get antsy towards the end of the workday and start playing around with their social media feeds. By tweeting about your daily specials around 3-5pm, you’re reaching potential customers at exactly the right time – when they’re deciding where to go for that after-work drink!

Take your social media post to the next level by including an enticing image of either a food or drink special you’re offering. The visual aspect goes a long way in this respect.

Create More Deals

Since most people don’t go to happy hour by themselves, but instead go with a group of friends or coworkers, offer group deals on appetizers or pitchers. These turn your happy hour into the place they want to go.

Also, don’t forget about the power of bounce back coupons.

Also, don’t forget about the power of bounce back coupons. Giving your customers additional coupons for the next happy hour gives them extra incentive to return!

A Little Something Extra

Although cheap drinks and food are stars in their own right, they’re not exactly unique. To make your happy hour stand out in the crowd, try adding a little something extra. Think karaoke, live bands, trivia or games of some sort.

Whether it’s once a week or once a month, this will not only draw a wider crowd but also extend the amount of time, and money, customers are spending at your restaurant. Plus, it’s just another perk that you can advertise!

Offer a Special Menu

Most of the time, happy hour discounts are on drinks and appetizers that are already on the menu. However, if you spend time creating a menu just for happy hour, customers are more likely to stop by and try these offerings.

If you spend time creating a menu just for happy hour, customers are more likely to stop by and try those drinks or food.

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to happy hour, but the gist is that it should be a unique and relaxing experience for your customers that’s affordable, so they can enjoy it on the reg. Then, it’s all about spreading the word!

You might also like…

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up
Proactive Hiring: The New Age of Recruitment in Hospitality

Proactive Hiring: The New Age of Recruitment in Hospitality

by | Sep 16, 2016 | Business Toolkit, IndiTips

For hospitality employers, especially in restaurants and foodservice, the days of simply posting a job and receiving a large pool of talented applicants are over. In this competitive hiring market the need for another method of engaging job seekers is imminent. The time for active recruitment is here and this is how you can do it on Sirvo using the Search Candidates feature.

Why it’s Time to Recruit

So you’ve posted a job listing that has it all – it explains who you are and what your company represents and describes the available position and the qualifications necessary to fill the role, it’s basically the perfect job listing.

So now you should be able to just sit back and watch the candidates roll in right? Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

It can be confusing sometimes why some job listings receive several great candidates while similar posts by similar companies do not. Often times it is due to an over-saturated market.

So many businesses are hiring right now and looking for the same type of candidate to fill the same position that you are. Plus, with all of the new restaurants opening each week, job seekers have more than enough job opportunities from which to choose.

So what can you do to ensure that your positions are filled? Beyond marketing your company’s brand to job seekers, the answer is by actively recruiting industry professionals that you think would be successful in the role you’re looking to fill.

Utilizing Sirvo’s Search Candidates Feature

This tool not only allows you to engage with job seekers based on the qualifications you’re looking for but also, by doing so, you’re showing them that your company can give them exactly what they want in a job – feeling valuable.

Taking the time to identify a candidate’s talents and reach out to them directly is a sign that you care about the people that work for you and that’s a powerful incentive for job seekers.

Getting started is easy, just toggle the “Search Candidates” tab from the main search page and from there, you can scroll through our list of Sirvo users.

You can also search for those that match certain criteria by typing in a keyword such as job title or skill. For example, type “Line Cook” to find users who have that listed in their work experience.

To take a closer look at candidates, view their profiles by clicking on either the name or picture on the search page. User profiles include work experience, education, certifications and more so you can identify who you think may be a good fit for your company and available positions.

We suggest finding at least 5-10 users to reach out to. Remember that a lot of our users may not be currently seeking a position or may be content with their current employer. The good thing is that many are always looking for that next great opportunity or a second job to pay the ever-increasing rent.

Once you’ve selected some potential candidates, reach out by messaging them on Sirvo – simply click the send message link in the header section of the profile.

Don’t know what to say? Start by introducing yourself and your company and expressing your interest. From there, suggest a time to meet or ask them to apply for your job on Sirvo.

Start Your Search Today

Sure, this is a relatively new tactic when it comes to the hospitality industry, but it’s one that is widely used in almost every other industry out there and there’s a reason. Stop relying on job seekers to make the first move and go find who you are looking for!

You might also like…

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up
Here’s How Much Your Time Actually Costs

Here’s How Much Your Time Actually Costs

by | Sep 9, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

When you’re in hospitality or food service, there’s plenty that demands your time and attention. However, what many fail to calculate is the cost of their time. Take a moment to consider this: what does your time really cost? While it’s not a perfect estimate, understanding what you’re sacrificing by trying to do it all yourself can give you a much stronger picture of what you need to outsource to others.

Calculating Your Value

In essence, the value of your time is expressed by your annual salary including benefits divided by the number of hours you actually work each year.

Value = Annual Salary (+ Benefits) / Annual Hours Worked

If you’re starting your business from scratch and its net worth is relatively low, your hourly cost might be as well. On the other hand, if you’re running a successful restaurant or hotel, you might find that your time is worth more than you think.

Examining the Balance

How much does it really cost to complete a particular activity, whether it’s having your taxes done, cleaning out an old storage room, or taking care of the decor for a new restaurant?

Sure, doing it yourself seems like a great way to shave a little money off of your budget, but that’s only true if your time could not be better used in accomplishing other tasks.

If you’re forcing yourself to work overtime, you’re lowering your net worth – and potentially bringing down the net worth of your business.

The Cost of Experience

Hiring experienced professionals to take care of things might have a higher up-front cost, but it also means that you can be sure the job is done right.

From a new paint job that won’t peel off the walls or need to be redone because you chose the wrong kind of paint to an experienced financial professional to oversee your books, hiring a professional means several things:

  • Less time spent cleaning up mistakes later
  • Greater professionalism
  • Higher levels of accuracy the first time
  • Accomplishing the task much faster than you’d be able to do it

Your contributions to your business are many and varied. You’ve done plenty of things, particularly in the business’s early days. The longer you own your restaurant or hotel, however, the more your time is worth–and the more important it is that you bring in professionals who will help make the most of it.

Sending another individual or hiring out a particular task is a more cost-effective use of your resources.

Your Employees’ Time Matters, Too

Accepting that your time is important is just one step in the process of making the most of your business. It’s also important to acknowledge how much your employees’ time means.

Whether it’s the manager who is the absolute best at dealing with customer complaints or the server who always receives glowing reviews from customers, sending them to take care of menial tasks means that you’re paying their current (higher) salary for those tasks.

In many cases, sending another individual–or hiring out a particular task instead of having your employees complete it–is a more cost-effective use of your resources.

Understanding the true worth of both yourself and your employees is the ideal way to increase your business and make the most of every aspect of it. The cliche is, “Time is money!” The truth is, your time is worth your money. Acknowledging that will make it much easier to decide which tasks are truly worth your time and which ones are better moved to someone else’s plate.

You might also like…

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up

How to Define Your Company Brand for Job Seekers

by | Sep 5, 2016 | Business Toolkit, IndiTips

Job seekers are looking to the company brand more than ever to determine whether or not the job is the right one to fulfill their needs. Millennials even more than gen Xers and baby boomers, so it is imperative you convey your brand’s message clearly if you are trying to attract younger candidates.

Share your employee value proposition

This is a consistent message regarding what your restaurant or hospitality business can do for candidates as employees. And, with how competitive the hiring market is right now for restaurants and hospitality businesses, this is what will set you apart from others looking to hire from the same talent pool.

This is a consistent message regarding what your company can do for candidates as employees.

The best place to convey your company brand is in job listings because it’s essentially the point of sale when it comes to recruiting. For example, when creating a job listing on Sirvo, utilize the description section to convey a clear message that will resonate with candidates’ interests and needs.

Explain the benefits and perks of working for your company and even why your company receives high ratings from employees. Basically, include anything that shows the value employees experience.

Tell your story

Describe your values, workplace culture and what makes your restaurant unique in general. Engage candidates in the bigger picture of what your organization is trying to do beyond making a profit. Essentially, give them something that they can relate to.

Use your Sirvo company page to describe your company values and workplace culture.

These details should be everywhere – your website, physical location, social media, and hiring platform especially. On Sirvo, use your company page to this end. Describe your values and culture in the header description and upload photos that complement the story.

Treat candidates like customers

No matter what, your company brand should recognize professionals for their efforts when applying for your jobs. Candidates are volunteering their time to go through the process and currently have the power in this labor market. Make sure they feel appreciated and receive affirming communications throughout the process.

Don’t leave candidates in the dark when it comes to your hiring timeline.

One of the most frustrating aspects of applying for jobs is never hearing back from employers, and that’s why Sirvo has an in-app messaging hub – so that employers and candidates can easily communicate with one another throughout the hiring process.

From reviewing an application to scheduling an interview, don’t leave candidates in the dark. Let them know what to expect and how quickly you plan on making a decision… and follow through with your plan.

Make it a lifetime branding experience

From hiring to onboarding to performance management, employees need to experience a consistent company brand. Once you sell a candidate on what makes you great, you need to actually live it or they will just leave. Be clear about your vision and values and make sure they permeate every step of the process. 

Whatever you do, make sure you consistently apply the process for every prospective employee.

Ensure that you are evaluating how you are doing and collect feedback from your people about key parts of your culture. You can do many things to create a positive candidate experience and whatever that may be, make sure you consistently apply the process for every prospective employee.

By clearly defining and conveying your restaurant’s brand to job seekers, you will not only attract more qualified candidates but also find that retention is improved. To find out more about how Sirvo can help you share your company’s brand, click here.

You might also like…

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up