Many restaurants have faced rising costs such as rising gas prices and higher purchasing and personnel costs since the corona pandemic. As a result, restaurant prices have gone up. Fortunately, there are many ways to save money without sacrificing the quality or service of your restaurant. In what ways can you save on operating costs as a business owner?
1. Reduce fixed costs
As a hospitality entrepreneur, you face a number of fixed costs every month. Think of energy, insurance, waste disposal, payments and much more. Procent, the free purchasing platform for the hospitality industry, can help you with this. Do you want to know how you can save? Have a free energy scan made by the specialists of Procent. That way you will immediately know exactly how much you can save on your energy costs. Procent purchases on behalf of thousands of hospitality companies, creating economies of scale and allowing you to benefit from the best deals. Procent is also a good partner for affordable and sustainable waste processing. With Procent you can save an average of 20% annually on waste disposal. Well worth it!
2. Smaller menus
If the corona pandemic taught us anything, it is that flexibility is crucial to keeping the business running. It is always good to critically examine business operations, even in the absence of a pandemic. Smaller menus are an example of this. After all, did you know that 80% of sales come from only 16% of menu offerings? (Apicbase, 2022). Smaller menus have a lot of advantages. For example, it immediately becomes a lot easier to train new employees. In addition, there is much less waste, which significantly reduces procurement costs. In addition, business operations are simplified, which in turn makes it easier to control costs.
3. Improve sustainability
With rising energy prices, it makes sense for business owners to think about how they can improve the sustainability of their premises or operations. This way, you will not only save on restaurant fixed costs, but also improve your restaurant’s reputation. Invest in energy-efficient appliances and equipment. Most new models save quite a bit of energy, allowing you to save on electricity bills. ” A sustainable operation makes for double profits. “A personal advisor for your energy bill or an MVI monitor? Sligro offers interesting opportunities in this area. Read more about green business here. Do you regularly have portions or leftover food? Then don’t throw this away, but offer it for a small price. You can do this through handy apps such as Too Good To Go, but also via Instagram or Facebook. This way you can earn some money on your food and support people who are less fortunate.
4. Reduce procurement costs
Reducing purchasing costs is also a good way to cut your expenses significantly. Portion control is hugely important. If the portions you serve are different from what you purchase, then the proportions are wrong. This will cause you to spend a lot of money unnecessarily. Don’t forget about deliveries, either. Optimizing deliveries can make purchasing a lot more profitable for you and the suppliers. Fewer delivery moments will save you an enormous amount of time. Plus, this is better for the environment. There is also software that links ingredient ordering to inventory. That’s so easy! Always keep a close eye on what you are spending. Calculate the ideal cost and compare it to the actual cost. If the actual costs are too high, take immediate action.
5. Use QR codes to save on personnel costs
Personnel costs are one of the largest expenses in the hospitality industry, accounting for 30% of costs. To reduce these costs, it is therefore essential to look critically at personnel costs. First of all, it is important to find and keep good staff. The hospitality industry replaces about 40% of its staff every year (NRIT Media, 2022). This means that every year 40% also has to be re-employed (through expensive recruitment agencies or otherwise) and trained. This costs time and money. Therefore, it is advisable to keep your employees happy. Involve your employees in the organization and make sure there are enough opportunities for advancement. Since corona, QR codes have become indispensable in the hospitality industry. Where everyone expected them to disappear again, however, that is not the case. In fact, hospitality and a QR ordering app can go very well together. It really complements the employee team. Let the customer place his or her own order via the QR code. You then only need an employee to bring the snacks and drinks. This means: less staff, more turnover for your restaurant.
6. Dark kitchens
With rising rents in major cities, and the increasing demand for delivery meals, the concept of dark kitchens is becoming increasingly popular (Twinkle Magazine, 2019). A dark kitchen is a kitchen that only cooks for delivery. Existing restaurants are also increasingly opting for a hybrid form where they combine their business operations with a dark kitchen. The dark kitchen then focuses solely on delivery. In the existing restaurant, people can just physically come and eat. You can choose to share the kitchen of the dark kitchen with other entrepreneurs. This way you share the costs of renting the building/kitchen. The location does not necessarily have to be in the city center, so you can also choose a cheaper location.
7. Choose good hospitality software
The hospitality industry is an industry where there is a need to work fast and also keep up with a lot. This can still be a problem during the busiest hours. Customers not getting the right dish or waiting a long time for their order. As a result, you may face lost sales. Therefore, invest in good hospitality software. For example, Cashdesk’s software. With the CashDesk POS systems for the hospitality industry, you not only help yourself, but also the staff by working more efficiently! If your delivery restaurant has many orders to process daily, then you will benefit from a good delivery software with cashdesk functions that allows all orders to come in clearly in one catering system. This gives you more control over the incoming orders.
8. Choosing correct menu prices
The right prices on the menu are very important. If restaurant prices are too high, then no one will order your dishes. If they are too low? then revenues are too low to cover costs. Most restaurants maintain a cost per dish of 28 to 35% of the menu price (Misset Horeca, 2022). If the higher prices on the menu result in fewer guests coming to eat, it is necessary to reduce the cost per serving. This can be done by seeking cheaper suppliers or by reducing portion sizes.
9. Increase your sales with pickup and delivery
Finally, in addition to reducing restaurant costs, it is also good to look at ways to increase sales. Online ordering and takeout is the future. If this suits your business, staff and kitchen, then this is a good way to generate extra income. Do make a good trade-off here in terms of costs and the profit it generates. Again, QR codes are a good solution. It has been shown that guests order more when they are not in contact with a waiter or employee at the counter. So you can capitalize on this by using order kiosks, but also by using QR codes at the entrance of your restaurant. The use of QR codes also eliminates the need for relatively expensive mobile pin machines. Often you can pay with Apple Pay, PayPal and many other methods. Is is customer friendly, fast and safe.
Resources:
1. https://get.apicbase.com/nl/restaurant-trends-2021-welke-innovaties-houden-stand/
2. https://www.foodinspiration.com/nl/9-dingen-over-de-prijzen-in-de-horeca/
3. https://coolenator.com/nl/horeca-trends-in-2022/
4. https://www.levensmiddleby.com/nieuws/kosten-besparen-restaurant/
5. https://foodyard.nl/thema/ondernemen/rendement/kosten-besparen-is-de-uitdaging-voor-de-horeca
6. https://www.nritmedia.nl/kennisbank/41596/verloop-personeel-kost-horeca-14-miljard-euro-per-jaar/?topicsid=15
7. https://twinklemagazine.nl/2019/07/dark-kitchen-focus/index.xml
8. https://www.missethoreca.nl/264154/menukaart-maken-meer-omzet-met-kleine-aanpassingen
9. https://www.procent.com/besparen-horeca/energie/
10. https://www.sligro.nl/slim-ondernemen/duurzaamheid.html
CashDesk NL
CashDesk BE
CashDesk EN
CashDesk DE
