There are two ways in which restaurants can boost their profits: Selling more or spending less. Now, for an industry that’s worth over 800 billion, there are many restaurants and service providers competing for the same clients. There’s no guarantee that restaurant owners can increase their profit margins by getting more customers. So what’s left to do? The answer is to find ways to cut costs without compromising the quality of services in their establishments. However, you have to be smart about it. With this in mind, here are five effective steps for restaurants to cut costs.
1. Reduce Food Waste
According to research, individual restaurants waste approximately 75,000 pounds of food annually. How much would you save if you didn’t lose that much food! Therefore, to begin with, watch your food waste. Have an estimate of the number of customers you receive every day and use this to create a kitchen prep list. The list should indicate the ingredients required for each meal. Without this, your cooks can end up cooking more than what’s needed, and this will result in massive wastage.
Other measures you can take to reduce food waste include the following:
Come up with a reliable system that ensures the ingredients bought in first are the first to be used. This will ensure items don’t sit on the shelves and expire before usage.Store food correctly and in the right temperatures to prevent wastage. Regularly service your cool rooms to ensure they maintain optimal temperatures at all times.
2. Tweak Menus to Seasonality
Creating seasonal menus is an excellent way to cut down on food costs. When certain items are in season, they tend to be cheaper. Leverage this by tweaking your menus to include more of these foods and ultimately save money. Examples include fruits and vegetables. Avoid buying items that are totally out of season as you will have to source for them elsewhere, and this will increase their cost. If you have to buy them, ensure you reasonably price the food to cover the extra costs.
3. Save on Heating, Cooling, and Lighting
Heating, cooling, and lighting account for a significant percentage of your total restaurant costs. Unfortunately, you need to create a relaxing and comfortable ambiance in the space by ensuring the temperatures are optimal, and lighting is on point. So how do you do this without getting slapped with a huge bill at the end of every month? Here are a few tips:
Conduct regular maintenance on heating and cooling equipment to increase efficiency.Invest in programmable thermostats which allow you to regulate temperatures in the dining area and avoid overheating and overcoolingDitch incandescent lights for the more energy-efficient LED bulbs
You can also invest in recessed lighting for the dining area or have dimmable lights. These use up less energy and can go a long way in reducing your electric costs.
4. Source for Cable TV Discounts
Paying for cable is an excellent way to keep your customers entertained. However, this comes at a considerable cost, especially if you have multiple TVs in your establishment. You can cut down on cable and TV service costs by negotiating for discounts with your service provider. Most cable companies offer attractive packages that cover TV, internet, and phone services. These firms even allow you to connect multiple devices to the same account, an offer that would significantly lower your annual TV service costs.
5. Reduce Trash Pickup
A typical waste disposal program costs restaurants around $400 per month. The more the pickups you request, the more you will pay for waste collection. You can save a lot of money annually by reducing pickup times. First, you need to reduce your food waste, as this will ensure you don’t end up with an overflowing dumpster. If trash pickups were initially several times a week, you can limit this to once or twice a week.
Cutting costs in your restaurant doesn’t always mean compromising on the services. These simple tips can help you make massive savings every year! To learn more about how to reduce costs in your restaurant, please contact us at GWT2Energy!
