Owning a restaurant and bar can be very profitable but it can also be very difficult to make the bar or restaurant actually profitable. Getting a high revenue is a key for a restaurant to be able to survive, but if you take too high prices it will mean that you scare away the customers.
There are, however, several different ways in which you can increase your bar’s income without in any way scaring away your customers and reducing the welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant. In this article, we share some of our top tips on how to increase the profitability of, and streamline your restaurant, but many of these principles also apply to a bar, which is often connected to bars as well.
A first tip is to update the menu constantly after which period of the year you are in. The success of a restaurant is not dependent on a single evening, but instead, it is important to have a menu with very popular dishes, which means that the restaurants become unique in the market.
There are certain ingredients that are only good in the summer and some that only fit in the autumn and adapting to this means that the customers will feel that the restaurant feels professional without it having to mean that the expenses will be much higher.
Another good tip is to try to create a dish that becomes unique and a signature for the restaurant, as this will create a reputation for this right and thus the restaurant. It is good to try to encourage the chefs that you have to be creative by having a creative dish, you will have high demands on them.
Creating a long-term strategy is another important factor because most restaurants live on returning customers who thereby constantly bring income to the restaurant and if this person is satisfied, they recommend the place for their friends and thus give you free advertisement.
You can attract customers to become advocates in several different ways and offering free birthday dinners is a good example of a long-term strategy because this free dinner will probably mean that the customer comes back one or two times a week, which will increase the income for the restaurant.
Marketing itself is one of the most important factors for restaurants and especially if it is newly opened. Using social media such as Facebook and Twitter means that you get close contact with your customers. Here you can have offers that will attract customers to the restaurant and through these channels have close contact with your customers. You can also form a long-term income by answering questions and complaints that customers have and writing about on social media.
You can, if guests complain, for example, make sure to do the right thing by perhaps giving away a free dinner or similar because it is very important that you do not risk spreading a bad reputation about the restaurant as this can become fatal.
The basic rules for a good restaurant, however, are that you offer good food and that your restaurant or bar gives a genuine and inviting feeling. This is because the rumor will spread about the good food in town and people will, therefore, come to the restaurant and it will, therefore, increase the profitability of the restaurant.
Update the menu consistently
Having an updated menu and a menu that follows the seasons of the year. Some dishes are better suited during the summer months and others during the winter months.
It is good to constantly renew your menu, but cherish your great-selling classics and signature dishes and cocktails. Some guests are primarily looking for their favorite dishes, while others prefer innovative dishes. By offering both of these categories you can satisfy more target groups. One question you can ask yourself if you want to increase profitability is “Can we get paid for everything we sell?”. In the short term, this does not make any major difference in sales, but in the long term, this unnecessary “waste” can negatively affect profitability.
Create a signature dish
Create a dish that is significant for your restaurant, and that makes it easy to create a good reputation about both the dish and thus the restaurant itself.
Reduce personnel costs
Staff costs are one of the biggest costs for many companies. Make sure to staff your restaurant right and as needed. You’ll need to obtain relevant licenses, so for example, if you’re opening a restaurant in Texas, you’ll need a Texas food handlers card.
Marketing
Marketing of your business is one of the most important points, and not only through a good reputation. By using social media as the primary marketing channel, you reach out to many customers simultaneously in a cheap and fast way.
Take away menu
Everyone is not eager to sit at a restaurant to eat restaurant food. Make sure there is a takeaway menu and an opportunity for these customers to also order food from the restaurant menu.
Get yourself returning customers
Returning customers give the company a stable clientele and a safer revenue flow. Tribal customers often account for the largest revenue in a company.
Inviting decor
One more tip for increased profitability is to refurbish and redistribute the restaurant’s surfaces. By giving your restaurant a welcome facelift, guests’ willingness to pay can increase. Going into a fresh restaurant that feels modern and trendy attracts more guests and makes your regulars more likely to remain faithful to your restaurant. The renovation certainly costs money, but consider it a long-term investment that almost certainly increases the restaurant’s profitability in the long run. You can also take the opportunity to expand your menu, but don’t forget the favorite food of the regulars.
The choice of interior design has a greater impact on the customer than you might think. Through an attractive and welcoming interior, not only the comfort of the customer will increase. The willingness to pay will also do the same.
Create a good reputation!
A good jerk is the best way for a company to increase its profitability. Reputation and recommendations are spreading quickly. Who wouldn’t try to go to a restaurant as a friend recommended?
Offer small dishes
By offering your main dishes in smaller versions, guests can enjoy several good dishes. Increase the guest’s freedom of choice by offering your great-selling dishes in both large and small varieties, then the favorites become available to more people. Another trick is to introduce a special pickup menu.
By offering a tailor-made pick-up menu with dishes and prices adapted to a target group who are happy to bring their food, the guest category feels that you have made the effort to tailor a layout that suits them. Otherwise, take-out customers will easily end up “by the side” and may settle for the same range of dishes as the guests who eat in the room.
Pay for extra orders, even when the restaurant is packed
Be sure to always charge, even for small extra orders and even if it is stressful and many guests. Another way of increasing profitability is of course to reduce costs. Commodity costs and personnel costs can be reduced without necessarily reducing the quality. The key to reducing these costs is to constantly monitor how the costs develop over time.
By keeping accurate statistics, you can access unnecessary shrinkage or portions that are unjustifiably large. You can also optimize your staffing in a smart way if you follow up on the times you need the most employees and when you manage with a lower staffing.
Use bar Point of sale systems
A bar POS system has the purpose of helping bar staff and managers oversee beverage service, so you would need much more than a standard retail POS system.
Substitutions, drink recipe lists, price scheduling, tab management, and split inventory for liquor pours are just some of the things to look for in bar POS software. In general sales management, all best POS systems fulfill the same exact functions as any POS system.
A bar owner or manager can take orders, manage inventory and purchasing, process payments, track sales, and review business analytics. A great bar POS system, however, goes above and beyond all this.
