At the best of times, running a restaurant can be such a thrill! The pace of service, the fun interactions, seeing the joy on peoples faces … But sometimes the underbelly of hospitality is laced with late nights, incorrect orders, and unfortunate sequences of operations.
Perhaps the most problematic origin is having too much overhead and procedures in place, when they can be simplified, especially for a delivery business like yours. Here are some top tips to help you avoid the pitfalls of costly mistakes in your kitchen:
Mistake #1: Not tracking food costs
Managing food costs makes customers happy and improves your bottom line. With more and more people ordering delivery food these days, it’s good news for your restaurant as you can get the most out of a product. Be sure to:
- Track food prices: It pays to track food prices and know whether they are predicted to increase or decrease. These increases and decreases are inconsistent due to changing seasons or food supply chains. By tracking these prices, you can revamp your menu!
- Manage waste: Keep a record of all the waste your restaurant generates helps your bottom line. Make sure to log: (1) any food returned because it was made incorrectly, (2) spilled food in the kitchen, (3) overcooked food that couldn’t be served, (4) extra portions that were thrown away (but did you really have to throw it away?).
- Properly price your items: Menu pricing is important, especially when you are factoring in commissions to third party platforms. By pricing your menu items reasonably, your customers are more apt to return again and again, and more likely to make a profit!
Each restaurant is different, but be sure to include direct costs, indirect costs, prep time, overhead costs, and service costs!
Mistake #2: Not analyzing your data to detect trends
Having your finger on the pulse for what is selling in your kitchen and what is not is a strong indicator of popularity of your menu; it also gives you insight on what to order on a regular basis from your suppliers. When tracking sales data, learn:
- What’s your most frequently ordered item? If this item is relatively inexpensive and you are making a high gross profit percentage off this dish, it makes sense to keep it, due to yielding profit. Usually in the food and beverage sector you want to make close to 70% gross profit off a menu item, to cover any incurring costs to produce this item.
- When’s the most popular time your customers order? By collating this data, you are able to see the frequency of orders in a specific period of time, from dollar value to types of items ordered. This allows you to determine a couple key operational points: (1) What to prepare prior to service, (2) how to roster/structure your kitchen staff times, and (3) when to open and close your restaurant to minimise the chance of missed orders.
If you utilize multiple delivery channels, you likely find it hard to analyze all your data, all at once, across all channels. Luckily, with klikit, our advanced data analytics instantly helps you see and gain insights across your entire food delivery business!
Mistake #3: Not cross-utilising your menu
Cross-utilisation is the use of multiple ingredients across two or more menu items. The advantage is four-fold:
- Cut down on spillage and waste
- Simplify the inventory process
- Understand how quickly you use the ingredient and therefore items
- Cut down your need for storage space
While some might argue that limiting the number of different ingredients in stock might limit the creativity of a chef or kitchen manager, oftentimes the opposite is true! As the restaurant industry continues to pivot to keep up with challenges new and old, we are forced to dig even-deeper into our toolboxes to make a profitable game with notoriously long odds.
Mistake #4: Using only one delivery channel
This one is key! Some restaurant owners prefer to have only one delivery service, as having multiple delivery services can disrupt the flow of your restaurant or kitchen orders, or even take up too much space!
There is a solution to this huge headache, however, thanks to klikit! With our software, you can merge all these delivery services from multiple devices into one device, so that you can seamlessly manage all your orders. It takes out the stress of having multiple logins and multiple accounts. Ah … true bliss. 🧘🏻
Mistake #5: Having a way too complex menu
As a customer, we love ordering delivery to fulfil our cravings for burgers, curries, or dessert! As a business, we love to provide these experiences as well, but sometimes we make it hard for ourselves to create something new!
Instead of forcing customers to process a complex menu with multiple choices, having a simple menu not only tightly focuses the experience for the customer but also gives the kitchen an advantage in stock control, processes, and time-savings.
Want to learn more on how klikit can help you avoid all of these mistakes? Claim your free trial today!
