Posted in Cost Control, Direct Operating Costs, KPIs, Labour Costs, Management, tagged Accounting, Labour, Labour Costs, Minimum Wage, Operations, Pricing, Profitability, Restaurant Management, Value Proposition on June 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »
In my last post, I wrote about a study that predicts increases in the minimum wage will lead to significantly more restaurant closures. Clearly, many restaurants and bars are unable (or failed) to raise their prices in response to increases in the minimum wage, resulting in their ultimate demise. (more…)
Posted in Alcohol Costs, Cost Control, Coupons, Customer Comps, Direct Operating Costs, Food Costs, Internal Controls, Labour Costs, tagged Cost Control, Food Costs, Labour Costs, Liquor Costs, Operations, Over-pouring, Pricing, Profitability, Spoilage, Theft, Variance Analysis on February 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
While there are some signs that we may be emerging from the recession, I think you’ll find that consumer behaviour has been changed, perhaps for many years to come. Even your “well-off” customers are much more price conscious that they have ever been before. Actually, they are more value conscious. In order to “survive and thrive”, you have to continuously monitor your restaurant’s value proposition.
While there’s more to the value proposition than your menu and prices, these are the two aspects that can be adjusted fairly easily in the short-term. These are also the two areas that most restaurateurs fiddle with first, when times get tough. We could probably add labour into the mix, too.
Recessions always harm the restaurant industry. People lose their jobs (or worry that they will lose them), cut back on meals outside the home, and spend less when they do go out. Most restaurants experience a drop in both volume and check averages, often severely reducing (or eliminating) their profits. To cover their fixed costs, restaurateurs will try everything to keep the customers they have and steal their competitors’ customers. Most start with price reductions, either through coupons and discounts or with across the board price reductions. It doesn’t take long to realize that quality or portion sizes have to be reduced to maintain profitable margins. Easier said than done!
