How to Save Money When Running a Restaurant?

20 October 2022
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Running a restaurant is such a challenging task. Most people who open and run a restaurant are passionate about making food, but owning one is different from being behind the stove and fixing plates. You need a lot of management skills and experience in running a business.

 

 

We’re experiencing a great recession and product price escalation. With winter approaching, things will get even worse, so we all need to find ways to cut some of the expenses and make it through these difficult times.

 

In this article, we share a few tips on how to take care of your restaurant and save some money while maintaining a successful business. Follow up if you want to learn some tricks and solutions to help you make the most of your investment.

 

1. Create a niche-based restaurant

 

You might want to attract a wide range of people by offering various products, but it’s best to focus on one type of food. That will help you bulk buy most of the products, and you’re saving on products.

 

Offer a dozen dishes and always make them flawless. If you’re trying to be a restaurant offering hundreds of different meals, and some of these are never ordered, it means throwing away perfectly good food and wasting money for nothing.

 

2. Optimize the number of staff

 

As demand falls, think about downsizing the crew. It is tough to decide who’s going to go, but if your business can’t afford more people, you have no other option but to make the unpopular move and let someone go. This may save up to $100,000 per year.

 

Don’t cut on the crew behind the doors. Think about letting go of the people who greet customers, valets, delivery boys, and similar. Don’t compromise the taste of the food and the quality of the restaurant’s work.

 

3. Be more energy-efficient and cost-friendly

 

Do you know how much energy is wasted by simply letting all lights work throughout the working day? Is there really a need to let them shine on a table where no one sits? Install new lights with energy-saving bulbs, and you’ll only turn them on when someone is there.

 

You can also change the faucets and other amenities to be more budget-friendly. It may seem like nothing important, but the cost over a few months will be significantly lower.

 

Heating is another complex issue to think about. Getting an alternative solution that won’t waste electricity may be an excellent idea. Think of a fireplace or something else that will both add value to your place and save money.

 

4. Analyze and improve your dishwasher practices

 

Many restaurant owners that did their homeworks claim to waste an enormous amount of money on water bills and detergents. Cleaning the plates and the utensils means a huge demand for these things.

 

Analyze how full your dishwasher is and how much water you’re spending. Try not to turn the machine on until it is entirely full. You surely have enough dishes to serve all guests, and if some of these plates stay for a while in the dishwasher, it will save a lot of money.

 

5. Cut on marketing expenses

 

The rule says to spend around 20% of your income on marketing, but that amount might not be the best idea in times like this. Instead, spend zero of your income and focus on using social media for free.

 

Suppose you’re from Leicester. Create a Facebook page that says Best Pizza in Leicester and let the customers run your marketing. Give them an amazing product and see how they share your business for free.

 

Conclusion

 

These points should help you create an entirely different restaurant. Imposing these changes will give you a chance to save a lot, even though it seems like nothing important when you read the points above. Changing the lightbulbs and water saving are things we don’t see how much they affect the bills.

 

Some of the other solutions are also highly valuable. If you must let some people go, do it. If you try to be good for everyone and your business fails because of it, you’ll need to let everyone go in the end.