If you’ve been keeping up with world hospitality news, you may have read about the various measures the UK government has been rolling out for the last few months to help get their hospitality industry back on its feet. From allowing restaurants to offer takeaway services without a planning application process to making it easier and less expensive to get an outdoor seating license, they were aimed at making it easier to do business in today’s changed times. And these measures were built on the extra support that the government was already providing - including an extension of the furlough scheme as well as grants to premises that had to close.
These steps were rightfully hailed across the world, with some people even calling for their own governments to take similar action. But now, just a matter of weeks after some of these measures were put in place, the UK is facing a fresh wave of COVID-19 cases - which means new restrictions, especially in Tier 3 areas. And these ,in turn, threaten to undo all the good the government measures would have done.
But I think as people in the hospitality business, we can learn an important lesson from what has transpired in the UK - Only we, as restaurant owners and decision makers, can truly get our business back in shape. Because in today’s highly volatile time, you absolutely cannot depend on outside factors.
So how can you get your restaurant’s revenue ticking again in this post-lockdown world? Here are three areas to focus on:
Focus your best dishes, home kits, merchandise and gift cards
The first, and maybe the easiest, thing to do is to streamline your menu. What are your best selling dishes? What dishes are bringing in the most amount of profit? Cutting down your menu to only your best performing dishes is a great way to reduce costs on dishes that aren’t performing as well. Add to that delivering your signature dishes to the comfort of your home and there is another revenue stream.
Lend the brand value the restaurant has created to signature merchandise and look at accepting reservations for guests and patrons into the new year.
2. Get your scheduling right
Staff schedules have always been important to a restaurant’s profitability, but now, it is absolutely crucial that you get it right. In today’s uncertain times, the best approach would be to create a flexible schedule to avoid both overstaffing and understaffing. Planning has never been so important. Relook at everything-stewards, suppliers, ways to save gas, electricity. Every penny saved is a penny earned.
3. Renegotiate your rental
This is a tough one, I know. But rental payments are one of the biggest cash burners in the hospitality industry. And if you have a good relationship with your property owners, it is a great idea to try and renegotiate terms of your agreement to include cost-cutting measures such as revenue share or deferred payments.
Focussing on even one of these areas will have a definite positive impact on your revenue to some degree. What is important is to constantly see where you can improve your offering, and where you can cut costs while maintaining the same high standards of quality.
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