RestaurantOwner.com - Restaurant Systems Brief https://beta.restaurantowner.com/public/programs/blogindex.cfm?bid=1 The RestaurantOwner.com - Restaurant Systems Brief is a weekly best practice advisory of the systems and controls that independent restaurants should have in place to maximize profits, increase guest counts and consistently produce great food and service en-us Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:45:47 +0000 Membergate 50 Ways to Cut Costs Without Reducing the Guest Experience https://beta.restaurantowner.com/public/programs/blogpost.cfm?bid=1&eid=3 https://beta.restaurantowner.com/blogentry/3 Tue, 15 Dec 2015 15:42:00 +0000 Jim Laube and Joe Erickson Growing sales, while an essential goal of all businesses, is NOT the surest way to make an immediate impact on profitability -- but controlling your expenses is . A restaurant doing $100,000 in sales with a net Income of 5% would need a minimum sales…

Growing sales, while an essential goal of all businesses, is NOT the surest way to make an immediate impact on profitability -- but controlling your expenses is.

A restaurant doing $100,000 in sales with a net Income of 5% would need a minimum sales increase of 15% or more to double the bottom-line profit. In addition to an increase in food, beverage and other variable costs, generating more sales typically requires additional marketing expense, oftentimes accompanied by some type of promotional discounting or coupons.

For virtually all restaurants, the most effective way to boost profitability quickly and permanently is not by putting a hard push on sales but by limiting the drag of expenses.

Over the past 25 plus years, we've worked with literally hundreds of independent restaurants and 99% of them were easily wasting 5% to 10% of sales by failing to follow industry best practices. In addition to having services or products for which they either paid too much for, wasted too much of, or simply didn't need -- many were simply guilty of not following good restaurant management fundamentals.

While there probably isn't any single expenditure that could be trimmed enough to produce an immediate doubling of your profits, the cumulative effect of reducing expenses in multiple areas of your business could absolutely improve the bottom-line. Consider this, if a restaurant doing $100,000 in sales could reduce their cost of sales by say 2-3%, their labor by 2-3% or other expenses by 2-3% they could easily double or even triple their current bottom-line.

For instance, when's the last time you renegotiated your trash pickup service? One operator told us he was able to save more than $300 per month by getting a bigger container and fewer pickups per week.

Another operator found significant savings simply by changing a key ingredient in one of their most popular menu items -- a change that had absolutely no impact on the quality or flavor of the dish.

Yet another restaurant owner was able to significantly reduce serviceware costs by rearranging the dish landing areas, adding steps to prevent breakage and holding staff accountable for broken or missing glasses, plates or flatware.

There are literally hundreds of great ways for reducing costs. We'd like to give you an early Christmas present by sharing some of them with you. Simply click on the link below to get your copy of 50 Ways to Cut Costs without Reducing Quality.

http://www.restaurantowner.com/50ways

These simple, yet highly effective ways to evaluate your costs and review your systems is the easiest and surest way to double your profit in 2016.

If you enjoyed this Profit Tip, please share it on Facebook. Share Now

 <|!--End Body Text--|> <|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|>
<|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|> <|!--Begin Site Reference 1--|>
ARTICLE: Measurable Improvement: A Three-Phase Approach to Increasing Profits With Food Cost Control Systems

You absolutely must have systems in place for every phase of your operation. In this article we'll discuss the systems and controls necessary for controlling food and beverage cost, many of which are used by the big chain operators. Used regularly, these systems will help you recognize and reduce your overall food and beverage cost.

Access Now
<|!--End Site Reference 1--|> <|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|>
<|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|> <|!--Begin Site Reference 2--|>
DOWNLOAD: Daily Prep Sheet

Preparing the proper quantity of food products is a critical function in any kitchen. Prep too much & you have spoilage & waste. Don't make enough and you lose sales opportunities and disappoint your guests. This tool will help your people plan and control production of your food products.

Access Now
<|!--End Site Reference 2--|> <|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|>
<|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|> <|!--Begin Site Reference 3--|>
WEBCAST: Essential Food Cost Controls for Independent Restaurants

In this comprehensive 2-part program, you and your entire staff can learn how to "significantly" improve the management and control of your entire food production process from purchasing, receiving, storage, preparation to settlement.

Access Now
<|!--End Site Reference 3--|> <|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|>
<|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|> <|!--Quote Image--|>
Quote <|!--Quote Image--|> <|!--Quote Text--|> The way to build your savings is by spending less each month."

-- Suze Orman
<|!--Quote Text--|> <|!--Horizontal Rule: defines new cell in table--|> <|!--Begin Signature--|>

Have a profitable week!

Jim Laube & Joe Erickson

If you're wondering what it's like to be a RestaurantOwner.com member, see what our members are saying...

http://www.restaurantowner.com/member-comments.htm

<|!--End Signature--|> <|!--Begin Copyright--|>

©2015 RestaurantOwner.com

Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

<|!--End Copyright--|>]]> What Should My Food Cost % Be? https://beta.restaurantowner.com/public/programs/blogpost.cfm?bid=1&eid=1 https://beta.restaurantowner.com/blogentry/1 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:58:00 +0000 Joe Erickson Raise your hand if you know what your target food cost should be, you are pleased with that target, and you are consistently hitting that target. If you raised your hand, then you don't need to read on; you're probably doing all the things that we'll… Raise your hand if you know what your target food cost should be, you are pleased with that target, and you are consistently hitting that target. If you raised your hand, then you don't need to read on; you're probably doing all the things that we'll be discussing.

However, if you're not satisfied with your current food cost, then take this opportunity to learn a proven strategy for controlling one of the biggest cost areas for your restaurant: food cost.

If you're like most operators, you may feel like you've already cut costs to the bone. You've shopped for the best deals, raised your menu prices and cut your portions; still, you're left scratching your head as to why your food cost is still high.

In this article we'll show you how to establish your target food cost, explain the reasons many operators can't hit their target and present some basic tactics for controlling food cost.

Key Point 1: Know Your Food Cost Target

The prerequisite for controlling food cost is to know what your food cost should be -- your food cost target. There are three basic steps for establishing your food cost target. First, you must go through the exercise of costing out your entire menu; second, calculate the ideal cost (sometimes referred to as theoretical cost) based on actual menu sales mix; and third, compare your ideal food cost with that of actual food cost expenditures.

Step 1: Cost Out Your Menu

Costing out your menu is an arduous task, but you must know your menu cost before you can make intelligent decisions on cost-cutting. The first step in calculating your ideal food cost is to cost out your entire food menu, including all recipes and prep items.]]>