Reservations are booked, crowds are walking in, and your staff is back to work. But we all know that this is only a veneer of normalcy. There is still a lot more that needs to be done to get those numbers back up again.
It’s going to take time and, more importantly, strategy to recoup our losses. And one thing is for sure: we simply can’t run our business ‘as usual’.
Being aware and informed about the minutest details of business operations is what will determine the success of reopening. And this really comes down to three key areas:
(i) Cost
(ii) Contact
(iii) Customers
This three-pronged approach eases the transition from the lockdown while also safeguarding the business budget. Because to make the most of this ‘new norm’ we need to be equipped with both insight and foresight.
BRING DOWN EXISTING COST
Cost of goods is one of the biggest expenses in your business – right after labour cost.
The JobKeeper Payment scheme has alleviated the staffing cost for quite a few us in the industry – for the time being at least. So, at the moment, it’s our cost of goods that requires close scrutiny. There are two useful starting points to bring down the cost of goods.
(i) Re-evaluating the margins of your dishes: don’t shy away from getting granular with the costs of each ingredient. Take advantage of tools like a recipe calculator to break down the cost of ingredients and experiment replacing or reducing expensive ingredients without compromising on its marketability.
(ii) Understanding and minimizing wastage: spend some time to determine how and where food is being wasted: is it mostly due to staffing error? Expired ingredients? Missing stock items? Unsold inventory?
PREVENT ADDITIONAL COST
Keeping compliant. This seems clear enough but as the days progress so will complacency.
Ensuring that you are following your state’s regulations i.e. maintaining distance, aiding with contact tracing, and managing the number of guests is crucial.
Not only to prevent penalties (although there haven’t been too many reported instances of this) but more importantly to prevent the risks of a second wave of COVID-19 – and the ensuing risks of a secondary shutdown.
GROWING REVENUE BY GROWING CUSTOMERS
Building relationships with customers is the root of hospitality. And the ability for baristas, waitstaff, and bartenders to beautifully connect with their patrons can appear a lot more effective than blanket marketing efforts.
But your customers are more online than ever so that’s where you’ll have to be as well. The lockdown didn’t just break the intergenerational barrier of tech, it’s expedited our reliance on it.
We’ll have to invest and dedicate time towards omnichannel touchpoints to maximise reach and grow our customer base.
FREE CHECKLIST FOR HOSPO VENUES
Kounta POS is the leading Point of Sale system for hospitality in Australia. We’ve supported our customers during the lockdown with tools that were needed then: integrated delivery, contactless payments, JobKeeper revenue analysis….
And now, we’d like to use our resources to help hospitality emerge from this lockdown in full swing. Download our Free Checklist for executing and making the most of this 3-pronged approach.
Kounta
