2020 has, no doubt, been a challenging and tough year. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of havoc, with many jobs and businesses lost. Certainly, it’s been pretty tough on the catering industry due to the new social distancing measures. Restaurateurs are working hard to bounce back from this downturn and find solutions to overcome business decline. With 2021 just around the corner, adjusting to the new measures for smooth day-to-day operations is vital. To help you out, these five restaurant management tips will come in handy.
1. Properly dispose of residual ingredients and recycle waste.
Disposing waste and residual ingredients (like cooking oil or grease) should be a top priority for every restaurant. If you can’t manage your disposal system correctly, you may clog your drainage systems, especially if you pour them directly down the sink. To that effect, companies like Sequential is there to help if you’re unsure how to dispose of used cooking oil.
Sequential is a biodiesel producer that collects used cooking oil and transforms it into biodiesel. They’ve formed many partnerships with various businesses and homes and equally have convenient oil drop locations, making the recycling process easy.
Even better is the fact that they’ve incorporated simple steps for users to follow as they drop off used oil. Altogether, it’s a safe, timely, and quick way of managing waste. You’ll help keep the environment safe and reduce health risks while making non-toxic and eco-friendly biodiesel.
2. An excellent online order and delivery service software.
There’s no denying that technology has changed the way we do business globally. For this reason, it’s up to managers to stay abreast with innovations and software. Also, knowing industry data about the market and competition is particularly important. Try to look at the facts and figures and pay attention to the industry trends to identify changes and innovations early on and use them.
For example, since COVID-19 emerged, online orders and deliveries have become the new normal. To stay safe, many customers opt to order their food online to avoid human contact.
To adapt to these changes, restaurants ought to consider using online ordering software. This enables quick and reliable orders at just the click of a button. One example is Cuboh. The online ordering tool sync with your restaurant’s POS system and is used by many well-known companies such as GrubHub, UberEats, ChowNow, MenuDrive, Upserve, and DoorDash, amongst others.
The orders placed automatically sent to your restaurant’s POS system (Point of Sale System) with the click of a button, reducing ordering time and increasing the company’s profit margins. What’s more, Cuboh’s transactional process saves customers the stress of traveling several miles only to end up waiting in long queues. More importantly, all transactions made via the software are kept on cloud storage with corresponding receipts for future references.
3. Ensure proper maintenance of restaurant tools and equipment.
Good working machinery is the most preponderant asset every business needs to thrive with. This is especially true in the restaurant industry when intense busy periods are common throughout the say. The longevity or life span of tools and equipment used can only be guaranteed if properly looked after. Thus, a good maintenance culture must be adopted, captured into a policy, and enforced by management. This way, staff members who work with these tools understand the importance of maintenance and precautionary safety measures.
However, you should also take into consideration any equipment that requires technocrat routine services or third-party professionals. You’ll find such a service in most states across the country. For example, let’s say you’re based in Hawaii and need good repair work, one company that comes to mind is Honolulu Appliance Repair Pro. These appliance repair experts deliver nothing short of the best. They fix kitchen appliances and other electronics like freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, ovens, microwaves, ice makers, barbecues, pizza ovens, stoves and range, and more.
No doubt, they’re good at what they do. Even better is that their services are quick and come at affordable prices. They’re equally swift and can provide you with the same or next day services depending on your situation and how quickly you need your appliances.
4. Improve your branding and social media marketing.
In recent years, it’s evident that social media has become quite a necessity. Although you mostly find young people on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the older generation isn’t left out. They’re equally active. As a restaurateur, you need to take advantage of this tool and publicize your business as much as you can.
You can share well captured moments and pictures of your restaurant, food, staff, or customers on social media. Doing this will help you reach a larger audience and, in turn, get you more customers. You can also save pictures from sites like Pinterest and Instagram to use later.
However, storing a hoard of photos may be a problem as you may have limited storage space. Not to worry. You can get additional online photo storage if you know where to look. One such platform is Ibi, a product from SanDisk, which is a small device capable of storing 250,000+ photos and over 100+ hours of video. You also get unlimited storage and uploads.
It can equally be used to share all this information at home via phone, laptop, USB, and social media. It’s like a personal cloud for your photos and videos. This is similar to Dropbox, Flickr, or Google Photos, except that it comes physically.
Whether it’s on your phone, tablet, USB, social media, laptop, or the cloud, Ibi collects these photos and backs them up for you. After that, it’s all yours to use for whatever you need. Even better is the fact that you don’t need a monthly subscription to enjoy the service.
5. Have a positive attitude and be transparent with your employees.
It’s often said that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegarIt’s’s better to have a cordial relationship with your employees in the same vein s than to be unfriendly and unapproachable. It would be best if you always had a positive attitude and outlook on things, no matter how hard it gets.
Your employees look up to you, so you need to lead by example. Note that your aura and mood can positively or negatively affect the restaurant, which equally tells on your customer’s dining experience. Good leaders have to exhibit exceptional humility and sometimes smile when they don’t feel like it.
Also, take note that simply being cordial with your employees isn’t enough to run your business correctly. It would be best if you were as transparent as possible in your dealings with your subordinates. Transparency in business is a sure way to build trust. If possible, include your workers in the decision making process. You can conduct and schedule meetings regularly where you talk about what’s going on in the business and the steps you’re taking to improve it.
If you criticize your employees, it should be constructive, but you should equally commend, encourage, and award them for their hard work and the services they provide. This will make your employees feel connected, essential, and urge them to do their best to see the business’s success.
