As a restaurant owner or manager, there’s probably been times when you were looking to cut back on costs. To do that, you likely went through your accounting spreadsheet and looked to see were most of your money was going and then determined where you could cut back.
That’s an excellent way to go, but we’ve gathered a few easy ways that can help you save big in the long run without having to check your accounting spreadsheet quite as often.
Train your staff… and train them well!
Training your staff goes beyond their basic duties. Your staff should also be aware of other things that go on in a business to help cut back on costs.
Here are a few things to train them on, outside of their position:
· Turning off lights
· Knowing when it’s time to get a kitchen equipment cleaning
· Being aware of leaks and running water (toilets running, leaking faucets, etc.)
· A basic overview of other positions – because they might have good input!
Keep your kitchen equipment clean
There are a lot of down sides to neglecting your equipment, such as your kitchen hood system. Failure to keep your equipment clean, results in the equipment having to work harder.
When the equipment is forced to work harder, it leads to a lot of wasted money:
Higher electricity bill
Broken equipment, which you’ll have to pay the unnecessary cost to repair the damages or buy new equipment.
Not to mention, dirty cooking equipment may lead to:
fines for not being up to NFPA standards,
restaurant fires,
temporary or permanent closure of your business.
At Rujo Hood Cleaning, we keep your kitchen hood and equipment clean, and up to NFPA96 standards! Call us today for a free quote to keep your kitchen hood running smooth.
Make Expiration Dates Noticeable
We like to call this the First In, First Out Method. When you buy food, clearly write the expiration date on its packaging. Then, put your food away in order of expiration, with the food expiring first in the front. This will help keep food from going bad and having to throw away money!
Make a Daily Prep Sheet
Are you like most restaurants who over-prepare?
I think we can all agree that it’s better than being under-prepared, but what about having it just right?
With the average restaurant wasting nearly 75,000 pounds of food every year, we can trim this number (and keep money in our pockets!) by using this simple Daily Kitchen Prep List. This will help restaurants make smarter and more informed decisions.
Run a full dishwasher
This is another easy training to help reduce water usage and your water bill! You might be surprised on how much you can save if you wait to run the dishwasher until it’s completely full.
Take daily inventory
The amount of silverware and other supplies that accidentally gets thrown away starts to add up.
We recommend doing a quick inventory check every day to keep people aware of what they’re throwing in the trash.
Remove items from your menu that don’t sell
Those menu items that don’t sell well – get rid of them! You’ll no longer have to buy those ingredients and risk them spoiling and having to get thrown out.
Do you have other restaurant cost-saving tips? Feel free to let us know in the comments below!