When you are setting goals for your restaurant, you want to be sure they are measurable goals so you know exactly what steps you need to take in order to accomplish them so you know exactly when they are accomplished. When talking about the success of your restaurant, there are key performance indicators, or KPI’s, that you want to look for so you can measure your success and know where you stand as a business. This helps you know what areas you need to improve on and where you are excelling. Here are some of the top performance indicators that you should always be aware of to stay on the path of success.
Expenses
This one is vital to your business. You want to consider what your total revenue is versus what you are spending on food and labor. You will want to know what your actual food cost is compared to what you had planned for. Checking these numbers often will help you prevent major loss and allow for healthy spending throughout the year. If tracking all of this seems overwhelming, there is a restaurant management solution that makes it easier than ever. This easy to use technology allows you to download data, giving you an overview of all your expenses. Forget the pen and paper math or the long nights at a dry erase board trying to figure out what was spent and where it was spent. Now you can access these numbers from anywhere, and quickly take action when needed.
Tracking Numbers
More numbers that you want to keep track of are the number of customers you are serving a day. You can easily get this information from your pos system and it will give you an idea of how your restaurant is doing. If you have multiple locations, you can compare numbers to see how each location is performing. If your restaurant has an app for customers to order from, you want to check and see how many new app downloads your restaurant is getting and how many customers are utilizing the app. If people are not downloading your app, you might consider a campaign to let more people know about it, or, if you’re not seeing much traffic from people who already have it downloaded, you promote a special offer through the app that gives customers a discount or free item.
Service Speed
When it comes to quick service restaurants, customers do not want to wait. How fast are you able to get people in and out of your restaurant? Knowing the time it takes to get an order out will help you to understand a lot about your restaurant and be able to provide an experience that will keep customers coming back. If you are wondering how you can increase your speed, here are a few ways:
- Accuracy: Make sure orders are being taken correctly.
- Training: Make sure your staff knows their job well and try to play on your staff strengths.
- Menu Availability: Make sure customers have access to a menu before they get to the counter. (digital menus or menus at the back of the line for people to decide while waiting)
Taking the time to measure where you are in your business will help you to be successful. While it might seem daunting and time consuming, you will catch mistakes sooner and be able to correct them in a timely manner. Your restaurant can address problems strategically and be able to create a better environment for not only your customers, but your employees as well.
