May 20th, 2020 | Updated on June 22nd, 2023
Who doesn’t want to operate a restaurant that makes competitors’ eyes pop in envy? Running a profitable business (including quick-service restaurant, casual diners, and table services) in an industry where changes remain constant isn’t easy. It’s a task that requires diligence, patience, and unwavering commitment.
However, as a restaurant owner, you don’t have to go at it alone. You’ll have managers and chefs to take hold of much of the day-to-date operations.
Plus, there are tools like software solutions like POS that can increase efficiency, cut costs, improve reputation, and gain higher customer satisfaction and loyalty in their businesses. And as a result, keep earning profits even in the face of stiff competition.
However, many restaurateurs fail to meet their business goals. And while there are lots of factors behind the failure, there are some common mistakes most restaurants tend to make.
Here are the most common ones made by restaurants’ management, that if avoided, you could improve your restaurant efficiency.
1. Over Or Under Scheduling Staff Members
Scheduling employees is a balancing act, and it’s vital to your restaurant’s success—over schedule, and your bottom line suffers, under schedule, and your customers suffer.
Therefore, scheduling workers should be a priority. You should assign more staff during the busy hours and fewer members when customers tend to be less.
Such a strategic schedule will ensure employees complete the necessary task based on demand.
If you’re not sure what times of the day are the busiest, you can use a scheduling software or a POS system.
These management tools can help track your restaurant’s transaction activity throughout the day so you can pull graphs and see exactly when your restaurants’ traffic is at its peaks and lows.
With real-time scheduling, you and your employees can stay up to date if the schedule changes or if someone is unable to attend their shifts.
While making your employees schedule, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Figure out what tasks need to be filled at different points during the day.
- Fill out every shift so that there’s ample coverage every day.
- Indicate each worker’s days off.
- Make sure you stagger your managers’ schedules. And everyone else’s schedules, for that matter.
2. Overbooking And Mismanaging Reservations
Overbooking is a common practice in the restaurant industry. It means confirming more tables than the available capacity in your establishment.
Overbooking and mismanaged reservations translate to lost revenue due to empty tables and loss of customers’ goodwill when the restaurant is facing higher demand than available capacity.
The best solution to avoid overbooking is by using online reservation platforms or seating and reservation management software.
These systems simply eliminate pen and paper and the resulting table booking mistakes by computerizing table inventory management.
Such software will let your individual customers book tables based on the availability. The software also allows self-service ordering in your restaurant.
3. Customer Order Errors
Getting orders right is a benchmark of customers’ satisfaction in restaurants. Order errors won’t just risk disappointing your diners, but they can cause harm, especially if your customers have food intolerance or allergies.
Also, if an order is misread, the kitchen staff may prepare the wrong item, resulting in waste and profit loss.
Therefore, its smart investment to integrate your POS software with kitchen displays systems.
These intuitive displays, which can be mounted in kitchen or food preparation areas, can help improve efficiency, increase speed of service, enhance food quality, and reduce errors.
POS integrated with KDS also allows online orders to fully integrate into the restaurant operations so that they don’t require additional re-entering in the POS software.
4. Running Low On Inventory
Restaurant inventory management is essential to your day-to-day operation and long-term goals.
Managing food inventory requires diligence, but when done right, you can reduce food waste and save money.
One of the best ways to ensure successful inventory management is to utilize a POS system or inventory management software.
These systems provide numerous benefits, including data forecasting, integrated accounting, order planning reports, and automated inventory tracking based on customers’ orders.
The tools can also help you track inventory in real-time with suppliers to reduce errors, simplify the ordering process, and create an efficient operation.
5. Ineffective Advertising
Often, most restaurant owners miss opportunities to advertise their business to the world.
With ever-growing competition and increasingly demanding consumers, an excellent marketing strategy can boost your brand and attract more customers.
Many consumers today research restaurants online before they can decide to visit. So, you should create a user-friendly website that shows off your establishment.
Optimize your site to create an excellent first impression that improves your restaurant’s Google search ranking.
You should also have a social media presence. In most cases, restaurants with strong social media presence as part of their marketing campaign are the ones that fare the most.
Running a successful restaurant is every restaurateur’s dream. However, managing these food spots isn’t easy, and owners are prone to making common mistakes like overbooking, running low on inventory, or even ignoring social media presence, among others.
But by avoiding these setbacks, you can be sure to operate a thriving business that attracts and retains customers.
