Audrey 7's Food Business School 11: The 5 Ultimate Secrets of Highly Profitable Restaurants! Revealed!

The restaurant industry is immortal in the long run. Like grass, it sprouts anew, even more resiliently than weeds that wither and disappear.
To keep a single restaurant running for a long time, there are secrets to consistently generating a profit.
When a restaurant's strength is sapped, it regains its vitality, constantly reviving and surviving.

Having been involved in the restaurant industry for a long time, I will reveal what I consider to be the ultimate secrets.

■ Ultimate Secret 1: A restaurant system that requires low labor costs

It takes more than a year to make a restaurant profitable even with low labor costs.
But restaurants that implement this achieve the highest profits.

<Important>
The biggest expense for restaurants in the Reiwa era is,
when including recruitment costs, "labor costs are the largest" expense!!

* Hiring many people is increasingly becoming a "luxury business/unprofitable business".

<What is a restaurant that can keep labor costs low?>

1. The number of menu items is just barely enough to generate sales, or slightly less.
If so, kitchen staff labor costs can be kept to the absolute minimum.However, the introduction of new menu items, such as seasonal menus, is quick and timely, and the products are finished to suit the customer base.

Furthermore, ingenuity in preparation up to one step before completion, and creating your own sauces, dressings, and marinades that save time are also essential.
Instead of paper order slips or chips, the introduction of order panels and labor-saving equipment such as steam convection ovens has also become more important.


2. If the dining room floor is flat, you can use service wagons.



Also, if the aisles are simple, seating management and customer service can be made more efficient.

From now on, except for high-end restaurants, restaurant floor operations should thoroughly implement the idea of having robotic equipment do everything except "what only humans can do"!
I believe you should take measures tohalve labor costs.
<What can be achieved>

● Even if the total labor cost is reduced, increase the take-home pay for each individual.


● Improvement of working hours and working environment.
● Increase in holidays.This is simply because by introducing support equipment (robots/AI equipment) for floor operations, equipment leasing can be covered by 30% to 40% of the average labor cost per person.

Ultimate Secret 2: A restaurant with a food cost ratio of 30% to 33%

There is a secret to keeping this for a long time.
1. Be sure to get quotes from all suppliers at least once a year to compare price and quality.
2. For each dish, have a recipe and food cost calculation based on prices within the last 6 months.

3. Do not have cozy, complacent relationships with supplier representatives.
<Minimum quantity ordering, no blind signing, strict inspection of goods> And, keep the product storage space organized.

4. Have a system (rules) to prevent waste loss.

Ultimate Secret 3: Appropriate pricing that perfectly matches the customer base

To become a restaurant with the power to increase customers from now on,

you need to apply the "perfect price that your 1st to 3rd tier customer segments will buy at" to each product.

The trick is to set a "95% price" (feeling 5% cheaper) relative to the "value = product power" that the product possesses.
* If you sell everything cheaply, you will only raise your food cost ratio and strangle yourself.
Here, you need one trick to make them feel the value is high.


<Magic to increase added value>

●

Usetablewarethat has a higher image than the product inside.● Use slightly smaller tableware to increase the height of the presentation.● Include "red, yellow, and green" in the colors of the ingredients, and also include "white and black".

● Even if the food cost ratio is not that high, use a "unique and moving way of eating (serving style)".

● Simply differentiate with jumbo types.

* This makes it impossible to compare beyond the limits of simple price comparison.

In the Reiwa era, this pricing will greatly determine superiority or inferiority.

Ultimate Secret 4: Creating a menu exclusively for local customers

Aiming for a wider range of customers increases the fluctuation range of sales.

Let's make the "break-even point sales" necessary for the continued operation of the restaurant based 100% on local customers.
↓
● Ingredients that local customers like.
● Seasoning that local customers like.

● Determine the main customer base without wavering, whether it is for "women + elderly + children" or "men in their 20s to 40s".

●Prioritize weekday-only menus (benefit for local customers).

Finally,
Ultimate Secret 5: After all, rather than running away from numbers,

you have to know them and become strong, or you won't make a big profit!

I don't think that business owners who cannot understand or do not know their financial statements, monthly trial balance sheets, or profit and loss statements, even with the help of tax accountants and banks, can be expected to have "excellent management".

<Expense ratios for restaurants you should know>

●Food cost ratio: 30% to 33% is the appropriate ratio from now on.
Restaurants at 37% to 40% cannot absorb new ingredient price increases.

●Labor cost ratio: Management that stays within 27% to 30% is necessary.
Even if it takes 1 or 2 years, you want to switch to 25% or less.

* Rather than the distinction between full-time employees and part-timers, first check what the average monthly labor cost per person is.

●Rent ratio: Previously it was 10% or less, but I would like to aim for 8% or less.
In complex facilities, there are places where "store expenses" exceed 25%.
From now on, in the case of such facilities,
it is feared that it will be easy to fall into the red unless there are further reductions in labor costs and food costs.

●Electricity, water, and gas: Within 5% to 8%. I think around 6% is common.
Restaurant formats that use a lot of gas specifically will exceed 10%, but
if it exceeds 10%, it becomes a "double rent" situation.

●Bank repayments and monthly lease fees should be 5% or less in total as a guideline.
Many restaurants that do not make a profit are burdened by bank repayments and the total amount of lease fees.

→ Even if you follow all of this,I think the operating profit will be around 15-17%. I think major sales expansion measures will also be necessary.

For the future growth of your own store, if you review even one thing, after the improvement, you will be able to generate the monthly principal and interest for one new loan repayment.

...Instead of becoming difficult, management will become easier!

(End)