Running a successful restaurant business is always a challenge, especially when temperatures drop during the winter. Foot traffic slows down and it can be harder to get people out of their homes.
But expenses remain as high as ever. Every restaurateur needs a few tricks up their sleeve to keep business running smoothly when it’s cold outside. Let’s take a look at a few winter survival tricks your restaurant can incorporate to get a badly needed boost.
Restaurant Scheduling Software
New software designed specifically for restaurants helps to lower labor costs by as much as 3% by creating schedules in up to 80% less time than it would otherwise take. In addition to restaurant scheduling made easy and quickly, this also cuts down on a stubborn expenses, and saves your staff from the headache of creating a schedule.
It also makes better schedules since it combines automation with the manual inputs of your staff. They’ll love being able to relay their work availability or request days off to their manager remotely, right through the app.
If a server or cook needs to find a shift replacement in an emergency, there are purpose-built communication tools. This software helps restaurants even when the schedule needs to be changed on the fly.
With manager log books clearly displaying data indicating the restaurant’s overall economic health and other features which give executives the insights they need to make informed decisions, restaurant scheduling software will help any restaurant survive the winter and beyond.
Winter-Themed Drinks
Christmas may be over, but the winter season doesn’t only revolve around that major holiday. Many hearty drinks are especially appealing in winter, and offering them can help draw people into your restaurant.
It can be as simple as cocoa or hot chocolate, or you can offer alcoholic beverages for the adults. Drinks like a Hot Toddy make the winter blues melt away, as whiskey-based beverages or other stout forms of alcohol are popular in the colder months.
Meals for the Season
Some food is meant to be eaten when the sun is out, and other some food is best suited when it’s darker and colder outside. Heavier foods such as cheese fondue, French-onion soup, stews or meat loafs are perfect for winter.
If these are already on your menu, perhaps you can make a winter-themed special and entice new customers with a discount. If you don’t usually offer such meals, maybe you can create a new seasonal item.
You have to give passersby a reason to think stepping into your restaurant will help them escape from the cold, and nothing works better than offering hearty and cozy meals and hot beverages.
Just like certain hours of the day are busier than others, seasonal fluctuation in a restaurant is expected, but it still needs to be managed. Whether you use new solutions like modern software to streamline operations, or serve tried and true seasonal food and beverages, incorporate these survival tricks for winter, so your restaurant is in great shape come the spring time.
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