Can you make money on your off days? “Business is Booming!” – words every restaurant owner and manager loves to hear! A booming business means money and makes for a healthy bottom line. Without money, your business won’t survive but there is plenty of money to be made in hospitality. When it’s busy, everything is great but when it is slow, operators and managers start to panic.
We’ve put together 5 ideas to help you make money on your off days – yes, you read that right! An off day doesn’t mean “no money”, so adjust your mindset and try these out! Slow or off days can be a blessing in disguise with the right mindset.
5 Ways to Make Money on Your Off Days
Re-energize Your Menus:
Taste and dietary trends change which means eventually your regulars will have gone through your entire menu. Your regulars will get tired of the same old thing so remember to spruce up the menu. Another reason to re-assess your menu items is to pull out those items that just don’t sell anymore – a good point of sale system will allow you to run reports to identify the top- & bottom-sellers.
Focus on Training:
Slow days are perfect for training staff so use this time to train and upskill staff. Two benefits you will notice are:
- Cost in Mind: It is never too late to train your staff with a cost-saving mindset. Cashiers and servers should be trained on the POS terminal to ensure orders are captured quickly and accurately. Chefs and cooks should be trained to follow recipes. Encourage staff to make suggestions on how to reduce wastage.
- Empower Staff: When you take the time to train your staff on the finer points of hospitality, you will give them the confidence to upsell and offer substitutions the customer will love
Food & Beverage Programs:
It is important to make a clear distinction between training and education, both are important, ask yourself, “Do my servers know how to pair wines with food?” When your hostess brings a party to their table, and they want to order champagne right away because they are in a great mood, does she know anything about your products or is she just a hostess?
If they can’t, by the time someone that can answer these questions goes to the table, it’s too late! Let your hosts and servers sit in on wine training every week, let them spend a night shadowing your sommelier. Timing is important and can affect the customers’ mood. With the right training and education, your servers and hosts will be in the right position to make money that’s there to be made.
Make Money on Your Off Days- Streamline FOH & BOH Operations
A well-oiled machine will perform for decades so use your off days to do those time-consuming tasks such as paying bills (no one likes paying bills but paying late fees on top is even worse), cleaning out the fridges, tidying the stock room and so on.
Invest in technology: A good POS system, like our very own, can save you a lot of money & time in the long run. Use it keep up to date on your sales, pull up records faster, identify sales trends, keep track of staff hours and more.
Conduct Regular Maintenance
Conducting regular maintenance is a chore but it can be a big cost-saver in the long run. Regular maintenance will keep your equipment in working order so there will be fewer occasions where the entire piece of equipment packs up and you’re in for an even bigger expense.
By investing time and energy during your downtime, you can ensure your operation will run smoothly all year round, save money all while also helping you make money on your off days.
