Don’t Blindly Trust Your POS System
By Fred Langley
There is only one thing that is more important than knowing your numbers: managing your numbers.
Even better than that is to teach your management to actively manage your numbers using systems.
The tools in your POS system can tell you what your labor is at any given time, but they don’t tell you what your labor is going to be at the end of the night. This prevents you from being proactive in achieving the results you have set in your budget for maximum profitability. It also doesn’t allow you to budget your schedule for maximum profitability.
Systems in conjunction with your POS system, such as a labor system, provide accountability, daily evidence that your management has their eye on the ball. Allowing your management team to fall asleep at the wheel can cost you thousands.
I bring this up because so many restaurant owners say to me that they don’t need labor systems because their POS system provides everything they need.
I wholeheartedly disagree.
Your POS system doesn’t target your profitability or know what your labor should be based on prime cost targets.
Take this for example: I recently took over a restaurant and discovered the POS system was incorrectly calculating labor percentages. It was a programming error that had been wrong for years, since it had been installed (Firefly, avoid it like the plague).
Without my labor systems I would have never known this. It took David Scott Peters’ systems to discover it.
In other words don’t blindly trust your POS system.
As David is fond of saying, Anything measured improves. Diligently begin tracking anything you would like to improve. It provides accountability and keeps you and your management on track.
Simply set targets with a budget and put systems in place to meet your loftiest goals and achieve the success you have always dreamed of!
Fred Langley is the executive chef and owner of two restaurants in Windsor, Calif., in the heart of the Sonoma County wine country. Langley’s on the GreenLangley’s on the Green, a fine dining establishment, and Pizzeria DePaoli, a family style Italian restaurant, are living, breathing examples of how essential systems can be to a successful restaurant. He is a part of restaurant expert David Scott Peters’ coaching team. His unique restaurant setup, family involvement and high standards make him an incredible asset and coach.
