Forecasting Restaurant Sales Made Easy
If forecasting restaurant sales seems hard to do in your restaurant, know you’re not alone. It isn’t as straight forward for today’s modern restaurant as it used to be. There are so many things that can affect your restaurant sales forecast from the economy to diners’ inconsistent habits. There are rising prices you pay and that you charge your guests along with changes in marketing. Watch this video to learn how forecasting restaurant sales can be easy.
Let’s be honest. There is no way to predict your restaurant’s sales perfectly. You just never know when that next busload of athletes with big appetites is going to show up at your restaurant and throw your whole formula out the window. This kind of activity can be great for sales, but it can also throw off your ordering and scheduling.
Or there is the day that you can predict with certainty will be a big sales day, but then Mother Nature has a different plan and no one comes into your restaurant. This kind of activity can be devastating to your sales.
But forecasting restaurant sales is vital to your business. If you don’t forecast sales, how do you know how much food to order and how much labor to schedule? Here are some things that can go wrong if you don’t forecast your sales regularly:
Too much food because you guessed it would be a busy week instead of looking at projections? Wasted and in the trash. Too little food because you thought it would be slow, but forgot about the big event that happens every time this year? Pissed off customers who can’t get what they want.
Too many people scheduled to accommodate a non-busy restaurant? Wasted money at the time clock and a high labor cost percentage. Too few people on the schedule and an unexpectedly busy night? Pissed off customers who can’t get what they want or any service because of long ticket times and bad service.
In this video I show you a simple restaurant spreadsheet I call Sales Forecast Wizard.
This spreadsheet is prepared with formulas and dates you can use with your POS system’s reports.
Watch the video to learn where to get your restaurant’s sales history and how to use it to forecast your restaurant sales going forward. You’ll pull from last year’s numbers and forecast the next 12 months based on the business you’ve done in the past.
You can get a copy of this spreadsheet if you like this video, subscribe to the channel, comment “This is awesome, David,” and then call or email our Solutions Coach to get your copy today. While you’re at it, talk to him to learn how Restaurant Systems Pro can help you.
If you want to learn more about forecasting restaurant sales and creating a restaurant budget, read our free special report, Breaking Away from the Insanity: How to easily take control of your restaurant and make more money. Download it here. Be sure to visit our YouTube channel for more helpful restaurant business management video tips. To learn how our software serves as the recipe costing software you need, call Gregg at 877-457-6278, ext. 106.
