How Do You Measure Success?
Let me start off with a time tested truism…
“That which you measure, improves.”
Among the many systems you can implement to measure results, there are two tools that EVERY restaurant operation MUST have in place to have any real shot of improving their operation’s profitability:
– A restaurant budget gives you targets to shoot for to ensure you are making money, whether it’s a 65 percent prime cost or keeping linen rentals to a specific dollar amount and anything and everything in between. If you don’t have a budget, how do you know what your business should be making next month, the month after that, or for the whole year for that matter? When you know what your targets are, you can then implement systems and controls that help you achieve those goals and ultimately make money.
– The profit and loss statement (P&L) becomes your report card, showing you if you hit your targets. It literally tells you if you did a bad job, good job or great job reaching your goals.
Together these tools give you the measurement you need to improve your bottom line no matter how well you are doing or how poorly you are doing right now. However, if you are operating without either one, you could say you subscribe to the Albert Einstein School of Management… that’s where Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.
In all my work with independent restaurant owners there is one common lesson I have learned — or I should say has been re-enforced — it’s, “that which you measure, improves.”
Without measurement systems in place, you’re gambling with your restaurant’s future!
Do you want to achieve different results and improve your operations? Do you want to make more money? Do you have measurement systems in place? Do you have controls in place to help you achieve your budget? Would you like to take your restaurant’s business to the next level?
Then you’ve come to the right place. Give me a ring. Send me a note. As the restaurant expert, I can show you where to measure to improve.
