Jeremy Tauri: Hospitality is more than just the food

Jeremy Tauri.

The last few months I've been working with businesses in the hospitality industry.

Preparing kai is something I enjoy doing and so is appreciating the effort others put into preparing theirs. We can all relate to good memories with food and friends.

But being in the restaurant business isn't as simple as just enjoying making food and sharing it with others.

Some other things to think about:

Quality sells — If the food is consistently great people will come back for more.

Customers will always remember how great the food was before they remember the price. Ensure your staff understand that how the food is served is also as important as how it tastes.

Do your numbers — Know what you need to turnover per month to break even, and make a profit. Prepare a break-even analysis and work scenarios on different spends per client. For example, if your turnover target is $30,000 for a month and you envisage an average spend to be a meal and a drink worth then you need 1000 people through the doors over that month. If the spend is $50 then you need 600 in a month. Its also important to know your margins — price your food and drinks right.

Monitor your numbers and check average spend — knowing this information is only good if you track and compare the numbers and average spend. Most new till systems will tell you this but if your till is a simple one keeping a note of how many come through the door on a pad is just as good. How can you increase your per-customer spend?

Write scripts for staff — Selling is an art and the more people know about the food, the more enticed they'll be. If it's sourced locally, or in season, or if it's limited or a special it's likely to get more attention.

You may need to have a few suggestions for staff to help them sell or upsell. It's as simple as your staff recommending their favourite meal for an indecisive customer or recommending which drink best suits a dish. You'll need to make sure they taste and know the food so they can upsell so don't forget to get them to try it!

Jeremy Tauri is an associate at Plus Chartered Accountants.