No doubt every business has faced staffing issues and supply-chain disruptions at one point or another, even prior to the pandemic. In this blog, we’ll discuss ways to be more flexible in the industry so your company can face the challenges of today’s society. To combat the issues your company is facing, where do you start? What decisions need to be made to keep your company afloat while still having a competitive advantage?
- Do you opt to change suppliers to fix your supply-chain shortages? Will that switch cause a decrease in quality?
- Do you change the current offerings or the way you interact with customers to help alleviate staffing issues?
- Do you change the menu entirely to cut costs and labor?
There are several options to choose from that can help with staffing and supply-chain issues; here are a few we recommend:
Test Suppliers
Restaurant and hospitality businesses have faced supply shortages for most of last year and this year as well. Labor shortages at some of the largest suppliers in the U.S. have impacted the supply chain, making items harder to come by. To help with this issue, you could try out a new supplier in a test market. Create a control group and note any changes in customer satisfaction and try to determine if the new supplier will be able to meet your company’s standards and customers’ expectations. If you can optimize and revamp your menu effectively, you can reduce costs and find the solution to your supply-chain issues.
Work Through Developing and Retaining Your Staff
Feeling the effects of the labor shortage? Unemployment rates have skyrocketed since the pandemic began; even more so for the restaurant industry. Having a plan in place to help combat the seasonal challenges and expectations of increased demands during the holidays will be especially vital if you’re already short-staffed. Other than offering competitive and higher wages to employees, training and development opportunities are effective incentives to get employees to stay onboard. Here are a few ideas to help with the ongoing staffing issues: categorize and tackle issues by order of importance, inform and involve employees in the decision-making process as much as possible, evaluate and compensate accordingly, and offer advancement and developmental opportunities. Proper training and re-training is also a vital way to make sure things are continuing to run efficiently. Retaining valuable employees is important and sometimes small gestures of appreciation can make all the difference.
Menu Optimization and Pricing
We’re seeing the steepest inflation we’ve had in over 10 years. Major chain restaurants have had menu price increases and have even cut back on promotions to counteract their increasing expenses. The most helpful thing your company can do is to evaluate how customers value certain menu items and adjust them as needed. If it’s valued more, then that’s an opportunity to increase the price, however, if it’s the opposite, decrease the price or take it off the menu entirely. You can even test out different portion sizes with these price changes and see if customers’ expectations are still being met and how they feel about the value of the meal. Making small changes like adapting your menu pricing allows you to make up for rising inflation costs. Menu optimization and simplification can not only help you reduce your costs, but also help reduce the workload for an already limited staff.
Having the right restaurant system, like EZ Chow, in place can help you with all the issues listed and more. We are here to help you optimize your POS integration while allowing you to add additional revenue, market to your customers, and help build brand loyalty. We help you increase your revenue through a direct digital ordering platform built specifically for your brand. Our goal is to create a successful revenue-generating e-commerce platform for you.
Learn how EZ-Chow can help you with these initiatives and more, get started by contacting us here.
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