Everyone knows that the key to making profit in the F&B business is high revenue while keeping operating costs low. By now you probably already know which costs are fixed (rent, for instance) and which costs you can actually control on a month-to-month basis. These are known as Prime Cost (total cost of goods sold + total labour cost) or variable costs.
If your goal is to expand beyond one outlet, understanding your business’ needs at different points in time is crucial.
The challenges you’ll face at each stage of your business growth are very different. While it is tempting to work on things like optimising workflow or reducing food cost, they may not necessarily be what requires your attention most at that time. This article gives an overview of the problems faced by F&B businesses at each stage and suggestions on the type of POS system that can help to counter them.
Have you ever wondered why some restaurants look packed every day but in fact make meagre profits? Their revenue may be high but the costs incurred are high as well. On the other hand, some ordinary-looking businesses are able to make better profits and outlast their more popular competitors. The key is understanding what makes up your restaurant’s operation costs and how to balance them so that a minimum profit is guaranteed.
Much of a food business' revenue comes not from new customers, but from people who have already been there before. Assuring customer satisfaction is hence equally, if not more, important than creating awareness of your F&B joint. So how do you make sure that your have a healthy, growing number of returning customers?
A list of the things included in most POS system packages, including hardware, software and support, explained.
The point-of-sale system can make or break your restaurant – think of it as your outlet’s operating system. An inefficient one hinders your operations, frustrates service staff and is a hassle to change. Understanding what you are getting in your point-of-sales system is thus very important.
Got questions about kitchen equipment? Ask them here! Dawn is the owner of Cafe Karung Guni SG, an outfit that buys and sells used kitchen equipment, to try and help recycle some of the expensive equipment and provide a more affordable alternative to start-up eateries.
So you need to get a point-of-sales (POS) system for your outlet. What kinds of point-of-sales systems are popular in Singapore? What can they do, and what should you know about them?
Hawker centres are something that we can proudly call “uniquely Singapore”, and are hawker food is an integral part of our culture – so much so that two stalls have even won Michelin stars.
According Japanese government records, the average profit margin of Japanese F&B outlets is 8.6%. Even large restaurant chains struggle to reap profits of more than 10%.
You might know iCHEF as an iPad POS provider, but when we started out, this wasn't part of the plan. It began like this: