To increase restaurant profit, compare sales with the costs needed to produce them. Start with labor, food cost, discounts and waste. Pick a specific issue, assign an owner, agree on an action and check the result. More sales alone do not tell you whether the restaurant kept more money.
Review each location before combining the group. Compare similar days and service periods. Note changes in opening hours, sales mix, seasonality and staffing coverage. A quiet lunch and a busy dinner need different decisions.
Compare scheduled hours with hours worked. Review overtime, early starts and late finishes. Ask the manager what caused the difference before changing staffing. Protect safe coverage and service quality. Follow applicable break and scheduling requirements.
Use the restaurant labor cost control guide to organize that review.
Compare purchases, inventory and waste records with recipe costs and sales mix. Check whether invoice prices and delivered quantities match the order. An unexplained difference is a reason to investigate, not proof of theft or a guaranteed saving.
Read the reason, approval and shift records. A service-recovery comp is different from an unauthorized discount. Decide what should change before counting any potential benefit.
Record the issue, supporting evidence, manager, agreed action and review date. If nobody acts, escalate to the person who can resolve the obstacle. A report does not establish that a fix happened.
Use the manager accountability guide to document ownership and follow-through.
Compare the relevant cost and sales figures after the action. Account for changes in traffic, mix and operating hours. Separate a suggested saving from a verified result, and avoid counting the same improvement twice.
Costs can rise alongside sales. Review the cost of serving that extra demand, including labor, ingredients and discounts, before treating revenue growth as profit growth.
Start with a documented issue the team can act on and measure. Choose the priority from your own records rather than assuming every restaurant has the same problem.
Related: How to improve restaurant cash flow and Chief Profit Officer for Restaurants.
Marty is your outsourced Chief Profit Officer for Restaurants. The paid Cash & Profit Review examines your existing operating data and turns findings into proposed actions and owners. Managed follow-through is optional. Start with a review of your own records.
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