Restaurants: How GPS Can Help

As the owner of a restaurant, you need to keep your profits rather than having them “eaten up.” GPS can help you enhance your menu to increased profitability by establishing or improving the following: cost control, operations, marketing, advertising, financial planning and administration.

GPS can assist you in controlling operating expenses and reducing costs thereby yielding profits—if you take the time revise your operations, you can make it happen. GPS puts systems in place to assure profits. Let GPS help you improve the following choices to profitability:

Cost Control

• Food and liquor portion control
• Measuring the profitability (or the lack of it) by item served
• Developing your overhead costs correctly and portioning them to products served
• Register system check controls

Operations

• Facility design, layout and procedures to improve efficiency
• Inventory control coordinated with sales forecasting
• Table turnover methods and procedures
• Motivation of personnel through performance standards

Marketing

• Target market identified and segmented
• Using mailing lists to reach the right customer profile
• Maximizing your check averages by utilizing suggestive selling techniques

Advertising

• Critiquing of advertising design to capture the customer’s attention
• Evaluating your return on advertising costs
• Selection procedures and prioritizing of advertising media types

Financial Planning

• Development of flexible budgets and control of overhead costs
• Determining breakeven levels and how to lower them
• Cash flow forecasting and management of cash flow
• Management information available to measure and control operations and finances

Administration

• Authority and responsibility of key people clearly defined
• Using “The Share Plan” to give key personnel a piece of the action
• Business planning for future growth and development