In this time of continued uncertainty, you might find your business is operating under reduced capacity or even experiencing rolling shutdowns if staff become ill or re-opening orders fluctuate. But just because it isn’t business as usual, doesn’t mean you can’t take action that will benefit your business and your bottom line.
Below, we outline the top three areas you can tackle during any business downtime to help your business operate more efficiently and productively than ever before.
Create a Data Habit
You already check in routinely with your key accounting numbers from inventory to labor costs to costs of goods sold. The difference between knowing generally if you’re up or down over the previous month and predicting why you’re up or down is what a data routine can do for you. Regularly taking a look at your financial analytics and tracking the same numbers over time will give you historical insight to allow you to set a baseline, identify trends, and give you actionable insight to make better business decisions.
Find a routine of looking at your numbers that feels sustainable and informative. Here’s more guidance on how you can make your accounting data actionable.
Get (and stay!) on Top of Your Inventory
Restaurant inventory management can be time consuming and challenging to do well. But it’s also critical for both the day-to-day financial health of your business and for informing your long-term business strategy.
The easiest way to keep your inventory accurate and up to date is to make it as easy as possible for yourself and your team. Since inventory can be tedious to do by hand on an inventory sheet, investigate using your POS, reusable templates, or a platform with a mobile app that can streamline weekly inventory management. The most important thing is to create a standard process that is replicable and sustainable whether weekly or monthly. During this downtime, instilling this discipline and ensuring your staff is well trained and following through will pay dividends in the future. Proper inventory management can have a big impact on the financial bottom line of your business.
Employee Training
Having a trained workforce means your workers are learning new skills that can improve efficiency, reduce costs, reduce mistakes, build confidence in your team, and create a better working environment. It’s also something that easily falls off the priority sheet as the day-to-day realities of running a business take up all your time.
Take advantage of this time to make sure your team is as prepared as possible to operate at peak efficiency once business does return to normal. If you don’t have a training task backlog readily available, pick one or two areas from recent customer reviews where there is room for improvement and use those to guide your training initiatives. You can even train your team on their role in your new data and inventory habits!
Another benefit of training? It’s a great way to boost morale and build loyalty. Reducing staff turnover is another way to improve efficiency and boost your bottom line.
Looking for more ways to run your business with less headache and hassle?
At OnePoint Franchise Accounting, we’re experts in the finances of franchises so you don’t have to be. Our cloud-based digital accounting platform give you access to your most valuable accounting data anytime, anywhere, while your dedicated account manage makes sure your books are always in order. Contact us today to learn more!
