Increasing Restaurant & Bar Profits

Hospitality Success: Your Complete Guide to Increasing Revenue at Your Bar or Restaurant

How much revenue your restaurant or bar brings in can vary depending on a variety of factors, such as where your business is located, what type of customer you are catering for, how often you are open throughout the year and a huge range of other factors.

Don't believe, however, that just because you are doing well that there’s no way your restaurant or bar can bring in even greater profits. 

Whether your business is currently going through leaner times or your accounts are going from success to success, there are always ways in which you can create new revenue streams for your bar or restaurant.

In fact, finding new revenue streams is increasingly more important for restaurants and bars, in an industry that is only becoming more fiercely competitive with a growing number of rapidly changing trends. The key to success is finding the middle ground between retaining existing customers and acquiring new ones, and new initiatives are needed to do both.

According to the National Restaurant Association there are more than 1 million restaurant locations in the United States, with 1.6 million new restaurant jobs set to be created by 2030. That means your business will only have more competition over the next decade.

To help your restaurant or bar access new revenue streams that drive profits and new growth, Sculpture Hospitality has created this guide. We hope it will help your business thrive.

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#1 - Reduce Deadstock at Your Bar or Restaurant

Reduce Deadstock at Your Bar or Restaurant

Restaurants and bars are frequently left with old stock that they no longer need. Many businesses simply throw these products out or leave them sitting on the shelf, but this results in huge losses for your business and completely misses the fact that you can maximize this old stock by selling it off.

In fact, the unused stock sitting in your storeroom is liquid cash. Your business must find ways to sell it on so you can convert it into revenue. That money can be put to better use within your operations, not just sitting on the shelf waiting to expire.

If you have an alcoholic beverage that needs using up, add it back to the menu until it’s gone. Likewise with food products, why not create a special menu and use that product up instead of throwing it in the garbage?

Innovative ways you can make the most of deadstock to boost revenue, include:

  • Using it as gifts for staff or loyal customers to improve loyalty.
  • Asking bartenders and chefs to come up with new cocktails and dishes to add to a weekly ‘specials’ menu.
  • Opening a consumer-facing grocery store to sell on deadstock.

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#2 - Offer a Takeout and Delivery Service

Offer a Takeout and Delivery Service

Takeout represents a huge opportunity for restaurateurs and bar owners to increase their revenue. In fact, a 2018 Frost & Sullivan study estimates the takeout industry at $82 billion in terms of gross revenue bookings, with that number set to more than double by 2025 to $200 billion.

With a large number of restaurants and bars now offering takeout services, it’s crucial that you also diversify your services to remain competitive. Takeout will help your business reach an entirely new audience that may not have ordinarily dined in your restaurant. The result? Increased profits.

Your takeout service could include customer pick-up, drive-thru windows, mobile application ordering, curbside pickup or door-to-door delivery. You’ll have to take a look at your finances and customer needs to decide which would work best for your business.

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#3 - Ensure Restaurant and Bar Inventory is Managed Effectively

Ensure Restaurant and Bar Inventory is Managed Effectively

Knowing your food and beverage costs has a huge impact on your bottom line. Whether it is inadvertent over pouring, overstocking or including too much product on a dish - poor inventory control results in lost profits. 

Implementing effective food and beverage inventory management controls gives your business more control over its money.

By utilizing Sculpture Hospitality’s food and beverage inventory management control systems, you will be able to account for every last drop of alcohol and food. You’ll have a clear insight into how much was purchased, where it was used and why it was wasted.

This helps your business improve operational efficiencies, maximize profits, reduce shrinkage and waste, decrease food and alcohol cost, save you time on manual processes and empower you to achieve optimum return on investment on your food and beverage inventory.

Contact Sculpture Hospitality to find out more. Our team of inventory management experts would love to help you boost profits and reduce waste.

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#4 - Develop a Marketing Strategy

Develop a Marketing Strategy

A marketing plan is important for any successful business, and perhaps even more important in the restaurant industry. Research from Upserve found that 90 percent of guests research a restaurant before dining - more than any other business type.

It also found that:

  • 57 percent of those guests views restaurant website before selecting where to dine;
  • and 33 percent view other guests’ reviews prior to dining.

Your restaurant or bar cannot possibly attract new customers if you have no online or offline marketing strategy. More than ever before the hospitality sector is being run by customer reviews, and your business must show that it’s a high-quality establishment if you want to attract, and retain, customers.

To develop a marketing plan, consider using social media, managing your company’s online reputation, advertising on billboards in your local community, distributing pamphlets and hosting community events. 

A successful marketing strategy will improve your restaurant or bar’s outreach and ensure you drive new profits.

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#5 - Rethink Your Menu Pricing

Rethink Your Menu Pricing

Rethinking both your food and beverage menu could help your restaurant and bar drive new profits, but it must never come at the cost of lower-quality ingredients or disproportionately higher prices. This will only leave your business losing loyal customers and failing to convert new ones.

Instead, look at ways you can change your menu to maximize more affordable or unused ingredients. If you find that there are some ingredients that you are throwing out each month, why not turn them into a new dish to please customers.

Price rises to your existing dishes are acceptable, but only do it in small increments over a reasonable period of time. Sudden and large increases to your prices will scare existing customers away from your tables - and bad news will fast spread to potential customers as well.

Considering the use of local produce can also help bring new excitement and additional profits to your menu.

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#6 - Find New Ways to Retain Existing Customers

Find New Ways to Retain Existing Customers

It may not sound like a new revenue stream, and, in fact, it’s not - but retaining existing customers is possibly one of the most important measures you can take for the success of your business. 

Loyal customers not only give your business steady revenue, they are also free advertising. Word-of-mouth is one of the best ways for any business to gain new customers and increase revenue. In fact, Nielsen reports that 92 percent of consumers believe suggestions from friends and family more than advertising.

Not only that, but it’s generally believed that it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Focusing on retaining existing customers will both save you money on finding new customers, as well as bring in new revenue streams from word-of-mouth marketing.

Ways to improve customer retention at your restaurant or bar could include:

  • Develop customer loyalty programs.
  • Become more involved in your local community, whether that be through your online or physical presence. 
  • Offer your space out for community events and host events for the community such as charity fundraisers.

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Are you interested in increasing the profits of your bar or restaurant? Then reach out to one of our Sculpture Hospitality inventory specialists today!

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Maximize Your Bar & Restaurant Profits

Maximize Your Bar & Restaurant Profits

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