Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) require a lot of planning and organization, and you can’t always do it alone. This is true whether you are just starting or have been around for years. Whether you need to improve your time management skills, better utilize staff, or looking to outsource some tasks, you know that there are always urgent and important things that need to be done somehow.
Be Mindful of the Time You Personally Spend on Task
With the speed of activity at most QSRs, you may feel like you need to do more than is humanly possible everyday. Wearing multiple hats doesn’t necessarily result in the productivity that your business needs to achieve success. It is common for a QSR owner to also be the bookkeeper, inventory controller, administrator, trainer, and more.
The time you dedicate to all of these activities is likely to prevent you from doing other important things, like running the business. There is wisdom in recognizing the need to outsource certain responsibilities to other professionals. In the long run, this ends up saving you more time to oversee your operations. At the same time, you will save other valuable resources that are better used for your QSR efficiency goals. Fast casual leadership is what you can offer to your restaurant by outsourcing work.
According to QSR Magazine, time is one of the most valuable resources that any restaurant actually has to utilize each week. Owners and management play an important role in controlling this time so that it benefits profitability initiatives. Time is important as you schedule your employees, based upon individual shifts. This is also an important commodity as it relates to ordering supplies and scheduling deliveries. Meal preparation, cooking dishes, packaging items, and other tasks must be done quickly.
Utilize Your Workforce
The way that you utilize your onsite workforce is particularly critical to qsr efficiency. Restaurant productivity, as stated by QSR Automations involves everyone that works for you. This also involves the experts that you hire for outsourcing activities. Approximately 4.24% of the U.S. population work in restaurants of different types. The oversight of staff and issuing appropriate assignments is critical.
Benefit from Your Format
The Balance Small Business encourages fast casual leadership techniques to owners and managers of these restaurants. This requires taking advantage of the format of the restaurant and benefitting from it. Most restaurants in this category have simple menu selections that are also available through a drive-thru and for take-home. Reinforcing customer service techniques and quality control impact your profits.
Eliminate All Waste
With a little bit of research, you are likely to find multiple areas where waste exists at your restaurant location. Food and supply waste have a direct impact on your bottom line because you are spending more than is necessary. Waste in the area of time could be even more expensive for the business. Increasing efficiency tends to give wasted time back to the restaurant, by improving the techniques being used by every employee.
Offering Quality Service
The type of service that you offer at your restaurant does a lot for the business. Quick service restaurants, although they provide food that fits under the fast umbrella should have high quality. This has to do with the taste of the food, as well as, its price points. Customers will value what is provided based upon at least these two criteria. Fast casual leadership is responsible for ensuring and maintaining compliance in these areas
Enhance Customer Experience
Customer service is more diverse than you would think at first. It is more than simply how a customer is treated at your location. The entire experience plays a role here that can have either a negative or positive impact. Thinking about service time, quality and interaction is important and has to be considered for each customer that visits the restaurant.
There are many things that can be done to improve your quick service restaurant productivity. Some of these require short-term solutions, such as hiring a bookkeeper for payroll calculations. There are long-term solutions that may include delegating supervisory responsibilities. The ultimate goal is to find and use approaches that lead to both efficiency and profitability for the restaurant.
Outsource What You Don’t Know
Fact is, there will always be crucial areas of your business operations that are simply outside of your wheelhouse or that make more sense not to keep inhouse. QSR owners outsource many areas of resposibility, like:
- Staff Hiring & Training
- Kitchen Equipment Maintenance & Repairs
- Bookkeeping
- Online & Phone Order Taking
- Marketing & Market Research
- Telecommunications & IT Services
Your services are specific, so it makes sense to seek out restaurant or QSR-centric outside vendors that are equipped to handle the specific demands.
SymplyFi is a single solution for Internet, phone, firewall, guest wifi and store IT built just for multi-location QSR businesses. If you need help managing these service, contact us today!
