{"id":7581,"date":"2020-11-04T19:30:58","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T19:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=7581"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:04:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:04:30","slug":"restaurant-minimise-financial-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/restaurant-minimise-financial-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus: 5 simple tips to help restaurant owners minimise financial losses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMoney Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCoronavirus: 5 simple tips to help restaurant owners minimise financial losses\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Ruhul\t\t\t\tRuhul Moksud<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re all facing unprecedented times due to coronavirus (COVID-19). Not only are individuals affected in profound ways but businesses are severely feeling the impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hospitality has been one of the hardest hit sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And restaurants have faced a loss of revenue and challenges with cash flow<\/a> due to the government\u2019s requirement for them to close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean your restaurant needs to stop trading (and it’s worth making the most of government financial support schemes that you’re eligible for too).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s essential now more than ever for you to put steps in place to minimise any financial losses. Try these five tips as part of your plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download your free Managing Uncertainty guide to help you create business continuity plans that keep your company moving during uncertain times<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

1. Continue supporting your team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Supporting your team will not only help your employees to better weather these difficult times but will earn you goodwill and help to retain critical employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some restaurant management are paying their employees\u2019 salary, even sometimes from their own wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme<\/a> may also help you to protect jobs, so it\u2019s worth exploring this if you haven\u2019t already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re moving to a delivery and\/or takeaway operation (more details below), you may find that your shift patterns will change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be transparent about how this will work so your team know where and when they\u2019ll be required to work. The same goes for any decisions around staffing costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you may find that some employees have concerns about working at this time \u2013 listen to their concerns and do what you can to help them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will show your employees that you care about their wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your team feels supported, they\u2019ll be more likely to help you keep your restaurant moving \u2013 meaning you can keep serving your customers, albeit using alternative methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coronavirus and your business<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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We\u2019ve gathered information and resources to help navigate this situation, including tools and webinars, to help you understand what financial support is available.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFind out more<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

2. Start or increase your takeaway and delivery options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the requirement for restaurants to be closed, it\u2019s worth exploring takeaway and delivery services for your customers. This could also help you attract new customers that you may not have previously reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some restaurants are working with third-party delivery systems. Others that haven\u2019t used third-party delivery may have been understandably resistant to bite into already tight margins due to the need to pay potentially steep third-party delivery fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, some third-party delivery services are deferring or even waiving commission fees for independent restaurants impacted by coronavirus<\/a>, so this could be a good time to try it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another option is to redeploy your employees as in-house delivery drivers (following social distancing guidelines, of course). This may have an added benefit of helping to keep as many members of your team as possible employed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining your own delivery team can be cheaper than using third parties, as you\u2019ll keep all of the revenue and can better control the customer experience while preserving your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But setting up your own delivery can take time and there are considerations to factor, such as potentially hiring more employees, getting additional insurance and purchasing specialised packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it can be difficult to implement in-house delivery right away, you could look at starting quickly by using a third-party delivery service, then shift to an in-house option at a later date if that works for your restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be worth looking into more than one delivery service to evaluate which is the best for you, and try to avoid signing any exclusive contracts that limit your ability to partner with other services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

guidelines, of course). This may have an added benefit of helping to keep as many members of your team as possible employed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining your own delivery team can be cheaper than using third parties, as you\u2019ll keep all of the revenue and can better control the customer experience while preserving your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But setting up your own delivery can take time and there are considerations to factor, such as potentially hiring additional right employees, getting additional insurance and purchasing specialised packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it can be difficult to implement in-house delivery right away, you could look at starting quickly by using a third-party delivery service, then shift to an in-house option at a later date if that works for your restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be worth looking into more than one delivery service to evaluate which is the best for you, and try to avoid signing any exclusive contracts that limit your ability to partner with other services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download your free Managing Uncertainty guide to help you create business continuity plans that keep your company moving during uncertain times<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

3. Adapt your menu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of which delivery channel you use, it\u2019s important to track which items are most popular as well as the profitability for each item, since this may be very different to your in-restaurant items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restaurants that are achieving high profitability are those that have carefully crafted their menus to weed out labour intensive and under-performing items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, it\u2019s best to focus on menu items that need the least amount of labour and yield the highest profit margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food portability is an important consideration as well as using items with low food cost variability (such as avocados).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another tip is to streamline your offerings so you\u2019re focusing on meals that require fewer employees to prepare, and limit ingredients to those that can work across your other offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Optimising your takeaway and delivery items can greatly help in the effort to protect margins and may even open up new revenue opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Offer incentives to your customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some restaurants have been offering complimentary gifts to their customers when they purchase vouchers and gift cards, which can be used when they open their doors again \u2013 and this is something you could try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selling vouchers can be valuable to restaurants anyway, since a lot of customers tend to spend more than their value when using one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And by offering escalating perks at different levels, you could have a simple way to boost your revenue and give your customers something to look forward to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, you could offer a complimentary dessert with a \u00a330 gift card or a bottle of wine with a \u00a360 voucher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with Christmas on the horizon, it could be the perfect time to try this. With your doors likely to open again in time to welcome the festive season, this may help you achieve a nice boost in revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Be creative to entice existing and new customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another idea that savvy restaurants are trying right now is getting creative with their offerings. Some restaurants are finding success by completely changing their menus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others are testing new concepts such as meals in a box for the whole family, incorporating hard-to-find grocery items around particular themes such as picnics and movie nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are restaurants that are boxing up their ingredients and delivering them to customers so they can assemble them at home and put their spin on some delectable creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about how you can be creative with what your restaurant offers and reach out to your customers so they can become a part of the process too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s a challenging time for restaurants, and the hospitality industry as a whole, there are opportunities that can help you minimise your financial losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be savvy with your spending, continue supporting your team and keep reaching out to your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2020 and has been updated for relevance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Managing uncertainty<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Get some top tips to help you create business continuity plans that will keep your company moving during uncertain times.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload your free guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Join more than 500,000 UK readers and get the best business admin strategies and tactics, as well as actionable advice to help your company thrive, in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover a series of tips that can help your restaurant minimise financial losses, keep revenue coming in and support your team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1027,"featured_media":7543,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[191,24,49,159],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[60,66],"persona":[68,70,71],"imagine_tag":[98,165,96,113],"coauthors":[521],"class_list":["post-7581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-business-continuity","tag-cash-flow","tag-employee-retention","tag-midsized-business","business_type-medium-sized-business","industry-food-beverage","industry-travel-hospitality"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Ruhul Moksud","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/GettyImages-802944760_super.jpg","imagine_tags":{"98":"Business continuity","165":"Medium business trade","96":"Medium businesses","113":"Travel & hospitality"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1027"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/7543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}