ST LOUIS, MO (StLouisWeb.Design) Have you noticed that your food items have increased? The cost of freight, labor, food, and more are increasing for multiple reasons. We will not make this a political debate. Inflation is kicking in for multiple reasons, but the pandemic has probably been one of the leading factors followed by the change in economic policies.
Suppose you are one of the restaurants that managed to stay in business; congratulations! However, the restrictions still prevent you from booking at 100% capacity for smaller places due to the social distancing.
As we have discussed in recent articles, our most critical advice is to know your numbers. If you do not have an efficient accounting/bookkeeping system in place, get one now. Know your numbers! It will be more crucial in the future to have your A-game on. The only way to know your numbers is to have an efficient accounting system in place.
We highly recommend Quickbooks. It easily integrates with all major banks creating the ability to auto-import data direct from your bank. Once you spend a couple of months teaching the system what expenses are to be categorized, it will quickly become close to real-time accounting. You can download a mobile app for easy monitoring capabilities.
While this might come across as a sale pitch, it is not intended that way. However, we do offer Quickbooks support and setup. We are a reseller for Quickbooks and can help streamline your entire operation.
Know your numbers, so you know how much you need to price your food. It is critical to get your pricing right, or you will substantially increase your chances of failure in an already difficult market with limited seating, customers scared to return, and many more business challenges.
Most likely, minimum wages will increase, or pressure on the jobs market will force employers to pay more to get people to work. We hear that from multiple customers across the region.