One thing’s for certain, you will never hear a restaurateur say the restaurant business is easy. The good news is, there’s always room for efficiency to make processes quicker and easier. Lighten the load and claw some precious time back into your day with these valuable time savers for the busy restaurateur.

Protocols are your friend

Having standard operating procedures in an operating manual can be a huge time saver when things are moving at lightning speed. Not only will they help your employees in regards to basic functions, but they’ll help with everything from staffing to the variety of complexities in the business. Putting these essential processes in place will save you a lot of time – freeing you to take care of more important things that only you can accomplish.

Get an online booking system

An online booking system is an essential tool for modern restaurants. Customers have come to expect it, and it will also stop your phone from ringing constantly. Get yourself an online booking system that takes care of the bookings for you and there will be a huge drop in the number of calls your restaurant receives, thereby helping everyone to stay focused on the other elements of your business.

Keep up with calls out of hours

Even if your restaurant is closed during parts of the day or week, you could still find yourself dealing with various calls – something that can really eat into your time. A telephone answering service from Virtual Headquarters is a great idea to help you cope with calls during busy periods and when your restaurant is closed. Instead of having to pick up dozens of voice messages at the start of your day, a live phone service can help you handle those calls.

Use online roster systems

Taking care of employee schedules can really eat into your time. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution these days thanks to online roster systems that can help you schedule your employees’ shifts and allows everyone to view their hours at a glance. Free solutions include using a cloud document to plot and schedule shifts, but some of the best paid-for scheduling solutions have the bonus of payroll functions to help save you time and money running other elements of your business.

Establish a routine

Routines can be everything when managing a business, particularly one that has set opening hours and set processes that need to be done each day. Setting yourself a routine will help you ensure the smooth day-to-day running of your business and ensure that nothing important gets missed. Make your day more productive by setting aside times for handling your emails, planning your meetings for the same time each day/week and keep regular task lists of everything that needs to be done that week. Many people find that they are most productive in the morning, so coming in early to clear your to-do list could free you up for the rest of the day to do more important tasks.

Bring in some outside help

Running a restaurant comes with many elements. While you might understand the restaurant business – do you know much about accounting, marketing or design? Even the most multi-skilled of us need help, so bringing in some outside help could be the best thing to help you run your business more effectively. Hiring freelancers and contractors are becoming more commonplace in all industries, and can give you some occasional support or help with one-off projects when you need it.

Scheduling social in advance

Promoting your business is key for helping it grow, and social media can be your ticket to developing a successful restaurant presence and growing your customer base. Scheduling your social media in advance can be a huge time-saver and will also help you to be more strategic in your planning. Try using some online tools first to see how you get on and if it’s a system that works for you, you could consider a paid tool to help you make the most of other digital content features. You can use your freed-up time to learn more about how social media works and mistakes to avoid when posting online.

Work in the cloud

Cloud computing is a great product for any business, especially if you’re always on the go traveling back and forth between meetings. Working in the cloud means you can work away from the restaurant from time to time, allowing you to access all of your necessary documents and keeping track of things. Cloud working is also beneficial if you have staff working in different locations or you plan on expanding your business to other premises one day.

Trust your employees

A restaurant can have many different types of people working for you, and many people will want to progress in their careers. Give them the chance to learn new skills through new responsibilities – you’ll be surprised at how many things you can delegate that will not only save you time, but help others to grow in their careers too. Speak to your employees about where they see themselves and try to find ways to help them grow.

 

Organizing your time and finding ways to do things quicker and more effectively can help you to turn your restaurant into a success. As a business owner, there are a lot of demands on your time that can soon cause stress and exhaustion if not handled effectively. Make the most of time-saving ideas to free up your time and manage your business with ease.

 

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