6 ways to increase your restaurant profits

Restaurant profit margins are notoriously low compared to other industries. But the good news is you can take action to increase revenue and reduce costs.
Michael Radley
 • 
Dec 2023
4 min read

Why are restaurant profit margins so low? From rent to labour costs, restaurants have a number of overheads. And it’s a highly competitive industry. If you raise your food prices, you may lose customers to competitors.

Keep reading to find out how to increase revenue and reduce costs.

First up, what is profit margin?

Put simply, profit margin is the percentage of revenue that’s left after all expenses have been deducted. It shows the profitability of a product, service or business. The higher the percentage, the more profitable the business.

How to improve restaurant profit margins

Minimise costs

Embrace digital checklists

Paperwork is resource heavy. Embracing digital tools improves efficiency and helps reduce costs from maintenance callouts, to insurance premiums to stationary costs.

Discover how much you could save with Trail

Improve onboarding and training

Investing in onboarding and ongoing training can help reduce staff turnover rates, which is a huge expense for hospitality businesses. It also improves job satisfaction, and makes employees feel appreciated, challenged and more productive in their jobs.


Reduce energy consumption

Simple changes like switching to energy-efficient equipment and turning off kitchen appliances can help hospitality businesses fight increasing energy prices.

For more tips on how to save energy, check out this blog.

Minimise food waste

According to the Green Restaurant Association, the average restaurant wastes between 25,000 and 75,000 pounds of food every year.  Not only does food waste emit greenhouse gas emissions, but it’s expensive too.

You can reduce food waste by using more local supply chains, designing a plant-based menu, and improving stock management. We also recommend using an inventory management system like Simple Order or MarketMan to stay on top of stock levels and avoid over-ordering.

Increase sales

Online ordering

The popularity of online delivery skyrocketed during the pandemic. And many restaurants started doing online deliveries. If you don’t offer online delivery yet, now is the time to start. It is a great way to increase your restaurant’s covers without increasing other overheads.

Teaming up with third-party delivery apps can also help you acquire new customers by improving your discoverability.

Increase table turnover

The more customers you serve per service, the more revenue you can make. The best way to speed up your turnover is to implement efficient processes and better workflows to maximise output. Equip your teams with the tools they need to be productive, and get out the way.

How Trail can help you run a smarter, leaner business:

  • Do more with less: Digital checklists and forms are designed for speed and simplicity. Teams are more efficient and productive.
  • Cut paper costs: Switching to Trail means cutting printing, paper and stationery costs. It might not sound like a lot, but all that paper and ink adds up—there’s an environmental cost too.
  • Train teams: Training is built into daily tasks, so staff know exactly what to do and how they need to do it. Team members adopt good habits from day one.
  • Streamline workflows: Automated tasks and smart hardware integrations reduces admin. So teams can spend more time on delivering excellent customer experiences.
  • Save energy: Trail integrates with Carbon Statement to help you make energy savings. Carbon Statement provides weekly energy use and carbon reporting. And Trail creates alerts and team reminders to switch off appliances, helping you save energy.


What customers are saying

"I f****** love Trail, it's taking my businesses to the next level."
Josh Paterson
Owner
"We rarely provide training to our guys, they just bought into the idea straight away. I love that I have a full visual of everyone's activity in front of me."
Katrin Toots
Compliance Manager
“It’s not a paper diary that’s covered in barbecue sauce. We have clarity over what’s done in our sites and are confident going into our audits.”
Jay Brown
Operations
“The EHO visited almost every site last year and every store was given a five star rating."
Jay Brown
Operations Chef
"We turned our Costa Checks and various compliance forms into regular tasks on Trail, which has contributed to some of the best scores we have had."
Delroy Daniels
Operations Director
"Our teams love it, it gives our managers of all levels absolute clarity on what they need to achieve every day."
James Brown
Operations Director

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