1. Improve your forecasting
Accurate forecasting should be the starting point for achieving your restaurant’s speed of service goals. Accurate forecasting affects your scheduling, deployment, food ordering, and preparation. Over and under-forecasting will both negatively affect your speed of service.
An actual sales-to-forecast variance of 5% to 7% daily, for an order cycle, and for a business week is the starting point for your success. To calculate, divide your sales variance by the forecasted sales and focus on 5% to 7%. For example:
- Forecasted Sales = $6,000
- Actual Sales = $6,400
- Variance = $400 (6.67%)
A $400 variance spread over the extended hours of operation makes for more effective scheduling to meet the needs of your team and by extension, your guests.
Forecasting accurately can be tough. Luckily, there are lots of tools to help you take every factor into account when planning your schedules. For some more tips on making sure you have adequate coverage, check out 3 Reliable QSR Sales Forecasting Tools You Already Have.