Employee redistribution
“Stay home” orders hit in March, and Todd’s sales dropped 35% in the first 4-6 weeks. Looking at his cash reserves, Todd believed he could weather this drastic drop for maybe a year. But, like every franchisee in the country, he had to make a major decision and make it quickly: should he cut labor to save costs? He thinks 80% of owners did just that, but he did not.
He asked himself, “How do I keep people employed and still have a win for the business?”
Todd saw that people were still using drive-thrus to visit QSRs. So he refocused on that. With the dining room shut down and no counter customers to serve, he redirected existing employees and both production lines to feed his drive-thru.
He noted additional major changes in consumer patterns and immediately addressed those to maintain maximum operational efficiency:
- Because no one was going to the office and college kids stayed in their dorms, he eliminated breakfast and late-night service.
- With customers turning to delivery, Taco Bell followed suit, partnering with four delivery aggregators such as DoorDash.