Are you a business owner struggling to keep up with the sudden changes in the “new normal”? We’ve gone through a lot this year. It’s stressful enough to be running a food business and if you’re still struggling to keep afloat, welcome this as an opportunity to turn into new strategies and grow your food production and sales. The restaurant industry is still growing.
According to The State of the Restaurant Industry report by the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry sales will hit $899 million this year due to high demand from consumers and the expanding economy, a growth of 4% from last year. With the Christmas season fast approaching, it’s best to be prepared and upgrade your business operations with these 5 strategies to help you sustain your business.
1. Be present in social media
Do you have a Facebook page or Instagram page for your business? Do you regularly update and connect with your customers? A lot of business owners say yes only to the first question. If so, then you are wasting this opportunity to boost your sales with new and repeating customers. Use your platform to inform and be relevant. A good strategy is to schedule weekly for posting to engage with customers. It’s a great way to get to know them.
2. Value your employees
Keep your staff happy. First of all, they are human. They can make your business great, or they could potentially ruin it to the ground. Social media can be fabricated, but the experience with your business is determined not just by your product, but by the quality of your service. People will come back if your employees treat them well and this will make your business highly trustworthy.
3. Automate your process
Is this a good time for an upgrade? You’re opening up new doors to more customers and greater sales and that’s great! What could go wrong? Queues. More volume of orders could cause production fatigue.
Study the current process to determine production bottlenecks or issues and automate some processes if you can so that you can be more consistent and accurate. For example, if you are doing manual filling, consider investing in Servo piston depositors. Talk to the manufacturer on how they can customize the machine to match your application. You can start with one machine and upgrade or increase the automation of your process later on as your business grows.
4. Pledge to reduce waste
Climate change is a hot topic and a lot of consumers are becoming more and more aware of the impacts of consumerism and the food industry is a major waste contributor of wastes. Start by making a pledge to reduce this by 2021. A lot of major businesses have made progress by using less plastic in their packaging and opting for paper-based materials. This is a great way to show that as a business owner, you have a shared responsibility to care for the community.
We have faced a lot of challenges and changes throughout this year and this has been tough for all businesses. Also, consumers now are not just looking at the quality of a product to fulfill their needs. Brands and businesses are under more scrutiny for their service quality and social responsibility.