O’Dell Restaurant Consulting Blog

The following is a discussion from the foodservice.com discussion forums on negotiating prices with a food purveyor or vendor, stemming from this question:
So how negotiable are the prices from my food providers? Whats the easiest way to go about it, contact other providers and price compare or are there easier ways. I really like my [...]

[Read more →]

Yes, more sales of higher food cost items will yield a higher overall food cost. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing though. A low food cost isn’t what makes you profitable. A high gross profit is, meaning that making $4 gross profit on a $7 sales is better than making $3 gross profit [...]

[Read more →]

A 13 period accounting cycle has several advantages over a monthly accounting cycle. The two biggest advantages are eliminating month end labor accrual to straighten out your P&L, and recordkeeping.
With a 13 period year, holidays fall into the same week of the same period every year. Your weekly sales data can be accurately compared to [...]

[Read more →]

Here is a reply I once posted to an assistant manager’s inquiry from a foodservice operation. It deals with a common situation in the food service industry. One that I have not been asked for advice on before, but one that I do have a strong opinion about, especially considering the initial response of other [...]

[Read more →]

Controlling Losses – Implementing a Slip and Fall Prevention Program
                                                By Brandon O’Dell                                      
 
All over the country and the world, owners and managers are asking themselves, “What can we do better? What separates us from the really profitable companies?” Operators want to know what the most successful companies do different that makes them consistently [...]

[Read more →]

The following are excerpts from discussions I had with restaurant owners in the Restaurantowner.com discussion forums regarding pricing by gross profit.

From “Pricing by gross profit” thread – RO.com

Posted Jul 30,2004 1:08 PM

brandon

I realized while typing a post in the bar pricing program thread, I might as well start a thread discussing pricing as a whole and [...]

[Read more →]

It’s common for startup restaurants to budget an initial 10% of their sales to go toward marketing in the first few months. If no one knows who you are, it can take some $’s to get known.
After that, it’s more common to see 2-4% of your sales being directed toward marketing. As far as how [...]

[Read more →]

You’re not comfortable with the level of effort your staff is putting forth lately. You get the urge to give the “it’s your restaurant too” speech. Is it a good idea?
I don’t know if I’d want my staff thinking they owned my restaurant. While it’s nice to think we can motivate people to behave like [...]

[Read more →]