Turning your cafe into a take-away business and surviving
Now that the government has announced stage one restrictions which apply to restaurants and cafes, as part of the broader hospitality industry, what now?
Cafes and restaurants are now restricted to takeaway and delivery service only.
Make it look professional
The best way forward will probably be to move your front counter to a position where your customers walk past. This might be a front servery window, the front door, or even on the footpath.
The better [and faster] you can set this up the more repeat business you will get. Remember customers will be hesitant to walk into your business to ask for a take-away so you need to be in their face. And while it needs to be up close and personal try also to make it look like it has been done professionally.
Home delivery
As I understand it, both Grubhub and Uber Eats have reduced their fees as a show of support to this industry, a move which is very welcome. What ever delivery service your cafe uses, make sure you discuss a better deal for your business through this crisis.
Also Order up are offering special rates at this time for businesses. Order Up is an online ordering platform, although it does not include delivery, but they only take a small fee.
Delivery Tip
Rather than laying off all your staff, perhaps a great way to implement this into your cafe might be to use your front of house staff as delivery drivers. Just an idea!
Staff
Unlike other industries, the hospitality industry cannot work remotely. But with sales sure to fall, staffing levels will become a critical issue and how you deal with this and maintain staffing levels will be one of the biggest stumbling blocks for many businesses.
You will probably require 1 or 2 staff with great attitude at the customer sale point, at least 1 stationed at the coffee machine and a runner to deliver things quickly between these two points. The runner might also be able to take phone orders.
The number of kitchen staff required will clearly depend on your menu, but if you think outside the box you might be able to keep everyone employed, even if not the same way. Maybe one of the chefs could work after hours baking cakes, muffins or friands etc.
Building your Takeaway & Delivery Food Business
FREE Online WEBINAR
Wed, 25 March 2020
- :00 pm – 4:00 pm AEDT
Suddenly takeaway and delivery food is very important and it may become the main way you make sales to your customers. Some businesses have been doing this for a long time, and others need to pivot quickly and add this to their offer.
Join Ken Burgin from SilverChef as they explore the many ways that cafes, restaurants and foodservice can build a new side to their business.
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