How to Increase Restaurant Gross Profit Margins with These Proven Strategies

Profit margins are the lifeblood of your business, determining how much you keep from every pound earned. Boosting your restaurant gross profit margins is crucial, especially with more than 54% of operators reporting a decline since COVID-19. 

However, this can seem easier said than done.

The good news? With proven strategies and the right tools, help is on hand—and might just be easier to implement than you thought.

By focusing on accurate forecasting, detailed sales reports, smart staff scheduling, and efficient inventory management, you can take control of your finances and see those margins grow. And Opsyte provides tools to assist with all of this. Whether it’s automated scheduling, real-time sales analysis with Insytes, or hassle-free invoice processing, these tools are designed to save you time and money.

Let's explore these strategies and see how you can start improving your restaurant’s gross profit margins today. Your business deserves to thrive, and with the right approach, it absolutely can.

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Unlocking Profit Margins: Essential Tips for Restaurant Owners

Profit margins provide essential information on how much of your revenue remains after covering necessary costs. For food and drinks, the ideal spend is about 25-30% of your earnings. Spending more than 35% can cut deeply into profits, so efficient forecasting and inventory control are crucial.

Labour costs should account for around 30% of earnings. Proper staff scheduling based on accurate sales forecasts helps maintain this balance. Overstaffing leads to unnecessary expenses, while understaffing can harm service quality and customer satisfaction.

By sticking to these guidelines, you can aim to achieve the average profit margin of a restaurant of 35% to 40%. 

Remember, other expenses like rent, utilities, and marketing will also need to be covered by your revenue before you see your final profit. 

But part of good strategy means implementing systems to help achieve financial goals. Tools like those offered by Opsyte provide the insights and automation needed to keep costs aligned with these goals, ensuring financial stability and growth. Let’s discuss how:

Forecasting: Your Secret Weapon for Success

Accurate forecasting is a game-changer for managing your restaurant effectively. It helps you plan for everything from staffing to sales, ensuring you're ready to meet demand without wasting resources. 

With proper forecasting, you can balance your operations, reduce waste, and boost profitability.

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Why Forecasting Matters

Forecasting is crucial for managing future expenses, including labour and inventory. By predicting sales trends and customer volume, you can schedule the right amount of staff, manage your stock efficiently, and hit your financial targets. 

It helps you avoid overstaffing, which drives up costs, and understaffing, which can hurt service and customer satisfaction.

Opsyte’s Integrated Forecasting Tools: A Game Changer

Opsyte offers top-notch forecasting trusted by hundreds of businesses. Their Insytes tool provides integrated forecasting to help you manage future spending on labour and purchases effectively.

• Real-Time Data at Your Fingertips: Opsyte pulls data from most EPOS systems multiple times an hour, giving you the latest information. This means your forecasts are always based on current data.
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• Customisable and Flexible Reports: Insytes lets you create the reports you need. With many pre-filled reports and the ability to request new ones, you can adapt your forecasts to suit changing conditions.
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• Intuitive Dashboards: Insytes is designed to be easy to use, with all the relevant reports at your fingertips. And while we love spreadsheets, our online dashboards will convince you that digital is the way to go.

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Detailed Sales Reporting: Uncover Hidden Insights

There’s no better way to understand your restaurant's performance than to regularly study detailed sales reports.

These reports can reveal trends, pinpoint inefficiencies, and help you make informed decisions to enhance profitability. And, profitability is incredibly important when 77% of operators have reported a decrease in guests over the past two years.

The Power of Sales Data

Sales reports provide a comprehensive overview of your restaurant’s revenue streams, showing what’s working and what isn’t. 

By analysing this data, you can:

• Identify Best-Selling Items: Understand which menu items are most popular and profitable, allowing you to focus on promoting and enhancing these dishes.
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• Spot Underperformers: Recognise which items aren’t selling well and consider adjusting your menu or pricing strategy.
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• Track Seasonal Trends: Observe how sales fluctuate throughout the year to better prepare for busy or slow periods.
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• Monitor Promotions and Discounts: Evaluate the effectiveness of special offers and promotions to determine their impact on sales and profitability.

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Opsyte’s Insytes: Your Sales Reporting Ally

Opsyte’s Insytes platform takes sales reporting to the next level, offering powerful tools that provide in-depth insights into your business performance.

• Customisable Reports: Insytes allows you to create tailored reports that meet your specific needs. Whether you want to analyse sales by category, day, or even individual staff performance, Insytes has you covered.
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• Real-Time Analytics: With data pulled from your EPOS system multiple times an hour, you get up-to-date insights that help you make timely decisions.
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• Granular Sales Details: Dive deep into your sales data to uncover hidden patterns and trends that can inform your business strategy.

Making Data-Driven Decisions

Using detailed sales reports from Opsyte’s Insytes, you can make data-driven decisions that enhance your restaurant’s performance. By understanding your sales patterns and customer preferences, you can:

• Optimise Menu Offerings: Focus on high-margin, popular items and phase out underperformers.
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• Improve Pricing Strategies: Adjust prices based on demand and profitability to maximise revenue.
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• Enhance Marketing Efforts: Tailor promotions and discounts to drive sales during slow periods or boost popular items.

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Smart Staff Scheduling: Maximising Efficiency and Reducing Costs

Getting your staff scheduling right is crucial for balancing excellent customer service with keeping labour costs under control. 

With nearly 67% of restaurant revenue going to wages and purchase expenses, optimising your scheduling practices is more important than ever.

Why Efficient Scheduling Matters

Scheduling isn’t just about filling shifts; it’s about understanding your business needs and using resources wisely. Effective scheduling helps you:

• Match Staffing to Demand: Avoid overstaffing during quiet times and understaffing during busy periods. This way, you ensure great service without unnecessary labour costs.
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• Boost Employee Satisfaction: Well-organised schedules that consider employee availability and preferences lead to happier, more motivated staff.
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• Improve Operational Efficiency: Streamlined scheduling processes save time and reduce the risk of conflicts and errors.

How Opsyte Can Help

Opsyte’s scheduling tools make the whole process smooth and efficient:

• Forecast-Based Scheduling: Using sales and customer volume forecasts, Opsyte helps you create schedules that match staffing needs, reducing both overstaffing and understaffing.
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• Easy Shift Planning: With scheduling tasks simplified thanks to templating, shift requests, and time tracking you can save on hours of manual work.
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• Employee Self-Management: Staff can manage their availability, request time off, and swap shifts through the Opsyte app, reducing the administrative burden on managers.
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• Real-Time Adjustments: Adjust schedules on the fly based on current business conditions with data pulled from your EPOS system.

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Efficient Inventory Management

Poor inventory management is a big culprit of avoidable costs. However, by keeping a close eye on stock levels and ordering only what you need, you can minimise waste and avoid overstocking. 

Here’s how Opsyte can help:

• Automated Data Entry: Use OCR technology to automate the entry and categorisation of purchases, saving loads of admin time and reducing errors.
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• Approval Workflows: Implement multiple levels of approval to ensure proper oversight and control over inventory purchases—also speeding up the approval process.
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• Real-Time Integration: Sync with accounting systems to keep your inventory data up-to-date and accurate.

Thanks to Opsyte’s efficient inventory management tools, you can maintain tight control over your inventory, leading to better cost management and a healthier profit margin for restaurant growth.

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The Right Path to Better Profit Margins

Boosting your restaurant gross profit margins doesn’t have to be complicated. 

What is obvious though, is that it all begins with a solid strategy and a good understanding of how your business is operating. By focusing on accurate forecasting, detailed sales reporting, smart staff scheduling, and efficient inventory management, you are taking the necessary steps to reduce costs and maximise profits.

Tools like those offered by Opsyte make these tasks easier and more manageable, especially concerning forecasting, invoicing, staff scheduling and accurate reporting.

By implementing these strategies and leveraging Opsyte’s powerful tools, you can achieve a healthier profit margin and set your restaurant up for long-term success. 

So, why not embrace these methods today to see real improvements in your financial performance and overall efficiency? It’s easier than you think.

Ready to boost your restaurant’s profit margins and streamline your operations? Book a demo with Opsyte today and see how easy it can be.