You know what two systems most restaurants never have in place? Budgets and recipe costing cards! The number one reason I hear is, “They’re too hard.” I usually answer back with, “waaaa, waaaa,” the sound of a crying baby. I teach that the two most important systems any restaurant should have in place are a restaurant budget and recipe costing cards. I know it! Certain messages are that damn important. I am a broken record at times, repeating the same messages over and over again. You don’t hope you’re successful – you plan for it. Restaurant budgeting helps you plan for profitability. You also use your restaurant budget to measure budgeted against actual. You stop being reactive – you become proactive, making changes to ensure your food cost stays on track, that your labor cost stays on track. Your restaurant budget is your plan to success. Restaurant budgeting is the keystone to being profitable on purpose, rather than just being lucky.This allows you to examine how you are operating, determine what systems you have in place that people are not using and what systems you need to put into place to change your bottom line. Restaurant budgeting ensures that you know what your financial goals and targets are.Restaurant budgeting takes you from being a reactive management team to a proactive management team.In the video below I discuss why restaurant budgeting is a must. You can’t do it anymore – the risk is just too great. If you run your restaurant by gut and you’re not using restaurant budgeting, I urge you to STOP.

Restaurant budget planning