Streamlining the costs in your business #FAQFriday

Happy Friday, everybody. It’s hashtag FAQ Friday, live from Forest Side in Grasmere. It is absolutely stunning, nice and warm here in the Lake District. And I’ve just been very blessed to have lunch here.

You actually use the cost of your labour on your rota. Now, there are different ways of doing this. But you’ve got to know the revenue. And you’ve got to know the costs of every item that you are currently doing. But you’ve also got to know the cost of your labour, your staffing. So get getting your rotas, and actually knowing the cost elements. And you can do this on a spreadsheet; it is quite simple. A little bit difficult if you don’t know how to do it, but I can always help and support you, to show you how to do that if you book a one-to-one with me.

Look at the hours that people are actually working; that’s how you do it. But it has to be on a spreadsheet and put your revenue cost items in as well.

And making sure that you know, per shift, how much profit you’re making. And, as I’ve just mentioned, when I was asked the question, it’s not always about profit. Profit is really important, yes, but making sure that your cash flow is, especially at this time of year. It is the most important because your cash flow is king.

A lot of businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, full stop, go under because they’ve not got clear cash flow in their business, because you know, bills aren’t being paid on time, et cetera. And it can take people under that’s what took a lot of businesses under in a pandemic. And you don’t want to be in that situation. So it’s important that you know your numbers. The numbers are the biggest thing that you need to know as a business owner, you’ve got to be hot on the trail of that. But certainly, look at your revenue items.

Knowing the statistics of people coming in for a lunch, for example, and the rough average spend can give you a forecast of that.

And then, looking at the rota of how many people you need to serve that number, and what value they actually bring to the table. And then put that on a spreadsheet, as well as the cost elements of the business of what it’s taken to get there., if you’ve had some sales and marketing costs to be able to fill your dining room up, or your business up, make sure you put them on as well. So put all your elements on there. And you can actually find out once you get used to doing it and you’re doing it daily,

per each shift or you can actually get really clever and really knowledgeable. But I’ve got lots of tools and templates to help and support you.

But you would have to book a one to one with that. That’s not something I can disclose on FAQ Friday. But it is quite simple to do once you actually start doing it and get used to doing it. So I hope that’s helped and supported you. As always Happy Friday, everybody and happy weekend and enjoy the Lake District. No snow on the Fells today. But enjoy and take care all the way from Forest Side Grasmere

Take care.

Thank you.

Bye bye