Restaurants

Restaurateurs need to be proactive, creative and innovative to stay competitive. We can help you get more customers and reduce operating expenses – without sacrificing quality. Ask yourself – “If I had to spend $1,000 on operating expenses, would I rather pay cash or barter $1,000 worth of meals and fill  some empty tables?”

Let’s assume that you choose to barter $1,000 worth of meals – how does this work on barter? Typical restaurant operating expense are made up of fixed costs (e.g. rent, equipment, leases, electricity and phone) and variable costs (e.g. food, beverages and staff). However, the staff you have on any given night  are considered a fixed cost as the chef and wait staff are employed for that period or time, regardless of the number of customers that come through the  door. Therefore, the only variable cost on the night would be the replacement cost of the food and beverages. Industry standards indicate the replacement  cost of the food and beverage for any additional customers is approximately 35 cents on the dollar.

Let’s apply the marginal cost theory to our original  $1,000 question. “If I had to spend $1,000 on some operating expenses, would I rather pay cash or  barter $1,000 worth of meals?” (This would cost me only my marginal cost of 35 cents on the dollar – in this case $350 cash). By bartering extra meals for  necessary operating expenses, the restaurateur has saved $650 cash ($1,000 – $350). How many times a month would you want to do this and at the same  time bring new customers through the door to create ambience, attract cash customers and provide word of mouth advertising?