Software Increasing Catering Profits

In last weeks blog, we talked about better food costing, and higher profits, through the use of a software package. The post discusses how an automated system can be the catalyst for both time and monetary savings.  But how exactly does a software program do this?

I thought a few bullet points for clarification might help…

• Having accurate food costs will help you set competitive and profitable menu prices.  
• After setting initial menu prices, the program will help manage fluctuating ingredient costs. What effect does a +/- 10% ingredient cost have on the menu item(s) associated to it? Knowing this, menu item prices can be adjusted accordingly.
• Having an auto-generated shopping/order list from a program will save countless hours of a kitchen manager trying to figure out that detail. Even if not wage related, what else more productive (and profitable) activities can they be doing in lieu of creating an order list by hand?
• Eliminate waste by only ordering what is needed. The system will tell you exactly what you need to order.
• A program will easily calculate overall event profit. We can tweak pricing (not just menu – but beverage, rental, staff, etc.) to make an event profitable. When we just cant work out pricing to get out of the red? Pass. Nobody wants to work for a loss. 
• Quick turn around times for professional proposals. Ultimately this will mean more business from very impressed prospects. Even after a proposal bid is won, changes in client choices can be immediately evaluated in terms of the effect those changes have on profitability.
• Never miss an outstanding accounts receivable. Easily run a report to see which clients have payments due, or coming due.
• Time is money! Automating everything you do on a daily basis means more time for you to do what you do best : running your company from the kitchen – not behind a pile of paperwork.

The order list is an important report mentioned a couple of times in this article. For more information on better shopping, see Mike Roman’s blog post from last week by clicking this link .

If you have any specific experiences on saving time or money through the use of automated systems, please share your comment!