Do you think of your menu as a profit-producing asset or as a controllable cost? A menu is the most powerful merchandising tool at an operator's didposal but all too often it functions simply as a decorative price list.
Have you ever been handed a dog-eared, stained, smelly menu in a highly-regarded restaurant? Perhaps an specially appealing item was unavailable because, as the waiter discreetly whispered, "the cost went way up and they can't afford to sell it at that price!" When things like this happen, the tail is wagging the dog - profitability has become subordinate to menu expense.
Just as a succesful coach must make frequent player adjustments to stay competitive, a savvy restauranteur must regularly evaluate the mix of sales and gross profit contribution of each item and make frequent changes to maximize profitability. It sounds easy enough but it doesn't happen because it looks like the menu will be too costly to revise. When a menu remains in service too long, like even the finest athlete, it gets tired and productivity (or profitability in this case) suffers.
Why would an otherwise brilliant operator lose hundreds of dollars by holding on to a rigid menu program that makes changes seem cost prohibitive when the dollars spent to revise the menu could probably be recovered in about a week? Because they are thinking cost rather than asset.
A well-designed menu will influence your guests' total purchases, not just the entree, while reflecting and reinforcing the key components of your marketing mix - concept, atmosphere, service, location, image, reputation and value. How much is that worth to you?
Consider a restuarant with an annual sales of $ 500,000.00, and average check of $6.00. That means that 83,000 guests will look to your menu for guidance in making choices and recieve an impression of your restaurant (and you!) at the same time. An up to date, thoughtfully positioned menu, a a motivated server trained to sell suggestively, will help to ensure a winning recipe for increased profits.
If you begin looking at your menu as the income producing asset that it is, you will be on the right track to greater profitability.
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