Preparing Your Restaurant for the Holiday Season
For restaurants, a holiday season can be the most wonderful time of the year. Not only are diners more willing to treat oneself, they are also more likely to book or spend from your restaurant for a holiday celebration. This time of year always can be a nuisance for us, but for restaurant business, letting it pass by is not a good thing. It is the time to prepare for a large group of diners coming your doors. As long as you are dedicated on bringing festive experiences that costumers won’t soon forget, these simple tips will help you get the most out of every holiday season your restaurant will hold every year.
Here’s how you can get ready for the holiday season:
Evaluate your performance last year
Evaluate your performance last holiday season. What marketing strategies worked and what didn’t? Think about the solutions on the strategies that didn’t work and apply what you learned to this year’s operational plan.
Prepare Your Staff
Prepare your staff for the upcoming holiday season and make sure they are equipped for the expected fast flow of traffic and trained accordingly. If you are not confident that your current staff will be enough, hire as early as you can for any gaps you see. Consider temporary help from college students coming home for the holiday looking for seasonal work, the extra help should not be too hard to come by.
Check your Supplies and Kitchen Equipment
Check your inventory of your supplies, tableware and Kitchen Equipment. If your restaurant accommodates large events, make sure you have enough supplies on hand to keep them running smoothly and worry free. You also need reliable equipment to handle the workload of the holiday season.
Introduce special items and create a limited-time holiday offer
A holiday is an opportunity to have fun with your menu. Your restaurant can create specialty menu items or a limited-time holiday offer and pass along the holiday spirit to draw in regular and new customers. Try adding an item on your restaurant menu that incorporate holiday favorites, such as gingerbread, or apple cider. You can publicize these new limited-time options and special items on social media, so your followers will know when to come in to try the new special dishes.
Give more Gift Cards
Gift cards are one of the most popular holiday gifts. Through gift cards, you are providing your customers the chance to share the gift of a good meal to someone and use it whenever they’d like. The demand for gift cards are high. Try making your gift cards more enticing, such as offering a discount of $5 when they buy $50 in gift cards. It’s an easy way for your restaurant to receive cash now and expect business later on. Wrap the gift cards in an envelope to make them look special.
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