If someone were to ask you how you measure your restaurant’s success, what would you say? Sure, money is a big part of it. Most would argue that at the end of the day it’s the only thing that really matters.
But there’s more to success than just money. How you gauge your success will influence how you do business and the culture you build at your restaurant. Your key performance indicators (KPIs) will help with forecasting, planning, and evaluating where you’re at and where you’re going.
What is a KPI?
First, let’s talk about what a KPI is. A key performance indicator is just a fancy way of setting a goal that can be measured.
All KPIs should meet the following criteria:
S – specific
M – measurable
A – attainable
R – relevant
T – timely
Saying you want your restaurant to lower food cost isn’t enough. But if you set a goal to lower food cost by 10% by the end of Q2 you’re giving yourself very specific parameters to hit.
What types of KPIs should you be looking at?
The number of KPIs out there are endless. Truly, they depend on your business and the thousands of factors that make it unique. But in general, most KPIs for restaurants fall under three categories.
Social media and Marketing KPIs
Marketing your restaurant and growing its social media presence is an important part of nurturing existing customers and bringing in new ones. How you look online matters. Make sure you’re setting specific marketing goals to continue to get the word out about your restaurant.
These types of KPIs might include:
- Getting a certain number of positive reviews by a deadline
- Attaining an average review score that is above what you currently have
- Increasing social media engagement (likes, shares, comments)
Kitchen and Management KPIs
How you manage your kitchen directly translates to the value you offer your customers. By managing it efficiently you’re helping to keep costs down for them, while also providing an exceptional experience.
These types of KPIs might include:
- Reducing food waste by a certain percentage
- Determining menu item profitability to set a competitive pricing strategy
- Improving profit gross margin
Customer Service KPIs
Customer service KPIs are the KPIs that can keep on giving if you let them. By keeping customers happy and delivering a consistent, quality product you’re already doing some of the most important work. Setting KPIs in this area can ensure that the rest of your team is on board and that you aren’t missing any important things.
These types of KPIs might include:
- Spend per head
- Customer feedback
- Customer loyalty
As you set KPIs, it’s important that you have a tool that can help you easily pull reports and understand some of the data you’ll undoubtedly need. eHungry’s online ordering software allows you to quickly log in and understand what your most popular items are, average profits, and much more. Ultimately, when it comes to setting KPIs, you’ll want to know that whatever you’re doing is helping you reach your goals.