Thursday, July 13, 2017
Today's Specials:
BUSINESS: Master the 5 Basics of Restaurant Accounting
Not everyone speaks fluent accounting, especially not busy restaurant managers.
But knowing the basics of restaurant accounting can pay dividends in helping you understand your accountant better and manage your money. We put together this cheat sheet to master restaurant accounting principles.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Bulls Aren’t a Distraction
A group of tourists in Pamplona, Spain tried to run out on a check during the running of the bulls. Apparently, running from a bull is easier than running from the police, because the local cops managed to find the tourists and made them go back to pay their bill. The men also left a 10% tip for the servers they tried to flee from. Bullseye.
Chipotle Sells Queso
Starting this week, Chipotle will allow customers to order their original new queso. The brand has waited to introduce the cheesy goodness because they wanted the product to be completely free from added colors, flavors and preservatives. Not an easy task for a notoriously neon orange dip.
Game of Thrones Popup
A Game of Thrones pop-up restaurant in DC us running from now until August 27th. The pub is themed from room to room to show setting from key scenes of the show. Take a look inside the restaurant here.
WHEN IN DOUBT, LIGHT IT UP
Why it matters to you: A restaurant is making it easier for customers to post food pictures.
In the past, we’ve discussed how important food pictures are to your restaurant’s publicity. We live in a digital age where Instagram is a driving factor of how potential customers determine which establishments to spend their money. The Dirty Bones restaurant in London and NYC understand this all too well. Therefore, they’ve created a unique way of ensuring their customer’s food photos turn out Instagram-worthy. The restaurant is giving out “foodie Instagram packs” aka smartphone light kits so that customers’ pictures turn out brighter and clearer. What is also noteworthy, these light kits are free of charge with each meal.
Each kit contains a portable LED camera light, a multi-device charger, a clip-on wide angle camera lens, and a tripod selfie stick; all to make sure guests’ pictures are deemed Insta-worthy.
This is a brilliant idea. Not only will these light kits pay for themselves, but Dirty Bones is allowing their willing customers to advertise for them for the small price of a light kit. If each customer has say 600 Instagram followers, and they post a picture of mouth-watering food and tag the location, then that photo will be in front of the eyes of essentially, the majority of their followers. Some restaurants have even gone as far to add their logo right onto the food itself for this very reason. According to one restaurant owner, “we all know we live in an Instagram world, and the competition between bars is hotter than ever. Each place needs a way to captivate people and get them talking about you. It is, after all, free publicity.”
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
Why it matters to you: It’s only a matter of time before you experience a cyber attack.
With all the talk about Russian hackers and cyber intrusions, it makes sense for all of us to review our cyber security approach. You don’t want to find out you could have avoided a problem with some simple change after you have been breached. There are some easy steps, like physically separating your guest and business wifi or never allowing anyone, not from your company access to your computers. But generally speaking, avoiding cyber-attacks takes some organization and planning.
While we appreciate what a yawner this subject is to most of our readers, we have to remind you there are only two types of operations: Those that have experienced a cyber-attack and those that will in the future. In a post last year we described six tactics to improve your cyber security. Please take a minute, review it and compare those tactics to what you currently do. If they don’t seem similar, then it’s time to review your security approach and get ahead of the inevitable cyber breech that’s waiting for you in the future.
