Author Archives: Raffi Yousefian

Labor cost as a percentage of sales indicates whether or not labor should be adjusted in a restaurant. However, actually controlling and managing labor cost requires more analysis. Labor cost can be controlled through effective scheduling and improving employee productivity, but only if you have access to actionable data and reliable reports and have the

The ideal labor cost in a restaurant differs for every concept because it depends on the overall prime costs as a percentage of sales. Prime costs, which is the cost of goods (COGS) plus labor, should never exceed 65% for full-service restaurants and 60% for quick-service restaurants. Therefore, the ideal labor cost is the amount

This is not another article telling you to order shredded carrots instead of shredding them in-house. Instead, we will show you how to use your financial data to achieve the ideal cost of goods sold (COGS) that will guarantee profitability in three steps if your other KPIs are in order. First, we’ll show you the

In Part 1, we outlined how to assess the viability and value of a new restaurant project using the sales-to-investment ratio. In this article, we walk you through valuing an existing restaurant and how these valuations are determined by thinking like an investor, and describe common pitfalls and factors that could affect a restaurant’s valuation.

Building a new restaurant, expanding or selling an existing restaurant, or admitting a new partner require an accurate valuation so that you will know how to structure the terms of a deal. Whether you are a single-unit or multi-unit concept, the value of your restaurant is mostly driven by profitability and cash flow at the

Third-party delivery (such as UberEats, Grubhub, and Doordash) has gained a bad reputation due to the exorbitant fees charged by the platforms. However, changes in Americans’ eating habits are making these platforms vital for the survival of restaurants. About half of all restaurant sales in the US are consumed off-premises, and these off-premises options (catering,