Restaurant log book helps managers stay organized and save money

Every restaurant experiences it at some point: chaos.

Overbooked dining rooms. Under-stocked kitchens. Angry customers. Unreliable employees.

From the back of the house to the front, miscommunication and a lack of organization are common problems that plague even the finest restaurants and catering facilities. In today’s fast-paced dining establishments, many managers have accepted the chaotic environments as simply part of the business – the unavoidable woes of running a restaurant.

But what they don’t realize is: these problems are costing them money, day after day.

Time spent solving issues, instead of preventing them, can cost businesses thousands of dollars a month. Factor in losses from angry customers and lack of repeat business, and these numbers can be staggering for many struggling restaurateurs.

Working smarter
Dave Lipson, owner of ReservationBooks.com, says that even the smallest bit of organization can go a long way.

Lipson has developed a restaurant manager’s log book, called the Manager’s Communication Module, that can help managers organize and track virtually every aspect of the restaurant in one compact, portable book. The daily log book allows managers to track sales, promotions, customer complaints and repairs, among many other day-to-day restaurant operations.

“A restaurant manager’s log book is essential to the success of any restaurant, no matter how big or small the business,” Lipson said. “By using something as simple as a daily log book, restaurant managers can run the business much more efficiently and cost-effectively.”

Lipson says the number-one goal of the Manager’s Communication Module is to ensure smooth, day-to-day operations of a restaurant or catering facility. By allotting space for managers to address the five essential areas of operation (who, what, where, how and when), the restaurant log book can easily save valuable time and money for these businesses.

“I’ve seen managers out there who say they don’t need a manager log book. They keep everything in their head. That’s a good trait to have in this business, but it can only take you so far. These same establishments are the ones that are suffering the most from a lack of restaurant communication. They might have a packed dining room at night, but they can’t understand where or why they’re losing money,” Lipson said.

The Restaurant Manager’s Communication Module includes a daily calendar, available with a two-page spread for every day of the year. The spread is divided into sections for taking notes on every aspect of the business: front of house, bar, back of house, employee issues … even kitchen inventory status.

The restaurant log book also includes sections for tracking daily and monthly sales, logging employee schedules and shift changes, recording customer wait times, and maintaining reservations. An incident report section also lets managers track accidents and customer complaints.

Managers can even use the restaurant log book to record the weather each day, which often correlates to sales and can be useful for planning specials more effectively.

The restaurant managers log books are available in a variety of formats, including spiral bound or in a faux-leather binder for front-of-house operation.

The need for organization in a surging industry
In a $558 billion restaurant industry, restaurant log books and catering log books are becoming more and more popular among managers. Manager log books, like the Manager Communication Module, provide a means of preventing chaos and insuring effective restaurant communication – even when it’s as simple as jotting down a note.

According to Lipson, who designed the Manager’s Communication Module with the suggestions of successful restaurant managers, businesses can use the daily log book however they want. In fact, most managers won’t fill in every section every day, Lipson says. But every bit helps.

“Manager log books and restaurant log books don’t have to be used religiously to be effective,” says Lipson. “For some businesses, the log books are an essential resource for running the business and saving time and money. But for others, they simply provide a neat, organized space for a manager to take down important notes that come up during the day. But instead of losing the notes on napkins, backs of receipts or in unorganized notebooks, managers can keep all this important information in one, easy-to-access, organized daily log book.”

For caterers looking to improve catering communication, ReservationBooks.com also provides a Catering Communication Module – a manager’s daily log book catered specifically to larger dining facilities and event-planning organizations.

According to the National Restaurant Association, disorganization is a problem that affects nearly every business in the food-service industry. Jeffrey Meyer, bestselling author of several time-management books, recently told the National Restaurant Association, “Sixty percent of the papers on your desk and 80 percent of your files can be tossed.” The solution, he says, is finding a way to consolidate the most important information for your restaurant into one resource.

That’s where restaurant manager log books come in.

Ask any experienced restaurateur and they’ll tell you that saving money in the restaurant business is just a matter of working smarter. Restaurant log books, like the Manager’s Communication Module, help organize priorities while preventing unexpected hiccups in day-to-day operations. From tracking weekend sales to making reminders about much-needed repairs, manager log books can provide a money-saving boost in restaurant communication – without all the chaos.

For more information on restaurant manager log books, reservation books, daily log books or the Manager’s Communication Module, visit http://www.ReservationBooks.com or call 1-800-942-7086.