During the coronavirus outbreak, many businesses were forced to shut down while some others had to lay off some of their workers to remain afloat. This wasn’t peculiar to the corporate world alone as even bars and restaurants were condemned to a similar fate. The lockdown restrictions that were put in place were rightfully about protecting the people’s lives and health before any business. Many businesses suffered from this, especially those that couldn’t get their workers to work remotely, such as bars and restaurants.
However, many of these restrictions are already lifted as the curve starts to flatten, and the cases drop in many places. Businesses are now reopening as well as small gatherings such as pubs and bars. This has, however, come with new guidelines and restrictions from the government and other regulatory bodies. Failure to adhere to all of these guidelines will lead to the restaurant getting fined. For a business that has to struggle through the pandemic and is only starting to get back to its feet, having to pay a hefty fine is undoubtedly not the best for its growth. So, it is essential to avoid these fines to prevent giving out money that would otherwise help the restaurant back on its feet. To do this, here are five things you need to adopt:
1. Diversify your services
If you’re going to maintain a healthy sales level during this period, you have to do more takeout services and restaurant deliveries. Some of the restrictions and guidelines over the reopening of restaurants in many states limits dine-in services. This is why you have to be proactive in diversifying your service, including curbside pickup, delivery, and takeout services. This will ensure that you have good sales even with the restrictions and prevent hefty fines over your restaurants’ running. Some tips to help you implement this are:
- Provide an avenue for online ordering if you don’t do this already.
- Optimize the drive-thru window.
- Take up delivery services.
- Provider curbside pickup.
- Provide a different menu for delivery and takeout only.
2. Market gift cards
Things will inevitably return to normal according to best essay writing service, whether it’s the same normal that we’ve always had or a new normal is a different story to tell. You can start making plans for this normality and also help your customers make plans as well. Selling gift cards is one way to achieve this. This will help you get enough cash flow to survive this period and prepare for a return to normalcy. You can use a community-minded approach to this, so customers are willing to buy the gift cards for the future and give your restaurant some stability now. This is a lot better than trying to overcrowd your restaurant to make enough sales to keep you afloat while risking your customers’ lives and breaking regulations as well.
3. Improve your online presence
If there’s one thing that people are doing more these days, it is spending more time on the internet, and they do this mainly through their mobile devices. At this point, it is not just enough to have a website. It would help if you optimized it for mobile devices. Otherwise, you’re likely to have a high bounce rate on your website and not maximize your website for more revenue. To improve your online mobile presence, here are some tips to try out.
- Use Google My Business listings. This helps customers within your local area to find you and also get information about your restaurant.
- Have social media accounts. Being online actively is one way to remain close to your customers even if they can’t walk into your restaurants in troops yet. You can also pass information and make announcements through these platforms.
4. Adjust your menu
Reducing your running costs is essential right now. To do this, you have to scale your menu down to limit the total cash you have in stock and the amount of stock you have that can spoil. This works well when you use a meal prep kit or prepared-meal delivery, as you’ll be making both in large batches with the same ingredients.
You might want to try out a digital menu as well. It has a lot of advantages for you. For instance, digital wine lists can ensure that restaurants and bars over the country are more sanitary and agile. It is even likely that we have more digital menus or disposable menus, at least in the post-coronavirus world. This might likely be a QR code menu since they are contact-free. So, why not start trying this out now to grow your restaurant and prevent unnecessary fines associated with the pandemic.
5. Invest in your employees
Employees are essential to the success or failure of any business, even restaurants. Take your time to work with them and invest in them. You don’t want to go back to scratch with your employees when you’re allowed to open fully. Investing in your employees ensures that they come back better. This might be with little gestures such as supporting them during this pandemic or replacing some of their lost wages. Also, you want to ensure that they have adequate knowledge and training to handle customers, especially if you come across a sick customer at some point. They should all know what steps to take to minimize any possible spread of infections to themselves and other customers as well.
Preventing the spread of COVID-19
Everybody has a role to play to prevent the spread of the virus in the fight against COVID-19. This means that there are precautions that you always need to take, even for something as basic as going to get groceries at the store or running other forms of errands. The good thing is that there is plenty of information on both online and offline sources to educate people on protecting themselves and preventing the virus’s spread.
While differing headlines might sometimes send conflicting messages, the best measure to flatten the curve and prevent the virus’s spread is to stay at home. Apart from keeping you from getting or spreading the virus, staying at home also ensures that the healthcare workers are not overworked. So they can continue working at their maximum capacity.
Some of the best actions that you can take to ensure the virus doesn’t spread are:
- Social distancing: this is you maintaining a distance greater than 6 feet between you and other people around you.
- Stay at home: if everybody stays at home, there’s little to no risk of transmitting the virus from one person to another.
- Don’t touch your face: the virus enters your body system through the eyes, nose, and mouth. So, not touching your face will help reduce the risk of being positive.
- Wash your hands with soap frequently for 20 seconds: the virus cannot survive the soap lather. So, doing this kills the virus.
- Wear a mask: wearing a mask reduces the risk of infection of the virus.
Conclusion
The coronavirus pandemic is one that has taken the world by storm. Nothing could have prepared us for this. The quarantine and lockdown shut down the economy, education, etc. Thankfully, things are getting back to shape, and restaurants & bars are reopening. However, this has come with stricter measures. To avoid fines, these are things that you must do, as mentioned in this article.
