In the nightlife industry, you, unfortunately, have to spend some money to make a profit. If you haven’t been seeing a big difference in the amount of money spent vs. received, you may need to look at where you can cut costs. While cutting expenses, be sure that the quality of your service and product remains at a high standard so that you don’t lose business because of it. Here are some minor changes you can implement to keep your good reputation while still saving some money.

Eliminate Waste

Wasting materials and ingredients is one of the main ways bars and clubs lose money. One tip to avoid this is to have multiple uses for ingredients. For example, use old fruit for sangria or tomatoes that are too ripe for Bloody Marys. You can also try to use less product in each drink by cutting fruit garnishes into slices rather than wedges. It will still look and taste good, but you’ll be using less per drink. You will also want to pay close attention to expiration dates and organize your products with the oldest ingredients first so that they will be used first and not gone to waste.

Care for Employees

One of the largest expenses of a business is hiring and training employees. Since there is so much money and time put into this, it is important to reduce turnover and avoid having to repeat this process often. To do so, take care of your employees and make them want to stay at their job. Some ways to do this are making an employee of the month program, hosting fun team gatherings, and giving your employees good perks and benefits. You also initially want to make sure you are selecting the right candidates during interviews which will help avoid having to fire any employees down the road. You can read our blog post here about how to properly interview bartender candidates.

Caring for your employees will also prevent loss of product. If you hire loyal employees and treat them well, you should be able to trust that they will not overpour or give out free drinks, which will ensure that you do not lose money.

Reduce Energy Use

Energy and electricity are a big cost to consider in your finances. Cutting back on electricity with some simple tactics will save you a ton in the long run. One change you can make is switching to LED or compact fluorescent light bulbs. You can set your thermostat to heat and cool the venue based on your hours, making it so you don’t have to keep monitoring it in efforts to save money. Even simply unplugging appliances or lights when you leave, or setting your refrigerator at the correct temperature can significantly reduce your costs.

Make Substitutions

There are many expenses that you can substitute with cheaper products. All you have to do is list out your inventory based on price and do a little research to see if any alternatives will save you some money. If you can’t part with your most expensive products, try to limit how much they show up on your menu and only feature them in a few drinks. You can substitute products that aren’t edible too, such as napkins, utensils, and cleaning products.

Switch to TablelistPro

Why overpay for your reservation management software when TablelistPro offers even more features than the competition at just a fraction of the price? A simple way to cut costs is by opting for our platform, which starts at just $199 per month. With it, you'll unlock features that are so powerful yet incredibly easy to use including VIP table and event management, customer CRM, detailed reporting, payment links, instant bookings, and more. Most notably, TablelistPro also integrates with Stripe Connect, giving your venue access to money in advance and, in turn, helping with cash flow. Give it a try for yourself by scheduling a free, 15-minute demo on tablelistpro.com.

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