Page 28 - GBC Fall English 2023

costs and inventories to update automatically. So, you could be at a conference or on a vacation and still know that everything is on track or if there are some inventory gaps your team needs to focus in on.
MENU ENGINEERING
Menu Engineering is something I still get excited to share today after 18 years. Yes, some of it is drawing up the graphs and getting to use the term “Plowhorse” but the main reason is the power it gives those that choose to utilize it. Seeing your menu broken down with the costs to make items, their profit, and sales so close together changes the game.
In The Power Up for Business playbook, we have a template you can use. The short of it though is that each item based on its popularity and profit is moved into one of four categories. Dogs are those items that do not make us much money and do not sell a lot, Plowhorses are those that have big volume but not our highest margins, Puzzlers are those items that have good profits but we do not sell many and Stars sell lots and make us good profit each time. Making changes to a menu can be very emotional and some end up guessing, however Menu Engineering takes that all away
and helps the front and back of house make decisions that are good for the business and usually impact inventory and efficiency in a positive way as well.
Hand in hand with Menu Engineering, your menu is also a valuable piece of real estate, and like real estate, location has a lot to do with price and value. Whether you have a single sheet, double or 3 panels, there are places the eye gravitates towards first and these are the places we want to locate your highest profit items. You also want to make sure that you are starting and ending sections with multiple items with the same mindset as we typically scan menus and do not necessarily go through and read each item.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media has seen a steep incline in importance the past 5 years and has become a powerful and cost-effective marketing tool. If it is not for you, remember that your business still needs it. Identify a team member or role that will enthusiastically support this. Ensure that you build a Social Media standards guide so there is a clear direction on what can be posted, and make sure that the passwords and logins are stored in a secure place that leaders have
access too should there be a change to who manages. Get staff and members involved in creating and sharing content, especially videos as this is the biggest driver of engagement. While you do not have to spend a ton of money to get the message out using this medium, ensure that you budget for ad boosts as you need to feed the algorithm to keep your posts regularly showing in followers feeds.
Now what? We’ve got the juices flowing, now it’s up to you to execute a plan on the areas of opportunity with your teams always remembering that you’re not on your own and you can find a team over at Sysco that would love to help.
Golf Business Canada
28Golf Business Canada