Success is not about luck and chance. It’s about visionary leaders who intentionally pursue the critical elements every business needs to be successful.
Join Kison Patel from Boss Move Podcast and his guest Lil Roberts, Founder, and CEO in the episode Critical Elements of Success as they talk about the secret ingredients for success and how to get them.
Endeavor Miami hosted their y.FTL panel, the second panel in their y.FLORIDA series. Lil Roberts, Xendoo’s CEO was one of the speakers. As Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to develop they will continue to shed light on the strength of Florida’s entrepreneurs. Honored to be part of an amazing night with incredible people!
The Miami tech movement wouldn’t be what it is without the women founders, executives, nonprofit leaders, and venture capitalists who have spent years championing the region’s innovation community. An article by Ashley Portero, Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal. Read more here
These are the women in Miami tech you need to know
When it comes to financial health as your scaling your startup there are six steps to healthy financials for scaling your startup. Watch for insightful tips for your small business by our CEO and Founder Lil Roberts, at This Week in Startups – Scaling your Startup. E1224 of Low Burn.
Small businesses are making the leap into digitalization to respond to evolving consumer behavior and expectations, adapting to new working norms, putting data to work to drive performance and building business resiliency.
We believe business owners should have time to do what they love, build their business – not do bookkeeping.
The new buying habits are post-pandemic! What to expect? Xendoo CEO and Founder Lil Roberts is back to share with us the new buying habits post-pandemic and how eCommerce fits into retail’s post-pandemic future.
“We believe business owners should have time to do what they love, build their business – not do bookkeeping.”
One of Broward County’s biggest startup success stories continues to grow at a rapid pace.
Fort Lauderdale-based xendoo has developed a SaaS bookkeeping platform targeted at small businesses. The startup reported a two-year revenue growth of 777% from 2018 through 2019.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in February 2017 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
As a restaurant owner, you have a lot of expenses on your plate every month that a partner like Xendoo can help you manage, such as providing tax tips for restaurants. Like rent and insurance, many of those are fixed and are beyond your control except when it’s time to renegotiate those agreements. But others are variable and are within your power on a day-to-day basis. By far, the two most significant of these variable expenses are food and labor, and there are things you can do to minimize both without sacrificing customer service or menu quality. Labor is relatively straightforward, but food costs can often be an elusive target for new restaurateurs. Let’s take a look at some things that you can do to reduce food costs and increase your bottom line.
Put simply, your food cost is the ratio of what you spend on groceries to your front-of-house sales and is almost always expressed as a percentage. For example, if you have a good restaurant bookkeeping system in place and know that your monthly Sysco invoices are $30,000 and your sales for the month are $100,000, your food cost for that month is 30%. Of course, lower is always better when it comes to ways to reduce food costs, but 30% is the generally accepted ideal for most restaurants.
There is a science to menu planning, and it involves a lot more than just deciding what dishes you are good at preparing. First, you need to know exactly the cost of ingredients for each dish you offer on your menu, which is often called the “plate cost.” Calculating your plate cost can seem complex at first glance, but it’s fairly simple once you get the hang of it. Before you can calculate anything, you need to be sure you have standardized recipes with clearly defined units of measurement and quantities.
Make a list of each ingredient in the dish and do the same calculation for each one. You need to know the unit of measurement your supplier uses (the purchase unit), what your supplier charges you for it (the unit purchase cost), and the yield. Yield will only apply to some items that require trimming or peeling (like meat or potatoes) before they can be used, resulting in some waste that needs to be calculated into your cost. Standardized yield charts are available from most vendors. These three numbers will give you your actual unit price for the ingredient.
Next, think about how you prepare your dish and define the unit of measurement called for in your recipe (the serving unit). Next, figure out how your serving unit relates to your purchase unit and calculate your serving unit cost. For example, if you buy ketchup by the pound and serve it by the ounce, you would divide your purchase unit cost by 16 to get the price per ounce. Lastly, define the quantity of serving units in the recipe (portion size).
That may sound like a lot of numbers, but you can calculate your plate cost with these numbers in hand. Let’s take the example of a side order of french fries. You buy Russet potatoes for $2 per pound, and let’s assume four potatoes to the pound. After peeling, you have 19% waste (an 81% yield). Your recipe calls for 8oz of potatoes on the order, so it’s easy to calculate the plate cost from there. At $2 per pound with 81% yield, your actual cost per usable pound is $2.47. Divide that by 16 to get the price per ounce ($0.15) and multiply by 8oz called for in your recipe to get your plate cost of $1.20 for an order of fries. Sticking to the 30% food cost rule, you should be pricing this menu item at no less than $4.00.
Mexican restaurants are often cited as one of the most profitable restaurant categories. One of the key reasons is the relatively small number of common ingredients used in most menu items. Think about it: how many things on a Mexican menu can you make with some ground beef, chicken, tortillas, cheese, beans, and rice? A lot. Having common ingredients among dishes means you don’t have a lot of different items sitting around on the shelf not being used if a particular dish isn’t selling well. Avoid menu items that call for ingredients—especially expensive ones—that are unused in any other dish.
A good, detailed inventory taken regularly is important in figuring out how to reduce food costs because you need to know which items are running high and whether you might have food walking out the back door at night. No one likes to think that someone on the staff might be stealing, but the sad reality in the restaurant business is that theft does happen. Therefore, always have the inventory conducted and signed off by at least two people to reduce the inventory shrinkage. Other reasons for an item running high may be poor preparation resulting in unnecessary waste or spoilage from incorrect rotation.
You have several options for foodservice vendors, and just because you’ve chosen one doesn’t mean you have to stay with your current choice. The vendor that had the best pricing a year ago, or even six months ago, may not have the best prices today. Food prices fluctuate based on market supply and demand, and vendors often try to entice new clients with low introductory pricing that they can’t maintain for long. So be sure that you’re shopping your options regularly to keep them honest.
When your truck comes in, be sure that someone checks off each item on the invoice and verifies the correct quantity before the driver leaves. Foodservice vendors will often run out of stock in the warehouse and either make substitutions or omit back-ordered items. Be sure that your rep knows what substitutions are and aren’t acceptable and what items are critical for your business. You should receive a credit for any back-ordered items, but sometimes the vendor might make an oversight, or the driver might simply make a mistake unloading the order. You can’t afford to pay for food you never receive, right?
One of the most common reasons for spoilage is the lack of proper rotation on the shelf. When the food truck comes in, ensure that the person putting it away understands that new items always go in the back and older items get rotated to the front. It’s often tempting when things get busy to stick the new inventory in the front where it’s most convenient. A periodic spot check of expiration dates will usually reveal whether your team is rotating items properly.
The way you store perishable items can sometimes affect their shelf life. Be sure that your cooler is set at the recommended temperature (28-32° for fresh meats) and that items in the cooler are correctly stored to prevent cross-contamination of microorganisms that can lead to early spoilage or even sickness. In addition, be sure that raw meats, poultry, and seafood are placed on bottom shelves to prevent meat juices from dripping onto other foods and causing contamination.
Daily specials are a great way to offer a tasty variety to your customers and get rid of that extra inventory lingering in the pantry a little longer than it should. Train the front-of-house staff to sell the specials effectively and promote them on social media. If you offer a buffet, that’s also a great way to reduce food costs while keeping your customers happy.
Food cost will always be one of the challenges of the restaurant business, but it doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Using these tips, you can help keep your food cost under control and tame one of the biggest variables to your profit margin. If you are already close to the ideal food cost of 30%, congratulations, you’re ahead of the curve. But if not, you now have the tools to figure out where your grocery money is going and make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck. Xendoo is here to help, so be sure to reach out and discover the full suite of services that Xendoo offers to restaurant owners just like you.
This past year has been incredibly hard on retailers, especially small businesses. Retail sales plunged more than 20% between February and April last year, but with pandemic restrictions easing, the industry is starting to recover. As folks are venturing out more, it’s the perfect time to refresh yourself and your sales associates on tips to help increase retail sales and work towards building your business back up!
Many people are finding it tough to return to their pre-pandemic selves quickly and are still moving with caution. Help them feel at ease by reminding them they are safe in your shop. Take note of what protocols major retailers are following. For example, make hand sanitizer available at the entry and the register. Use signage to share your mask policy, your cleaning protocol, and any policies on the dressing room or how to use ‘tester’ products. The safer customers feel, the more likely they are to make a purchase which will help increase your retail sales.
Many stores began offering curbside pickup and local delivery in 2020, and most customers have become accustomed to these services. Keep in mind that today’s customers value convenience, so continue to offer these alternative methods moving forward.
While you’re refreshing your team on cross- and up-selling, make sure they are up to speed on the basics, too. For example, do they need a reminder on any specials or promotions you’re offering? Ensure they are experts on your store’s products and that they are as informed as possible on your customer service expectations. Encourage them to think ahead to how they might answer specific questions customers might ask, including all frequently asked questions. If your staff can put your customers at ease, they are more likely to purchase from you than your competitors.
Cross-selling and up-selling
The savviest sales associates know how to cross-sell and up-sell. When a customer is interested in one particular item, the savvy salesperson suggests a corresponding item to go along with it. “If you like that, you will love this, too!” Up-selling is suggesting a more expensive alternative to the item the customer is already interested in buying. “Oh, that one you have is great, but have you seen this (more expensive) version?” If your customer leaves with an item that they will enjoy more and feel like they got a great deal, they are more likely to be a repeat customer which can further help increase retail sales.
Make the way you merchandise or display your products a priority. Keep your displays fresh and regularly move merchandise around the store, which creates a sense of newness and will have your regular customers looking at products they may have otherwise passed. Feature new and seasonal products near the entrance. Keep everything clean, organized, and make sure it’s easy to navigate the store. Keep popular and inexpensive items near the registers to encourage impulse purchases during check-out. You should also keep up on your inventory accounting to ensure that those displays have enough product on them.
80% of companies are more likely to purchase from a company that offers them a personal experience. So how might your store offer a personal touch? Branded items are a great way to creatively connect with your customers – make sure your logo or taglines are on bags, receipts, and automated email receipts. Consider slipping an extra treat into shopping bags, too. Perhaps a small button or magnet with your logo and website. And the best way to get personal is to really connect with your customers. Make it a priority to chat, remember their names, and take note of the types of products that interest them.
Customers love loyalty programs! Many small businesses still enjoy using classic “buy 10, get 1 free” style punch cards, but there are great digital-focused loyalty programs, too. Options like Loopy Loyalty and Smile.io encourage customers to shop with you again and engage with your brand. And get creative! These programs offer ways for you to customize the program to match your branding and speak to your customer. As you build your loyalty program, make sure you aren’t creating an unattainable goal. Earning $5 for every $25 you spend feels much more exciting than earning $1 for every $50 you spend, right!?
Small retail store owners are notoriously stretched for time, but it’s essential to set aside time to review what sales tactics are working and what aren’t. Look at the numbers and strategically think about what might have led to increases or dips in sales on any given day. This is where having professionals like the team at Xendoo manage your retail bookkeeping can go a long way. Through accurate and timely reports, you can quickly review the numbers and figure out what sales strategies are most effective.
It’s an exciting time for retailers to have a fresh start! Seize the opportunity and train your staff on new sales tactics, refresh your inventory offerings and displays, and get creative with new ways for your customers to engage with your brand. By outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting to the team at Xendoo, you’ll save time and money, and you’ll finally have the data you need to be more strategic about how to increase retail sales and remain profitable.
