By Abbey Lane – Tip20! Contributor.
Unfortunately for most, the days of forgetting about money are over. The importance of saving has kicked in for many Americans as well as many Europeans, and the restaurant industry is no different. The tricky part about business is the idea that you want to give a good deal so people will buy your products and/or services, but you still want to make sure you’re making money. After all, your business is on the popular “must save” mentality as well.
One great way to make this happen is through bundling. Bundling is an easy, inexpensive way for restaurants to offer deals, and consumers have grown to expect bundling from certain kinds of companies. However, bundling can be applied to any sort of business, including the restaurant business.
For those who are unfamiliar, bundling simply means that a customer can get a deal at a company, but only if they buy a few different things from that one business. In other words, you sell a few different things as one product/service. The most obvious example is probably an Internet package. Internet companies often offer cable, phone, and Internet all for one low price. If you were to buy them separately, it would be more expensive. Even if you just bought two of the three items you would be paying a higher rate. This works just as well for restaurants. You may want to offer a bundle complete with your signature bbq sauce, six wings, and a medium fry. It seems simple, but this is considered a bundle.
Bundling works well for a few different reasons:
Why Bundling Can Work for Your Business
- Cost – Bundling allows customers to get a better rate on a larger number of items. This brings in money for the business because customers are buying more than they would have normally, and it works well for consumers because in the long run they will be saving money by buying everything as a bundle.
- Spotlight – Bundling can bring exposure to a new product or service. If you can bundle something new with some of your older, most popular items, people will be more inclined to give it a try. This could help generate referrals in the future and help the sales of any other related items.
- Easy – Bundling is easy for everyone. Although the price is great, this is probably the number one reason bundling works.
Any business that offers more than one product or service can take advantage of bundling. Although it hasn’t been overly popular with many businesses, the ones who do utilize the bundling trick find that it is successful.
Abbey Lane is a writer for Credit Card Compare giving financial advice to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Go to www.creditcardcompare.com.au to learn how to save money with a balance transfer as well as nab some other great advice.
 From Yahoo! News By Melissa Knowles
Just when you may have thought the ongoing battle between the 99% and the 1% was dying down, it may have been reignited. A wealthy banker left a $1.33 tip on a $133 lunch at the True Food Kitchen restaurant in Newport Beach, California.
To add insult to injury the word “tip” was circled on the receipt, and the banker wrote “get a real job” on the bill. The picture of the receipt was taken and uploaded to the blog Future Ex-Banker by a person who was dining with the anonymous banker. As expected, the blog received a lot of attention and has now been taken down. The author of the blog wrote, “mention the 99% in my boss’ presence and feel his wrath. So proudly does he wear his 1% badge of honor that he tips exactly 1% every time he feels the server doesn’t sufficiently bow down to his holiness.”
People online who had a chance to see the blog post before it went offline and those who have been made aware of it on social media outlets are outraged. One person called the tip a “tale of greed and contempt,” and another referred to it as “arrogance personified.” The Web’s general reaction to this story is eerily similar to an almost identical 1% vs. 99% scenario that took place last fall. In Washington state, a waitress received a tip of no money and advice scrawled on the receipt that told her she could “stand to lose a few pounds.”
UPDATE: In a conversation with the Huffington Post, Mike Wilcox, the vice president of operations for True Food Kitchen, gave some insight into how the company was treating the incident since the receipt began receiving attention online. Wilcox said that the restaurant was “absolutely” treating the receipt as real, but to confirm its authenticity for certain, they were in the process of tracking down both the physical receipt at the restaurant and the computer-generated copy in their credit card system.
“The first thing we’re going to do is to make sure the server is taken care of,” Wilcox said, “and make sure the server wasn’t treated badly or insufficiently tipped.” He explained that they would be asking Breanna, the server named on the receipt, if she recalled the table and how her service was. “If her service was up to the level” they assume their employees would deliver, Wilcox said, “they would do everything they can to make it up to her somehow.” Referring to online comments posted about the receipt, Wilcox remarked, “people are asking us to ban the person from the restaurant — if more information came through on who the person is I first would love to talk to him.”
UPDATE 2: It was a hoax! Not cool. Not cool at all. See the details...
See the Yahoo! News Video
 There is a petition up to help stop Senate Bill SB 2106 which proposes to slash the hourly wage for tipped employees from the current minimum wage of $4.65/hour to just $2.13/hour – a $2.52/hour pay cut.
If this cut goes through a full-time server could potentially lose more than $5,000 a year in wages.
While it is not apparent who introduced SPB 7210 now SB 2106, it appears to have wide support from the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. Opponents of the bill have received support from Senator Jeremy Ring, who has voted no on the bill.
This bill has already gone to a regulations committee and the intent is to get it passed and effective by July 1st.
Time is of the essence and it appears we are going backwards. If you support a NO vote on these bills, please do your part by signing the petition and forwarding this information to your friend via email, facebook, Twitter, etc. Particularly if you or a tipped employee you know works or lives in Florida. Sign the petition.
UPDATE 2/20/12: There is an additional petition, directed to the Gov. of Florida that you can sign here. AND there is there is another petition going here. Tipped workers in states other than Florida should pay strict attention to this. If it passes it may become popular with other states and backed by corporations and the hospitality industries. Please share.
Related Article
 Owning a restaurant looks like a lot of glitz and glam, but it takes a lot of financial know-how to get to that point. Many first-time restaurant owners consider one or two financial hurdles, but there are many different types of finances to take into consideration. Budgeting for a restaurant is tough, but there are little tips and tricks to help keep your restaurant finances in order. First consider the different types of payments you will need to include in your budget, and then consider some of the ways you can keep those costs down:
What to Include in Your Restaurant Budget
- Loans – Getting that initial financing isn’t necessary part of the budget; it sets the budget. However, many first-time restaurant owners forget that they will need to pay the bank back for this loan eventually. Therefore, your loan and the interest you are going to pay should be included in your budget. The best way to keep your finances in order when it comes to loans: pay it off as soon as possible. Consider viewing a loan calculator to determine how long you can realistically pay off your loan.
- Day-to-Day Finances – This includes stocking food and supplies for your restaurant as well as any heating/cooling, electric, and water needs. Although “day to day” sounds fairly minimal, this is a huge cost to factor into restaurant management. This is where bookkeeping and POS systems become extremely important. You should absolutely buy a POS system to keep track of your sales if you are a large restaurant. If your sales get out of control, your restaurant is sure to collapse. Consider hiring someone to help you keep these day-to-day finances in order.
- Marketing Costs – Marketing for your restaurant will likely change each month. You will probably want to give out some sort of deal or coupon to bring in customers, and this is something you should budget for when considering your finances. Marketing is a key part of a business, so it’s important not to skimp in this area. You want your restaurant to get good publicity, but it doesn’t always have to be expensive. Consider sponsoring and attending local events, using QR Codes, and utilizing local search marketing.
- Staff – Your staff is going to be a big expense when opening a restaurant. You have to budget for training materials as well as salaries and benefits for each employee. You can help keep these expenses down by creating an airtight training manual. This will help your employees learn faster and make fewer mistakes when they begin working. Also consider hiring younger employees with less experience.
As with any business, there are of course other finances that an owner should include in a budget including surprise expenses (if one of your ovens breaks, you’re going to need a “surprise expense” budget set aside). However, these are the largest financial aspects of owning a restaurant, so it’s important these are budgeted properly. Although it may seem like a lot of money initially, once your business is up and running I think you will find that managing your finances is well worth it in the long run. For more information about restaurant finances specifically, visit Restaurant Finance Monitor.
Abbey Lane is a writer for CreditCardHelp.com.au where she gives financial advice to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Learn about earning frequent flyer points and other restaurant perks by visiting the website. Good luck!
 En estos tiempos de apretarse el cinturón en la industria del servicio en cualquier lugar que usted puede ahorrar un dólar ayuda. Un lugar que usted puede reducir sus costos es imprimir sus propios menús. Outsourcing de impresión puede ser muy costoso y consume mucho tiempo. Impresión de ti mismo viene con su propio conjunto de los gastos, por supuesto, pero sólo tiene que imprimir lo que va a utilizar y se puede evitar el desperdicio de gran cantidad de menús caros, fuera de fecha que se imprimieron fuera del sitio.
Usted necesitará una impresora de buena calidad. Afortunadamente, la búsqueda de una impresora aceptable no es difícil ni son caros. Con los años los fabricantes han aprendido que hay más beneficio que se hizo en los cartuchos de tinta que en las ventas de las propias impresoras. La cifra que puede “llegar” con los cartuchos de tinta caros, cortos vida. Pero no te preocupes, no hay alternativa a su plan! Encontrar alta calidad, sin embargo, la tinta de bajo costo no es difícil a través de vendedores tales como Cartuchos de tinta recargables. Asegúrese de que la impresora que usted compra puede acomodar el menú de tamaño que usted necesita. La mayoría de los menús no suelen ser 8 1/2 por 11, por lo que este factor podría importa. Otra consideración es el tipo de papel que va a imprimir. Algunas impresoras pueden tener problemas con cartulina o papeles con textura, para hacer una pequeña investigación en ese departamento.
Mantenerlo menús sencillos, limpios y fáciles de leer. Esto no sólo va a ahorrar tinta, sino que sea más fácil para sus huéspedes. Hay plantillas disponibles para los menús en la web que puede ayudar a ahorrar algo de tiempo en el diseño de un diseño para el menú. Obtener retroalimentación de sus clientes para ver cómo les gusta el diseño del menú y ver lo que iba a cambiar (si acaso). Este tipo de comentarios de los consumidores puede ser muy valiosa en el perfeccionamiento de su menú. Al imprimir sus propios menús puede ser más ágil y capaz de hacer cambios en el menú sobre la marcha.
Escribir su propio menú puede ser una tarea desalentadora, pero en realidad no es tan difícil una vez que empezar. Asegúrese de utilizar la puntuacion menú adecuado para evitar la confusión sobre lo que está incluido y los precios de los artículos. Una vez más, mantener el concisa menú hará maravillas para su negocio!
Así que adelante y se consigue configurar con una impresora decente, algunos de bajo costo, pero la tinta de calidad y comenzar a ahorrar dinero hoy en día. No obstante, usted puede necesitar para encontrar una nueva fuente para el papel de cero!
 By Sandra Pedicini, Orlando Sentinel, Reprinted without permission.
A bill that would cut the hourly wages of many waiters and waitresses was unveiled Tuesday by a Florida Senate committee in Tallahassee.
The bill (SPB 7201) would slash Florida’s minimum wage for tipped workers — now $4.65 an hour — to the federal tipped minimum of $2.13 for companies that agree to guarantee that with wages and tips their employees will make at least $9.98 an hour.
The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is urging legislators to pass the bill. The trade group says Florida’s tipped minimum is crippling eateries financially, causing companies to cut back workforces and open fewer restaurants in Florida.
Combined with rising costs of food, insurance and implementing the new federal health-care law, “it’s going to be a matter of time before the back of this industry breaks,” said Carol Dover, chief executive officer of the trade group. “Minimum wage is killing them.”
But critics say the bill, which was introduced in the Senate’s commerce and tourism committee but not voted upon, will take money from workers who cannot afford it.
“Anything that reduces people’s wages is not what we need right now,” said Emily Eisenhauer, an associate with the Research Institute on Social & Economic Policy at Florida International University.
 In Florida, the average hourly wage for a waiter or waitress is just under $10 per hour, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Dover argues that many make much more than that, and Florida’s current system is “just a very unfair model, when you’re looking at an employee who makes way over the minimum wage.”
Dover pointed out that companies opting to pay the $2.13 rate would have to guarantee all their tipped employees are making at least 130 percent of the state’s minimum wage. If any employees fall short of that figure – now $9.98 – the companies have to make up the difference.
The National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for lower-wage workers, says the bill appears unconstitutional. A state constitutional amendment establishing minimum wages and raising them each year to keep pace with the cost of living was approved by Florida voters in 2004.
Under that amendment, both the standard and tipped minimum wage rise by the same amount each year, based on inflation. This year it rose 36 cents to $7.67.
State Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, scoffed at the notion that the minimum wage is keeping restaurants from opening.
“Consumer demand is what drives business,” he said. “If consumer demand is good in Florida, they’re going to continue to open up restaurants.”
A spokesman for Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, the world’s largest casual-dining company, said the company did not know about the bill until the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association sent out an alert to its members Monday. Darden spokesman Rich Jeffers said the company did not want to comment because it is still studying it.
Florida’s other big casual-dining company, Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners, supports the bill, Dover said. The company, which owns Outback Steakhouse, did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s unclear when the bill will next be heard.
UPDATE: There are several petitions going around, read more here…
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