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Bill Main

Articles by
Bill Main

Page 8

Cooks counts

People think I'm crazy when I preach about weekly inventory. Imagine what they'd think if I told them to take daily inventory! But this is a great way to observe sales trends and to hold staff accountable.

Time trials

We've talked before about the importance of timing. One aspect of delivering great food and service is getting a perfectly prepared meal to the table in a timely manner. Have our timing down is our job. But what about our guests' timing?

5-step training

Training is a multi-level investment of time and money. It's more than just identifying specific tasks and skills. Training requires a well thought-out plan, prioritizing which skills to train, developing a timeline, conducting the training sessions, and assessing performance. It can be an overwhelming job. If you divide your challenge into smaller, bite-size steps, you will be more likely to accomplish your goal.

Pennies from heaven

Little savings can add up. So can little ideas about how to save. Here are a couple of ideas about how to save some change here and there. Now watch that change add up.

Coaching to victory

Leadership can be learned by studying the effective coaching strategies of one of the winningest coaches in football history.

Are you finished yet?

Cleanliness is next to godliness, especially in the restaurant business.

Does not compute

Early the early days of point of sale systems, the choice of which system to choose was easy to make. There simply weren't many options. But today things are much different, and choosing a POS system is a huge and important task.

Rack 'em up

It's traditional for waiters and waitresses to share a portion of their tips with bussers or other "service helpers." But is it mandatory? Who gets the money? Who makes the decision? What are the rules?

Check-back guidelines

How many times has a server interrupted your meal with the question, "How is everything?"

How many in your party?

Here's a marketing tip I developed when a local restaurant spontaneously decorated our table for Barbara's birthday lunch.

Better safe than sorry

Recent industry improvements in workplace safety have greatly reduced the number of on-the-job injuries and illnesses in recent years.

What's the word?

Do any of these words give you a pronunciation hesitation? As food varieties from around the world become easily available, more and more unusual words appear on our menus.

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