Increasing Sustainability.

As a business owner in the hospitality industry, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about how to be effectively increasing sustainability for your business.

There are many ways to approach business sustainability, but one of the key approaches involves a focus on your customer! Through a positive customer experience, and quality financial management, you’ll increase your business’s sustainability (and increase customer satisfaction while you’re at it!).

Client Comfort

Have you ever felt like an afternoon cup of coffee? Of course you have! We all get the afternoon slump, after all.

Now, imagine going to your favourite coffee shop… It has the best coffee in your area, and the cakes there are out of this world! You love the atmosphere, so you make the trip, even though it’s a busy day.

Only…when you get there, you find that you’re freezing! The owners haven’t accounted for the sudden cold snap, and it shows. Now, instead of a pleasant experience (that you’re eager to have again), you’re left cold, shivering and wondering why you bothered to leave your office.

That doesn’t sound too great, does it?

See, for sustainability to work, the first thing that you need to focus on, is your customer’s comfort. Our industry is very susceptible to fluctuating and uncomfortable temperature conditions, but your customer’s shouldn’t have to take the brunt of that.

Consider potential drafty spaces, or incorrectly configured exhaust fans in the kitchens.

Check for heavy air flow (if your doors are hard to open or shut), which can be caused by an imbalance in your exhaust fans. Obviously, you want enough of a pull to remove smoke, steam and particles from your kitchens, but you also want to make sure you’re not pulling all your air conditioned (or heated) air out of the space.

If you’re not sure where to start, it can be helpful to spend some time talking to your staff members, or regular customers, to help identify the problems. Increasing sustainability certainly takes a team effort to make sure nothing gets overlooked.

Produce Sources

The way that you source your food has a major impact on sustainability (In many ways!)

Ensuring that you source local produce (even organic, if possible), is a great way to keep up with current food trends and ensure that you are delivering the best quality to your customers.

If you source locally, you’re supporting other businesses around you (which is always a good thing!). Also, many people claim that organic foods are healthier and taste better.

Now, you may or may not feel that way… but I bet that your customers do!

Through an awareness of this, you will attract more customers (and keep them), though increased business sustainability (and global sustainability).

Lighting

Lighting is actually a pretty big part of the customer experience. It can really make an impact on how your customers feel about your business.

To start with, it’s important to make sure that you have good lighting for dining.

Customer’s need to be able to see their food (in the best light possible!). They might also need to read menus, and they shouldn’t have to struggle. That said, harsh lighting is often a poor choice in this area, and it’s better to focus on warmer tones of lighting, or lighting that suits your business’s brand.

Secondly, be aware of the lighting that your staff are working beneath. This is especially relevant in the kitchen, where food is prepared. If you go into your kitchen, you will probably find that you have fluorescent lighting (many kitchens still do). The problem is that fluorescent lighting dims over time… this change is subtle and may not be noticeable at first, but it can really wreak havoc on things like kitchen safety and food presentation.

Opting for LED lighting can help you to combat this problem in your business. LED’s are also good for reducing the energy consumption of your business, and will have things running smoother, longer. And, after all, you want food presentation to be consistent, and of high quality!

Lastly, make sure that all of your lighting is in good repair. You don’t want missing bulbs, or flickering lights through your restaurant. Not only is it unpleasant, but it gives off the impression that you don’t care, and that your business isn’t being maintained. This isn’t a good look, regardless of your business type, so make sure you deal with that regularly!

Quality Bookkeeping and Finances

At first glance, bookkeeping and finances doesn’t seem like it would play much of a role, does it?

Well, you’d be surprised. Bookkeeping is a vital part of keeping your business running smoothly. Through quality bookkeeping (and with the right advice), you’ll be able to identify problems within your business, and prevent them from getting out of control!

Additionally, bookkeeping services make sure that you stay on track with the ATO and operate with transparency. This will help your business grow, and last… if that isn’t sustainable business, I don’t know what is!

Do you want to outsource your bookkeeping and optimise your processes? Would you love to increase efficiency so you can improve your profits and cashflow?

Brunch & Books are ‘open for lunch’ serving efficiency with a side of increased profits to hospitality business owners. >>> Click here to take a look at our services!

In Summary

In short, you need to focus on four areas of your business: Client comfort, bookkeeping and finances, lighting and produce.

If you tackle each of these areas with the customer, and sustainability, at the forefront of your mind, your business will definitely start doing better.

Is there more to increasing sustainability? Of course there is! Sustainability is an ongoing process, and it never hurts to do a bit more research on the topic.

That said, if you want to increase client experience, then these four areas are a fantastic place to start.

If you want a more thorough and personalised plan for your business, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to help you grow your business!