#3 KNOW WHY THINGS ARE DISAPPEARING
Take inventory to identify waste and theft. You trust your staff, but that doesn’t mean they’re not stealing from you. In fact,
more than half of restaurant variances are a result of employees stealing from their employer. Performing an accurate and consistent inventory will help you closely monitor unusual behaviors in your stock room. If certain ingredients mysteriously go
missing, (or repeatedly disappear), you’ll know.
Plus, by showing your staff that inventory is something you care about, guilt may start to curb their sticky fingers. Or, if they simply see you’re closely monitoring numbers in the stock room, they may simply be too scared to grab that snack from the fridge. When it comes to waste, taking an inventory can also show you the value of what you’re throwing away. You know you always toss a loaf or two of bread away each week, but haven’t thought much of it. But, those small moments could becosting you hundreds of dollars a year – if not more.
The Takeaway: There’s money in your variance. Those heavy-handed portions, constant food waste, and employee theft are costing you. The only way to truly understand and fix this problem? A tight inventory process.