14 Prinsip Manajemen (Henry Fayol)

1. Pembagian Pekerjaan (division of work). Suatu pembagian pekerjaan atau tugas yang mengarah pada pertumbuhan spesialisasi di segenap bidang yang diperlukan untuk mencapai efisiensi dan efektifitas penggunaan tenaga kerja.
2. Kewenangan dan Tanggung Jawab (authority and responsibility). Prinsip perlunya keseimbangan harmonis antara wewenang dan tanggung jawab dimana keduanya tak dapat dipisahkan.
3. Disiplin (discipline). Suasana tertib dan teratur, di mana orang yang berada dalam organisasi tunduk, patuh dan taat pada norma atau ketentuan yang ada tanpa unsure paksaan.
4. Kesatuan Komando (unity of command). Segenap anggota organisasi hanya menerima perintah dan melaporkan pelaksanaan perintah atau hasil pekerjaan serta mempertanggungjawabkannya kepada seorang pemimpin.
5. Kesatuan Arah (unity of direction). Setiap kelompok yang melakukan kegiatan bertujuan sama harus memiliki seorang pemimpin dan memiliki satu rencana.
6. Kepentingan Individu Harus Tunduk Pada Kepentingan Umum (subordination of individual interest to general interest). Kepentingan umum ditempatkan dia atas segala kepentingan, baik kelompok maupun pribadi.

Strategi Pemasaran Restoran

Identifikasi pangsa pasar dan kebutuhannya merupakan langkah awal dalam menyusun strategi pemasaran. Berikutnya menyusun rencana kegiatan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan tersebut serta kemudian merealisasikan rencana tersebut dengan mengerahkan segenap faktor yang berada dalam jangkauan pengelola. Faktor- faktor yang dikenal dengan formula 4P's, yaitu Products, Promotion, Place, dan Price.

Salah satu cara yang cukup strategis untuk mengidentifikasi pangsa pasar sasaran diantaranya dengan melakukan riset terhadap kebutuhan, keinginan, dan harapan calon pelanggan potensial. Analisis trading area yang meliputi variabel geografis, demografis, psikografis, dan behavioral, akan dapat memberikan gambaran peluang dan hambatan bagi rujukan strategi yang akan dilakukan.

Products. Tidak hanya makanan, melainkan termasuk di dalamnya suasana lingkungan restoran yang meliputi kenyamanan, keindahan, kebersihan, dan kesehatan serta pelayanan yang diberikan.

Promotion. Di samping advertensi dan teknik penjualan, juga termasuk kreasi dalam menciptakan image dan identitas perusahaan, juga elemen-elemen pengembangan produk.

Apa Itu Franchise?

Franchise atau waralaba adalah suatu bentuk kerja sama dimana pemberi waralaba (franchisor) member ijin kepada penerima waralaba (franchisee) untuk menggunakan hak intelektualnya, seperti nama, merek dagang produk dan jasa, dan sistem operasi usahanya. Sebagai timbal baliknya, penerima waralaba membayar suatu jumlah yang seperti franchise dan royalty fee atau lainnya. (PP No 16 tahun 1997 tgl 16 Juni 1997).

Berikut pengertian dari beberapa istilah yang kerap digunakan dalam dunia waralaba:

• Franchisor (Pemberi Waralaba): badan usaha atau perorangan yang memberikan hak kepada pihak lain (franchisee) untuk memanfaatkan segala ciri khas usaha dan segala kekayaan intelektual seperti nama, merek dagang, dan sistem usaha yang dimilikinya.
• Franchisee (Penerima Waralaba): badan usaha atau perorangan yang diberikan atau menerima hak untuk memanfaatkan dan menggunakan hak atas kekayaan intelektual atau ciri khas usaha yang dimiliki oleh franchisor.
• Master Franchisee: franchisee yang diberi hak oleh franchisor untuk memberikan hak lanjutan kepada franchisee lainnya pada suatu area tertentu, dan atau membuka sendiri unit-unit franchisee lanjutan tersebut pada daerah tertentu
• Franchise Fee: kontribusi fee dari franchisee kepada franchisor sebagi imbalan atas pemberian hak pemanfaatan dan penggunaan hak intelektual yang dimiliki oleh franchisor dalam kurun waktu tertentu. Kerap franchise fee ini disebut one-time fee karena hanya dibayarkan untuk satu kali bentuk hak yang diterima.
• Royalty Fee: kontribusi fee dari operasional usaha franchisee yang dibayarkan kepada franchisor secara periodik, biasanya secara bulanan. Lazimnya, royalti fee berupa persentase tertentu dari besarnya omzet penjualan franchisee.

Sales Forecasting Method

Properly forecasting sales helps you plan and prepare for the months and years ahead, allowing you to control costs and focus on successful growth strategies. A good sales forecasting methodology also helps your business run more efficiently. The most practical method for forecasting sales is to base your projections on historical sales results and your past experience. The right sales forecast method for your business is the one that is closest to your actual sales results within a reasonable margin of error.

Step 1

Gather your company's past income statements. Go back several years. Sales data from your income statements over the last five to 10 years has more predictive power than just using last year's sales to forecast this year's sales.

Step 2

Calculate the sales growth rate from year to year. Divide the current sales by the prior year's sales. For example, if your sales this year were $487,000 and last year's sales were $412,000, the sales growth rate is 18 percent ($487,000 divided by $412,000). Repeat the process for all other years in the series of sales data. You should have five year's worth of sales growth rates if you go back five years.

Step 3

Compare the sales growth rates year to year. Plot the sales growth rates using a spreadsheet for visual representation. Ideally, your sales growth rate should increase over time.

Step 4

Analyze various factors that impact sales to gain a better understanding of why sales grew or slowed from year to year. Determine the cause and effect relationship of variables, such as customer demand, worker productivity, advertising and promotion. For example, hiring an additional salesperson has an impact on sales. Demographic trends, such as an influx of consumers with high household income, can also have an affect on sales. Greater advertising and promotion affects sales, as well.

Step 5

Identify external factors that affect sales. External factors include the general economic environment or macroeconomic trends, such as unemployment, interest rates, consumer sentiment and inflation. Other macroeconomic trends include the level of competition. A greater number of competitors can potentially depress your company's sales, which you must forecast into your sales projections.

10 Ways to Reduce Food Cost

Ultimately there are only two ways to make a food business more profitable: you can increase sales or reduce cost. In a depressed economic environment increasing sales is challenging. The following tips are proven methods of reducing food cost:

1. Measure It

“You can’t control what you don’t measure”. Regular stock takes provide a basis for the calculation of the “Cost of Goods Sold” (CoGS). CoGS are calculated using the following simple formula.

Opening Value + Purchases – Closing Value = CoGS

The CoGS as a percentage of Sales is a valuable measure for food cost control.

A spreadsheet can be used as a easy and cost effective solution for calculating Opening and Closing stock values and tracking purchases.

2. Shop Around

It is important to build a relationship with your suppliers, howeverit is also healthy to compare prices with competitors to ensure you are getting a good deal. Keeping a finger on the pulse of market prices by regular price comparisons can reduce food cost.

3. In-House Preparation

Preparing food in-house rather than purchasing pre-prepared ingredients can reduce food cost. There are a wide variety of pre-prepared ingredients available, from pre-cut vegetables to pre-made sauces. Typically pre-prepared ingredients are substantially more expensive than their raw ingredients.

There are a number of considerations when comparing pre-prepared with in-house preparation including:

• Labor cost
• Availability of suitably skilled staff
• Quality

4 Cara Meningkatkan Sales Restoran

Setiap upaya meningkatkan sales - promosi, iklan, penawaran -  akan mendorong dan berpengaruh pada empat kategori berikut:

Pelanggan Baru / New Trial

Kunjungan pertama kali pelanggan baru merupakan saat yang paling menentukan. Mereka akan menangkap kesan, membangun image dan pendapat mengenai restoran anda selama kunjungan berlangsung. Sejak saat itu pula mereka akan memberikan penilaian seberapa besar mereka terkesan dengan restoran anda serta mempertimbangkan untuk berhubungan atau berkunjung di masa yang akan datang. Kategori ini menjadi cara termahal dibanding kategori lainnya karena ia perlu dipersiapkan dan diorganisasikan dengan matang. Kualitas produk, sistem pelayanan, kebersihan, visibilitas , dan aksesibilitas, haruslah senantiasa dijaga agar impresif dimata pelanggan. Setelah pelanggan dibentuk, selanjutnya upaya difokuskan pada kategori-kategori berikutnya.

Frekuensi Kunjungan

Upaya  agar pelanggan yang telah ada mau kembali ke restoran anda untuk kunjungan selanjutnya dilakukan

Goal, Objective, dan Action Plan

Goal dan objective merupakan bagian penting dari pekerjaan seorang manager atau pengambil keputusan di restoran dan hotel. Objective harus dibuat seorang manager atau pengambil keputusan untuk dapat mencapai goal atau tujuan restoran tersebut.

Goal adalah tujuan secara keseluruhan dari restoran atau hotel, dicapai biasanya dalam rentang waktu enam hingga dua belas bulan

Objective adalah tugas-tugas atau kegiatan yang dilaksanakan oleh seseorang untuk mencapai goal, diselesaikan biasanya dalam rentang waktu satu hingga tiga bulan.

Beberapa elemen yang harus terkandung dalam sebuah objective yang dibuat, antara lain:

• Individual. Terdapat satu orang ynag melaksanakan dan bertanggung jawab dengan pekerjaan tersebut.

• Spesific. Memuat penjelasan apa yang akan dilakukan dan diubah, baik berupa tindakan dan atau topik yang akan dilaksanakan

• Measurable. Secara jelas ditentukan waktu, jumlah dan tingkatan yang akan dilakukan dan dihasilkan.

• Realistic. Apa yang akan dilakukan merupakan sebuah tantangan untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan

Pengawasan / Controlling

Salah satu fungsi manajemen ini dilakukan untuk mengendalikan dan mengawasi seberapa jauh usaha-usaha yang dilakukan dengan mengacu pada rencana, cara pelaksanaan kerja, tujuan dan sasaran yang hendak dicapai, dan kebijakan yang telah ditentukan. Melalui fungsi ini dapat diketahui secara dini kelemahan, kekurangan, pemborosan, kebocoran dan penyelewengan yang mungkin terjadi, sehingga dapat dicari cara dan upaya untuk mengatasinya.

Berikut beberapa istilah yang bermakna hampir sama dengan pengawasan yang aplikasinya disesuaikan dengan kondisi yang sedang berlangsung:

• Reporting.  Kegiatan pengawasan yang berhubungan dengan pelaporan dari setiap kegiatan proses manajemen melalui hasil penelitian dan pemeriksaan.
• Evaluating.  Tindakan korektif untuk mengkomparasi hasil yang telah dicapai menurut standar yang telah direncanakan sebelumnya, sebagai langkah untuk menentukan tindakan selanjutnya.
• Supervising.  Kegiatan penelitian, pembimbingan dan pengawasan yang dilakukan oleh atasan atau seseorang yang dipercayakan terhadap bawahan yang berada dalam kekuasaannya ke arah perbaikan situasi.

Pengawasan dapat ditinjau dari beberapa segi, diantaranya berdasar:

• Objek Pengawasan,  meliputi: produksi, orang, waktu, uang
• Bidang Kerja,  meliputi: penjualan, keuangan, peralatan, personalia, distribusi
• Subjek Pengawas, meliputi: internal, eksternal, formal, informal, langsung, tak langsung
• Waktu Pengawasan, meliputi: preventif, improses, represif
• Ruang Lingkup Pengawasan, meliputi: administratif, managerial.

Menetapkan Sasaran Kerja

Perencanaan adalah salah satu fungsi yang memegang peran sangat besar dalam kegiatan manjemen. Perencanaan yang baik selalu memiliki sasaran yang jelas. Demikian pula halnya dalam perencanaan kerja, selalu dimulai dengan menetapkan suatu sasaran kerja.

Sasaran kerja adalah perumusan sesuatu yang harus dicapai melalui rangkaian kegiatan dalam bekerja. Atasan yang baik akan selalu menekankan pentingnya sasaran kerja kepada para karyawannya.

Dengan sasran kerja yang benar dan jelas terdapat beberapa keuntungan yang didapatkan:

• Efektivitas dan efisiensi kerja yang lebih baik. Dengan sasaran kerja yang jelas, karyawan dapat mengetahui hasil apa yang diharapkan dari pekerjaannya, seberapa jauh karyawan tersebut dapat menggunakan sumber daya perusahaan (anggaran, material, peralatan).

• Meningkatkan produktivitas karyawan. Dengan adanya sasaran kerja, atasan dapat mengendalikan kerja para karyawannya lebih terarah.

• Tercipta disiplin kerja yang baik. Sasaran kerja akan menentukan jangka waktu pekerjaan tersebut harus selesai dan kegiatan apa saja yang harus dilakukan.

Berikut adalah kriteria sasaran kerja yang baik:

• Spesifik. Suatu sasaran kerja akan sangat berarti bagi karyawan jika dijabarkan secara spesifik.

• Menantang dan Realistis. Dapat memotivasi seseorang untuk bekerja, karena ia melihat banyak manfaat yang diperoleh dengan tercapainya sasaran tersebut.

• Batasan Waktu. Perlu diberikan sehingga para karyawan dapat mengetahui dan merencanakan langkah-langkah kegiatan mereka sesuai dengan waktu yang mereka dapatkan.

• Partisipasi Karyawan. Dalam mengembangkan sasaran di mana atasan bersama karyawan berpartisipasi merupakan cara yang yang lebih efektif karena secara langsung atasan dan karyawan membuat komitmen bersama dalam menyelesaikan pekerjaan tersebut.

• Umpan Balik. Atasan dapat memberikan umpan balik sepanjang proses pencapaian sasaran kerja sebagai cara untuk mengendalikan kerja karyawan.

• Kesesuaian dengan Kapabilitas Karyawan. Setiap karyawan memiliki pengetahuan dan keterampilan berbeda. Sasaran kerja harus disesuaikan dengan kondisi karyawan yang akan melakukan pekerjaan tersebut.

• Dukungan Manajemen. Pihak manajemen harus menciptakan suatu iklim kerja yang baik dan mendukung bagi karyawan dalam bekerja.

8 Aturan Dalam Melayani Pelanggan

Layanan pelanggan yang baik merupakan nadi kehidupan bisnis apa pun. Kita bisa saja menawarkan harga promosi dan memberikan potongan harga untuk mendatangkan pelanggan baru sebanyak yang kita inginkan, namun kecuali hanya mendapatkan beberapa pelanggan datang kembali, bisnis kita tidak akan memberikan keuntungan untuk waktu yang lama.

Layanan pelanggan yang baik meliputi segala hal mengenai bagaimana membawa pelanggan kembali, puas dengan layanan kita, dan menyampaikan kepuasan tersebut kepada orang lain sehingga diharapkan mereka datang kembali dan menjadi pelanggan setia.

Jika kita benar-benar menginginkan hal tersebut terjadi, maka pastikan bisnis kita secara konsisten melakukan aturan-aturan berikut:

1. Jawablah telepon.

Pastikan bahwa seseorang mengangkat telepon ketika ada panggilan bisnis untuk kita. Gunakan call forwarding atau pekerjakan seorang operator jika perlu.

2. Jangan membuat janji kecuali kita dapat menjaga dan menepati.

Berpikirlah sebelum kita memberikan janji, pertimbangkan tengat waktu.

2015 Food Trends

Technomic, Chicago, PRNewswire

The restaurant industry is evolving faster than ever, according to leading food research and consulting firm Technomic. Technology, consumer and menu trends are all revolutionizing food service. Technomic lays out 10 trends that its consultants and experts believe may be transformative in 2015. Predictions are based on Technomic research including consumer and operator surveys and site visits, backed up by data from its Digital Resource Library and vast Menu Monitor database. 

Lights! Camera! Action!

• Dining is no longer just a personal experience, but a staged event that imparts bragging rights. Plating and lighting are increasingly designed with phone snapshots and social-media sharing in mind. Customers collaborate to put on the show; menus, marketing, even charitable efforts are crowd sourced.

Small-minded.

• Small is in: Diners demand petite plates and flexible portions; units are smaller with shrunken, laser-focused menus, multi-use equipment and expanded hours to leverage fixed costs; labor pressures mean leaner staffing and more technology (though a backlash is brewing as many diners seek to unplug and be waited on).

Food service everywhere.

• Alternative forms of food service swallow share—from retailers' ever-more-sophisticated onsite

Ways to Control Overhead Costs

Corporate overhead, if unchecked, can eat up your profits and potentially create a net loss before you realize it. Without a breakdown of your costs into production and overhead categories, you might not realize how much you’re actually spending to run your company. Detailed financial reporting and budget variance analyses will help you keep your overhead to a manageable level.

The costs you have to run your business and sell your product make up corporate overhead. These are expenses you have even when you aren’t making your product. They include expenses such as rent, marketing, phones, insurance, administrative staff, office equipment, interest and supplies. Like corporate overhead, departmental overhead includes expenses you have when you’re not producing your product, but they apply directly to one department. For example, machinery maintenance is an example of departmental overhead.

The first step in determining your corporate overhead is to identify it. If you don’t record every expense you have on a budget sheet or other financial report, do so. Start by creating production and corporate overhead reports. Production expenses are costs that apply directly to making your product, such as materials and labor. Next, break down your corporate overhead by function, such as marketing, human resources, information technology, office administration and sales.

Give each of your managers the list of overhead their department generates. Ask them to look for ways to reduce their spending without sacrificing productivity, efficiency and quality. Your department managers might be the most knowledgeable about how to do this. If you don’t already do it, have your department heads submit an annual budget request each year. Labor is often one of the largest costs of any business; have department heads compare outsourcing versus in-house staff for various projects and positions to determine if they can find cost-savings opportunities.

How to Buy an Existing Franchise

Entrepreneurs choose to buy an existing franchise for the advantages it offers over starting a new business. An existing franchise has name branding, a customer base and a proven strategy for earning a profit. The strategy includes interior design, products offered, pricing and marketing. Moreover, the licensing company provides education in their policies and procedures, as well as on-site training for the new franchisee. While the initial investment could be steep, depending on the licensing fee, the potential to earn an immediate profit attracts entrepreneurs to the franchising arrangement.

• Research your favorite industry to track recent business trends. If you want to buy a hardware store, for example, then your target market includes homeowners and contractors. If homeowners are spending money on remodeling and repairs, then a hardware store has a better chance of earning a profit.

• Research the different franchise opportunities within your chosen industry. Eliminate those that do not meet your criteria. For example, some franchise owners must pay the licensing company a percentage of their monthly sales on top of the franchise fee. It can add up to a tidy sum over the years. This money could be reinvested to grow the business if you chose a franchise agreement that did not demand royalties.

• Choose the franchise that you believe is the best fit for your goals. You might prefer to consult with an accountant or attorney who specializes in this field for a professional opinion, as buying an existing franchise is a major investment.

• Contact franchise owners in your area for their unbiased view of the company. Their input might alert you to potential problems not addressed in the franchise business plan.

Top 25 - Indonesia's Best Hotels 2014

according to Travellers’ Choice Award 2014

1. The Legian Bali – a GHM hotel, Seminyak, Bali 
2. Komaneka at Bisma, Ubud, Indonesia, Bali 
3. The Samaya Bali, Seminyak, Bali 
4. The Magani Hotel and Spa, Legian, Bali 
5. Jeeva Klui Resort, Mangsit, Bali 
6. Mulia Villas, Nusa Dua, Bali 
7. Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta 
8. The Oberoi Bali, Seminyak, Bali 
9. Alila Villas Uluwatu, Pecatu, Bali 
10. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, Ubud, Bali

Manfaat Franchise / Waralaba

Sebagai salah satu alternatif model bisnis, pengembangan usaha  dengan pola ini menawarkan berbagai manfaat yang menarik baik bagi franchisor mau pun franchisee.

Manfaat bagi franchisor:

• pengembangan usaha dengan biaya yang relatif murah
• potensi passive income yang cukup besar
• efek bola salju dalam hal brand awareness dan brand equity usaha anda
• terhindar dari undang-undang anti monopoli.

Manfaat bagi franchisee:

• memperkecil resiko kegagalan usaha
• menghemat waktu, tenaga dan dana untuk proses trial & error
• member kemudahan dalam operasional usaha
• penggunaan nama merek yang sudah lebih dikenal masyarakat.

Penggerakan

Dalam proses manajemen, penggerakkan merupakan bagian yang fundamental, tindak lanjut dari fungsi perencanaan dan pengorganisasian. Fungsi ini berkaitan erat dengan manusia dan merupakan masalah yang paling kompleks serta tersulit dilakukan di antara fungsi-fungsi manajemen. Ia akan bersinggungan dengan perasaan, harga diri, dan tujuan yang berbeda-beda.

Penggerakan merupakan fungsi pembimbingan, pengarahan, pemberian motivasi, menggerakan orang-orang yang menjadi bawahannya agar dengan rela, suka dan mau bekerja secara sadar dan bertanggung jawab terhadap tugas yang harus diselesaikannya tanpa menunggu perintah dari atasannya.

Disesuaikan dengan kondisi yang berlangsung, terdapat beberapa istilah bermakna sama dengan fungsi penggerakan, di antaranya:

• Actuating.  Tindakan untuk mengusahakan agar seluruh anggota kelompok berusaha mencapai sasaran-sasaran sesuai dengan perencanaan dan usaha-usaha organisasi
• Motivating.  Pemberian daya rangsang agar muncul gairah kerja untuk mencapai tujuan
• Staffing.  Pemberian bantuan dalam penyusunan upaya pengurusan, pengaturan dan penempatan sumber daya manusia beserta fasilitasnya
• Directing.  Bagaimana cara memberikan pengarahan, petunjuk, dan perintah yang perlu dilakukan
• Coordinating.  Usaha menyatukan kerja sama sehingga terdapat keselarasdan pekerjaan yang sedang berlangsung
• Leading.  Menggerakkan orang lain dengan memberikan teladan baik kepada para bawahan sehingga mereka mau bekerja mengikutinya
• Disiplin.  Tindak perbuatan atau peraturan untuk menjamin ketepatan, keseragaman, kepatuhan dan ketaatan dalam menjalankan pekerjaan. 

Restaurant Training Checklists Are Important Tool

quoted from John Foley

Training tools and aids make the difference between education and knowledge. Education, the act of imparting information, isn't difficult for those who are familiar with the subject. Yet, learning the subject may take more than a quick training session.  Knowledge comes from learning and retaining what was taught and is expected to be clutched. Simply, training tools make the difference between learning and forgetting.

Every restaurant staff deserves a variety of tools to help make them successful and to perfect their professionalism. These tools need to be strategically posted throughout the restaurant for the staff to reference, throughout their shift when they are not sure about a certain procedure.

I couldn't help notice the recipe card for one of the company's drinks. The well defined card (pictured, right) outlined the steps to drink perfection. I have always wondered how the baristas can create drinks that are being called out faster than a Gatling gun without missing a beat, pump, or steam wand. The refresher recipe card explains a lot.

Now to create these cards once the game has begun is not an easy task. In the perfect world they would have been developed and filed on your computer for ease of editing. But that most likely was only a dream that ended just after the doors opened.

And, if you do have them placed throughout the restaurant, now is the perfect time to check and edit the cards.

Here are 10 tips on training tools.

1. Plating consistency is imperative. Plating pictures help.  Photos of each plate, including salad, appetizer, entree, or dessert should be placed on a board and labeled near the plating station. Styling the food on the plate exactly the way the chef created it makes this an efficient way to achieve consistency. 
2. Coffee recipes and tea service. Recipes for coffee drinks and the procedure for serving tea – (one bag or a selection; a pot of hot water or just a cup) are all steps that need to b defined. 
3. Dessert plating. use a picture, especially for daily dessert specials. Also define the amount of ice cream and whipped cream to be served. 
4. Opening checklists. Even the smallest restaurant is too large to run without an opening checklist. Laminate them and have the assigned server initial each task. You can divide up the checklist. 
5. Closing checklists. If you are so slow you don't need a closing checklist to close, find a real estate agent. Closing procedures save you money. Turn down the air conditioning, turn off the kitchen fan, turn off the stereo are all music to the accountant's ear. 
6. Server station setups. New servers forget to set up the server station with pens, water pitchers, coffee cups, saucers and other items that break the rhythm of the dining room if they are not around. 
7. Bar setup. Bar customers hate to wait. Describe how many limes, lemons, olives need to be cut diced, sliced, and kept under the bar. Explain fruit and juice rotation. It may sound elementary today, but wait until the bartender doesn't show up, and Steve the server has to stand in for Johnny the bartender. 
8. Cooler map. If nothing else this will alleviate any violations from the health department when the inspector realizes the raw chicken does go on the bottom shelf. With today's computer programs, designing and designating cooler shelf space is a breeze. Define rotation on the sheet and don't forget to post an inventory checklist in the cooler. 
9. Glass stacking. Make sure the bussers and the dish know how many, where they go and ho to check for spots. 
10. Batch and deposit checklist. Your manager is sick. You're on vacation. And the deposits have stopped going into the bank from American Express. Nobody had the batching instructions. Go over the deposit procedures with one or two trusted employees, and leave the instructions in a drawer, just in case. It will make that vacation a lot more enjoyable. But then, what restaurant owner can take a vacation? 

The World's Best Airline Awards 2013

Ranking 1 to 20

The World Airline Awards are a primary benchmarking tool for Passenger Satisfaction levels of airlines throughout the world, delivering a unique survey format based on analysis of business and leisure travellers, across all cabin travel types (First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy Class and Economy class passengers).

Air travellers completed an online survey questionnaire about their experience with airlines on the ground and onboard, during a 10-month period. The survey measures passenger satisfaction across more than 40 key performance indicators of airline front-line product and service - including check-in, boarding, onboard seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverages, inflight entertainment and staff service. The Survey covered over 200 airlines, from the largest international airlines to smaller domestic carriers.

1	Emirates
2	Qatar Airways
3	Singapore Airlines
4	ANA All Nippon Airways
5	Asiana Airlines
6	Cathay Pacific Airways
7	Etihad Airways
8	Garuda Indonesia
9	Turkish Airlines
10	Qantas Airways
11	Lufthansa
12	EVA Air
13	Virgin Australia
14	Malaysia Airlines
15	Thai Airways
16	Swiss Int'l Air Lines
17	Korean Air
18	Air New Zealand
19	Hainan Airlines
20	Air Canada

The World's 50 Best Restaurants Award 2013

list from San Pellegrino

The World's 50 Best Restaurants list has been announced, and the big news is of course that Noma's three year reign as the number one restaurant in the world has come to an end. That title now goes to El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain. Noma holds tight at second, while third goes to Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana.

World's 50 Best also announced they'll be doing Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants in September in Lima; more details on that can be found in a press release below.

1. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Catalonia, Spain 
2. Noma, Copenhagen 
3. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy 
4. Mugaritz, San Sebastián, Spain 
5. Eleven Madison Park, New York City 
6. D.O.M, Sao Paulo, Brazil 
7. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London 
8. Arzak, San Sebastián, Spain 
9. Steirereck Restaurant, Vienna, Austria 
10. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

How to Do a Breakeven Analysis

Breakeven analysis helps determine when your business revenues equal your costs

By Daniel Richards

If you can accurately forecast your costs and sales, conducting a breakeven analysis is a matter of simple math. A company has broken even when its total sales or revenues equal its total expenses. At the breakeven point, no profit has been made, nor have any losses been incurred. This calculation is critical for any business owner, because the breakeven point is the lower limit of profit when determining margins.

There are several types of costs to consider when conducting a breakeven analysis, so here's a refresher on the most relevant.

• Fixed costs: These are costs that are the same regardless of how many items you sell. All start-up costs, such as rent, insurance and computers, are considered fixed costs since you have to make these outlays before you sell your first item.

• Variable costs: These are recurring costs that you absorb with each unit you sell. For example, if you were operating a greeting card store where you had to buy greeting cards from a stationary company for $1 each, then that dollar represents a variable cost. As your business and sales grow, you can begin appropriating labor and other items as variable costs if it makes sense for your industry.

Setting a Price

This is critical to your breakeven analysis; you can't calculate likely revenues if you don't know what the unit price will be. Unit price refers to the amount you plan to charge customers to buy a single unit of your product.

• Psychology of Pricing: Pricing can involve a complicated decision-making process on the part of the consumer, and there is plenty of research on the marketing and psychology of how consumers perceive price. Take the time to review articles on pricing strategy and the psychology of pricing before choosing how to price your product or service.

• Pricing Methods: There are several different schools of thought on how to treat price when conducting a breakeven analysis. It is a mix of quantitative and qualitative factors. If you've created a brand new, unique product, you should be able to charge a premium price, but if you're entering a competitive industry, you'll have to keep the price in line with the going rate or perhaps even offer a discount to get customers to switch to your company.