Restaurant Sector
Discover how your restaurant can flourish during and after a global crisis. Important topics such as marketing, shrink management, eCommerce, financials, and more are covered.
Sessions
Accounting & Finance Strategies for Challenging Times
By the end of this class, participants will understand new business models in the restaurant industry, assess their financial health and learn strategies for dynamic financial planning and goal setting. Session topics include:
How fixed, variable and semi-variable costs look different during business interruptions
The importance of margins during periods of uncertainty
How to identify an acceptable cost range and address overruns, calculate a new breakeven point and how to increase sales and decrease cost
Pivoting to the New Reality: New Revenue Streams
By the end of this class, participants will gain a deeper insight into their overall financial picture and “pivot-readiness,” and learn how to perform a quantitative analysis of available options that are best aligned with their business model. Session topics include:
Principles and practices for safe and efficient operations
Fundamentals of communication and engagement: the restaurant website
New restaurant revenue streams and critical consideration
New Approaches to Operations and Customer Fulfillment
By the end of this class, participants will learn effective methods on managing customer relations, expectations and best practices in customer fulfillment. Session topics include:
Understanding customer needs in today’s climate of social and environmental challenges
Customer engagement on social media
Facilitating staff commitment and buy-in to new operations standard
Conflict resolution strategies
Procurement: Best Practices for Purchasing
By the end of this class, participants will understand best practices in procurement and learn how to build their inventory and purchasing system through a partnership of employees and vendors. Session topics include:
How to create an effective partnership with purveyors to ensure mutual success through accurate deliveries
Key principles of inventory management
POS and tracking software
Speaker
Tom Racosky | Restaurant Specialist Consultant
Tom Racosky is a Restaurant Specialist Consultant at the Maryland Small Business Development Center, where he advises restaurant owners and operators on all aspects of their operations.
Tom is an engaging and results-oriented trainer with a passion for helping his clients develop extraordinary teams, drive revenue growth, and delight customers even in the most challenging times and markets. With over 30 years’ experience working in, managing, owning, and counseling exceptional restaurants, Tom is accomplished in diverse industry functions, including strategic planning, developing, implementing, and optimizing procedures, managing food and labor costs, maintaining key relationships, and training exceptional staff. Tom is also an established chef in his own right, winning the Taste of Arlington’s “Fan Favorite” award as well as creating recipes and menus for over 20 restaurants and events.
Tom was born and raised in Maryland and is a graduate from Johnson & Wales University with a degree in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management.
