The food service industry has been one of the hardest-hit industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is especially true because most people have had to cut down their eating out budgets to cope with the hard economic times that we now find ourselves in. Furthermore, some restaurants have been forced to close their doors, while others have been forced to seek innovative ways to stay afloat. As world economies begin to reopen, here are three things that you can do to ensure that your restaurant survives these harsh economic times.

1. Revamp your menu.

Your restaurant will need to occasionally update its menu to keep up with changes in pricing and to cater to your guest’s changing tastes. Are your customers wanting more signature cocktails? Or are they all about small appetizers and craft beer? Remember, the more attractive your menu design looks, the likelier you are to have your guest spend more.

When refreshing your menu, it’s also important to note that you’ll need some new restaurant appliances like foodservice equipment, warming equipment, cooking equipment, freezers, commercial refrigeration, and storage equipment to help you with your new menu ideas. Make finding the right restaurant equipment supplier a priority in order to avoid small mishaps in the kitchen. You wouldn’t want to have your ovens down when you have a batch of croissants to put out, for instance, now would you?

Once you have done your research, budgeted, and identified a trusted supplier, now you can go ahead and place that order for new restaurant equipment.

2. Stock up on new restaurant equipment.

After you’ve come up with your new menu, the next pertinent step is identifying what restaurant equipment you’ll need to bring your menu to life. If you’ve recently incorporated baked goods into your menu, for instance, you may need to purchase a commercial mixer and convection oven. Commercial kitchens can be particularly difficult to stock with quality kitchen appliances, but luckily, GoFoodservice has found a way to ease your shopping experience. Their website is flush with a variety of commercial restaurant supplies to suit every budget. Additionally, should you find yourself spoiled for choice, their customer service agents are more than willing to help you. A financing option is also available, should you find yourself unable to pay for all of your appliances immediately.

3. Invest in actionable intelligence.

Stephen Pearson, professor of Computer Science at Utica College describes actionable intelligence as, “having the necessary information immediately available to deal with the situation at hand,” or, “intelligence that can be acted upon within a 12 to 72 hour period of time.” This is intelligence is particularly important to restaurant owners as it saves you valuable time and resources when you need to act fast.

LifeRaft is a Nova Scotia-based company that offers digital corporate security solutions to organizations. Through their Navigator app, business owners can receive alerts on hostile threats from social media, dark web sources, and online blogs. For instance, if a disgruntled restaurant patron sent out a tweet complaining about the level of service they received at your restaurant, you would be able to know about their concerns and investigate any other customer issues they may have, and address the matter in real-time.

Additionally, Navigator sends you real-time alerts on posts that match your notification guidelines. Should you want to be made aware of potentially violent incidents, say, for instance, someone trespassing through your property and potentially compromising your restaurant’s physical security, Navigator can send you to push notifications and allow you to intercept the threat promptly. To learn more about Navigator, and how it can help you scale up your business, visit their website at www.liferaftinc.com.