7 creative ways to increase restaurant revenue streams
Skip the article and turn takeaways into action by scheduling a call with our team.
So, as of this writing, we’re well on the other side of the pandemic. Though it wasn’t easy, restaurants that survived had to adapt and be creative. One main takeaway for the restaurant industry is that relying on a single revenue stream is not ideal and leaves businesses vulnerable to disruptions. So, having multiple restaurant revenue streams is an excellent way forward. Just like a financial advisor would suggest diversifying your portfolio or a freelancer would want multiple income streams, restaurants too can benefit from new revenue streams that give them flexibility and boost their bottom line.
In the restaurant industry, particularly, restaurateurs don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to creating new revenue streams. Restaurateurs can adapt ideas to fit their particular styles and suit both their customers and their business model.
If you’re one of those restaurateurs looking for additional revenue streams, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll look at two different categories of restaurant revenue streams: Those from menu items and those not from menu items. We’ll start with the former.
Boosting revenue with existing menu items
An excellent way to start expanding your restaurant revenue streams is by increasing sales of already-existing menu items or ingredients in creative ways. There are quite a few ways to do this, so let’s hop in.
Offer meal kits
You already have ingredients in your inventory. You also already have recipes handy. So, combine those two ideas and you have a ready-made meal kit that can be offered to customers for takeaway or delivery service and let customers feel like a kitchen whiz all on their own.
Many services sell such meal kits online, so selling yours will let you throw your hat in this growing ring and make some extra cash.
Consider this possibility: You feature pasta dishes on your menu. By selling raw ingredients, portioned and packaged with instructions, customers can prepare your meals off-site and at their own leisure. It can be a great way for a would-be chef to show off on date night, for example, in the intimacy of a home setting.
One of the best perks here is it costs little in terms of labor to do that portioning and packaging. Additionally, the customers eating your food won’t require table space, meaning you have extra space for more covers. You can still charge a decent markup and save time, labor, and space.
Promoting these meal kits on social media and via online ordering on your own site or third-party delivery apps can get solid attention from customers who prefer to cook at home, but still get restaurant quality. And you won’t necessarily be selling the golden goose in your recipes: Odds are, your customers won’t nail the dishes quite as well as your experienced chefs will, so they’ll still come back to have it done right.
Encourage drink sales
Increasing drink sales is an excellent way to boost your bottom line and add another revenue stream, especially if your drink sales are lagging. Takeaway cocktails are gaining popularity and are now legal in a majority of states, so that’s one way to go.
Another is simply to promote your drinks via social media and special events, including happy hour, live music, in-house events like drink and draw nights, games nights, and more. A simple happy hour can bring in customers who often then stay for dinner.
Alcoholic beverages are a high-markup item, especially when labor costs are factored in. Liquor and wine, for example, don’t need to be cooked and don’t require a lot of labor to prepare. A simple mixed drink or cocktail can net you significant profit in a matter of moments for bar staff to prepare. Lowering liquor prices below neighborhood average can bring in thirsty customers who are likely to purchase more than they would normally, leading to increased overall revenue.
And if your happy hour takes off and becomes a staple of the neighborhood, congratulations: You’ve earned yourself a solid extra revenue stream.
Expand delivery options
Many more restaurants are offering food delivery services than ever before. If takeout or delivery isn’t a significant part of your business, making it so can help open a new restaurant revenue stream and boost sales as well as get your name out to new customers.
Whether you choose to rely on your own delivery services via your website or use third-party apps for delivery, getting extra sales out the door can certainly lead to extra revenue. Not all of your menu needs to be available for delivery: Some items simply don’t deliver well, like steak, and others may not have enough profit margin built in to be financially viable considering third-party commissions. Consider which items would be the best to deliver, and then advertise their availability on social media.
Increasing restaurant revenue streams in fresh ways
You don’t have to simply stick to selling more of what’s on your menu, of course. There are plenty of creative ways to bring in extra income outside the dining room by putting on your entrepreneur hat.
Get in the merchandise game
If your restaurant brand is well-established—i.e., if you have your logo, color scheme, and so on lined up—selling merchandise can be a great way to add another revenue stream.
T-shirts, hats, mugs, and more with your restaurant’s logo and name can be a solid way to make extra cash. An additional benefit here is that these will essentially serve as free advertising for your business. A loyal customer wearing your T-shirt in public, for example, will remind anyone they see about your establishment, and people may well ask questions. This can be a great way to take your eatery from a simple local establishment to a town staple.
Additionally, selling cookbooks can be a good way to sell more merchandise. Now, we know that some restaurateurs would never give away their recipes for any price. For example, I still won’t give away my recipe for pork ribs since it’s so unique. But that’s just me—and, indeed, for the right price I’d be happy to sell it.
A cookbook featuring your top sellers is not only an excellent way to market your business, it makes for a perfect gift. Consider advertising your cookbook around traditional gift-giving times like Christmas and let the foodie in a family do some of your advertising for you.
Host cooking classes
You have trained chefs. You have a kitchen. You probably have at least some downtime in your restaurant. So why not use that downtime to offer cooking classes? Many curious customers are looking to up their kitchen game, and part-time chefs or line cooks are often looking to supplement their income. Providing professional cooking classes can get customers in the door and familiar with your establishment. What’s more, those potential customers could become regulars since their customer experience will extend into your kitchen.
And hey, graduates of your cooking classes will likely love to brag about their newly acquired skills and show them off to friends and family. When they’re inevitably asked where they learned their new culinary talent, they’ll refer to you, sending even more new customers your way. Not bad, right?
Go off-site
If you have the capability to expand your restaurant business and go off-site, opening up another location in the form of a food truck can provide a substantial bonus to revenue streams. A food truck also operates as another form of advertising for your business, from which you can also sell merchandise. And food truck revenue is nothing to sneeze at: North of 50% of food truck operators earn upwards of $150,000 in revenue.
If delivery is going exceptionally well for you, consider opening a ghost kitchen for delivery-only orders. Since you don’t want delivery to interfere with in-house dining, a ghost kitchen can be a good way to alleviate burdens on your back-of-house while boosting revenue via delivery sales.
Pop-up events at other establishments like bars, live music venues, or music festivals can be another good way to get both your name and your product out there—all while earning more money. Restaurant owners associated with popular events can often become minor celebrities in their town, which can lead to increased profits across the board.
Create regulars with customer loyalty programs
Customer loyalty programs are a well-established way to encourage loyal customers to return and new customers to get interested. Giving away gift cards at random, for example to every 10th cover, can make for a fun guest experience and make customers feel like they’re playing the lottery by simply dining at your restaurant. While you don’t want to cut into profits by giving away too much, something as simple as a free cocktail or appetizer can be a great way to get customers back in the door.
Make your customer experience unforgettable
Of course, if you want to boost your revenue streams by any of the above items, you’ll need to have impeccable front-of-house management and customer service. Your offerings can and should include excellent service, but restaurant operators can also tap into the best restaurant technology and get more customers in the door than ever before.
If customers can check out your waitlist online and hop on it, make reservations, and check-in online, you’ve just made life much easier for them and your staff. Those features alone can help boost your revenue. Yelp Guest Manager does all that and much more, including POS integrations with some of the most popular POS platforms as well as all sorts of third-party integrations.
Curious how it works? Wonder if it’s right for you? Reach out to us for a free demo and we’ll be happy to give you a test drive. We love it when our customers find ways to increase their revenue, and we’ll be with you to make sure you do.