Margin Protector #3: Check the Delivery Before the Driver Leaves
A delivery invoice records what a supplier says arrived. It does not prove that the quantities, weights, prices or condition are correct. A simple receiving process can identify missing stock, unapproved substitutions and unclaimed credits before they quietly reduce your margin.
Before You Pay an Influencer, Ask These 5 Questions
In The Engagement Was Real. The Audience Was Wrong, we looked at a simple but important idea: engagement can be genuine and still be commercially irrelevant. People may comment, laugh, argue, like or share for reasons that have little to do with buying, booking, visiting or recommending.
So before you pay an influencer, ask these five questions.
Margin Protector #2: Poor Pours Will Make You Poor
A generous wine pour can feel like good hospitality, but small overpours quickly erode the margin built into your by-the-glass program. The solution isn't less generosity. It's better training, clearer measures and greater consistency.
Margin Protector #1: If You Haven't Costed the Recipe, You Don't Know the Margin
An accurate selling price begins with an accurate cost. Old ingredient prices, poor yield calculations and changing portions can quietly turn a profitable dish on paper into something very different during service.
Margin Protectors: Pricing for Profit Is Only the Beginning
Establishing the correct margin is only the beginning. Without the right systems, controls and regular reviews, profit can quietly disappear a few dollars at a time. Margin Protectors explores how hospitality operators can find those leaks and close them.
Why Most Wine Training Fails to Increase Sales
Most wine training increases knowledge, but not sales. Discover why the most successful venues train for confidence, guest conversations and commercial outcomes, rather than simply teaching wine facts.
The Wine List Metrics Every Venue Should Track
Do not guess it. Know it. Sales reports, product mix reports and wastage records can show exactly how your wine list is performing, where profit is being lost, and how small changes can create substantial results.
The Most Expensive Wine in Your Venue Is the Bottle Already Open
A closed bottle of wine is stock. An open bottle is a countdown. For pubs, clubs and hospitality venues, the by-the-glass list can be one of the strongest profit opportunities in the wine program — but only when every open bottle has a clear purpose, sells through cleanly, and is supported by accurate pours, smart pricing and useful sales data.
Wine List Profitability: Where Small Venues Lose Margin
A practical guide to where small hospitality venues lose wine list margin, including by-the-glass wastage, slow-moving stock, staff training, pricing, supplier deals and list creep.
How to Increase Wine Sales in a Restaurant Without Discounting
Practical ways restaurants, bars and pubs can increase wine sales without discounting, including better list structure, staff training, by-the-glass strategy and margin review.
What Does a Wine List Consultant Do?
A practical guide to what a wine list consultant does, how they review a beverage program, and how small hospitality venues can improve wine sales, margins and staff confidence.
The Engagement Was Real. The Audience Was Wrong.
A creator’s engagement can look healthy and still have no commercial value. Before paying for reach, restaurants, bars and wine brands need to look past follower counts and ask a better question: are these actually the people we need to reach?
The 5 Markers of Quality in Wine - Part 2
In Part 1, we looked at why flavour alone is not a reliable measure of wine quality.
Flavour is subjective. Some people love Sauvignon Blanc. Others prefer Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Riesling. That is preference, not quality.
In Part 2, we move away from what the wine smells and tastes like, and focus more on what the wine feels like.
That is where structure, length, intensity and power come in.
The 5 Markers of Quality in Wine - Part 1
Buying wine in a commercial environment — whether for a restaurant, bar, pub, club, or wine store — has very little to do with what the wines simply taste or smell like.
What is far more consistent across all wines are the true markers of quality. And in a commercial environment, where buying and selling wine is part of a business transaction, recognising those markers is one of the most valuable skills a buyer can develop.
The 5 Best Hospitality Marketing Books You Can Buy
The best hospitality businesses understand that every interaction is marketing.
The books on this list all teach that lesson from different angles.
6 Killer Tactics To Grow Your Restaurant Business
Operating in the highly competitive Australian restaurant market is like living in the Wild Wild West, every person for themselves. Threats lurk around every corner and survival is the first order of business. What you need is a hired gun. A professional gunslinger to ride by your side, armed with an arsenal of ideas and tactics.
5 Words You Should Never Use In Restaurant Marketing Copy
Words are powerful.
When thinking of words to describe your venue or your offer it pays to give them due consideration, not only for the positive effect you intend, but also to avoid any negative effects you would rather avoid. Look to make an impact in the short amount of time you have to make an impression.
Using words that are overly familiar, that are generic restaurant marketing terms or have little genuine meaning is a waste of time and effort. If you are going to do it then make it count.