Key Performance Indicators – you may not have heard of this phrase, but if you run a business, you definitely have. Why? Because they are a great way to recognize how well, or how poorly, a company is being run. These critical and reliable metrics will help you or any business owner measure the things that matter the most. By using the, you can make the right decisions, find ways to improve your business, and keep your restaurant thriving week after week and customer after customer.

The problem is that there are so many KPIs out there now, it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones are worth your time and which aren’t right for your restaurant.

The important thing is that you find the ones that work for you and then stick with them. Because, when used correctly, KPIs are restaurant performance metrics that can be exactly what your business needs to not only survive but thrive. Here are just five that should be used by every restaurant owner looking for success in the food service industry.

Food Cost Percentage

One of the most crucial figures in your entire business is the percentage of food costs. It calculates the percentage of your income that is used to buy the food you serve. The foundation of your profitability is this. Your profits vanish if it rises too much. If it’s too low, you may be sacrificing quality, which could damage your reputation.

The formula is simple and varies slightly depending on your price point and concept. To identify problems like waste, portion control, or theft, track them once a week. Don’t wait if your expenses increase; get started right away. Are the prices of your vendors going up? Do you have too many employees? Are the ingredients going bad? Here, tight controls can make the difference between keeping your doors open and closing them.

Labor Cost

Labor is usually a restaurant’s largest expense, second only to food. Maintaining profitability and making sure you’re scheduling effectively require weekly labor cost percentage tracking.

Labor should make up around 30% of most full-service restaurants. Ideas for quick service might be less expensive. You can make staffing adjustments with a weekly snapshot before overtime depletes your profits. Can you change the shifts for next week if sales were not as strong as anticipated? Does your prep crew arrive too early? During slow shifts, are you overstaffing? Is it time to send people home or run your restaurant on a smaller staff? There are many questions that come from calculating your labor costs, but the answers will almost always help you tremendously in the long run.

Here are some other helpful hints that come from labor costs: keep an eye on your labor mix, including full-time versus part-time and front-of-house versus back-of-house. Remember that differente employees are paid different wages. By focusing on this balance of employees, you can control expenses without causing your team to burn out or compromising the quality of your services.

Check Size

You can find out how much each visitor spends on each visit by looking at the average check size or ticket. It’s a helpful and reliable gauge of how well your pricing, menu, and upselling tactics are performing.

Monitoring this every week reveals certain patterns you might not usually notice. For example, your guests may be sharing meals, ordering fewer appetizers, or skipping appetizers altogether. Perhaps your servers need some sort of refresher training on how to upsell drinks or specials. Or maybe you should change your menu. What menu items aren’t selling and simply taking up space and costing you money?

Increasing the typical check size can have a significant impact. Little things like an extra drink here and there or a dessert quickly add up. By digging into your check size and seeing what works and what doesn’t, you will soon find how well your restaurant is working, and what ways you can cut out excessive costs that simply aren’t bringing anything in.

Table Turnover

During lunch or dinner service, how many times do you turn your tables over? Your potential revenue is directly impacted by your table turnover rate, particularly if you have a limited number of seats.

While casual or fast-casual establishments strive to turn tables as quickly as possible, fine dining establishments will inherently have longer meal times and lower turnover.

Tracking this weekly helps you pinpoint issues like slow service, bottlenecks in the kitchen, or inefficient seating. Keep an eye on your floor flow if you notice a dip. Is the wait time for food excessive? Is your staff taking too long rather than quickly reset tables? Small adjustments, such as expediting the payment procedure, can occasionally reduce the number of minutes spent at each table, resulting in additional covers and income.

Customer Satisfaction

This one is more about paying attention than it is about exact numbers. You cannot afford to ignore your visitors’ experience. Since negative reviews can spread like wildfire in this day and age, checking in on customer feedback once a week helps you identify minor issues before they become major ones. By the time they are causing your restaurant serious problems, it may be too late for you.

You can gauge this by looking at your online ratings, reading comment cards, or conducting quick surveys after meals. Pay attention to your star ratings on popular review websites. Did you notice more unfavorable comments and reviews this week than normal? What are people griping about? Bad service, lengthy wait times, or the quality of the food? All of these things need to be addressed as quickly as possible, because they are quite literally draining your business of money.

KPIs aren’t just buzzwords that serve no purpose. Instead, they are helpful tools that can assist your restaurant get back on its feet after a lull or find even more success if it’s already popular. As a manager, it is your job to figure out how your company is operating and how it can work better. KPIs are quite literally key to that and should be one of the many helpful features you turn to regularly.