Restaurants & Food Service
Prime cost, tips, seasonality, and menus that make money.
Written for restaurants
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Prime Cost: The Number That Runs Your Restaurant
Up nextFood, beverage, and labor are most of your spending. Track them together every week and you can steer before the month gets away.
9 minEstablished - 2
Tips, Tip Credits, and Restaurant Payroll
Two different tip credits, strict pooling rules, and a new worker deduction. Here is how they fit together on your payroll.
10 minEstablished - 3
Menu Pricing and Seasonal Planning
Cost every plate, price from a target, and plan for the slow months while the busy ones are still paying the bills.
8 minFoundations Interactive tool
Essentials
Core lessons restaurants owners rely on
Cash Flow vs. Profit: Why Profitable Businesses Run Out of Cash
Profit tells you whether your business model works. Cash tells you whether you can make payroll on Friday.
The True Cost of an Employee
Wages are only the start. Here is how taxes, insurance, benefits, and overhead add up.
Riding Out Seasonal Swings
Map your busy and slow months, save in the peak, flex in the valley, and line up financing before you need it.
How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers
See why a small price increase can do more for profit than more sales, and how to raise prices in a way customers accept.
Hiring Your First Employee: A Step-by-Step Guide
The paperwork, registrations, and payroll setup that turn a job offer into a compliant first hire.
Business Insurance 101: The Coverage You Need
A plain-English map of the policies small businesses actually buy, what each one pays for, and who needs it.