Running any business is complicated, but a restaurant has its own set of issues, including getting the hygiene right to ensure customers are getting high quality and safe food.
That means, alongside standard equipment repair, there are also additional hygiene issues that need to be taken into consideration, such as getting the best possible PPE.
Getting the balance right means allocating enough funds to cover all the maintenance issues, without spending more than you have to. This is actually possible. You simply need to implement a few simple policies:
Asset Tracking
The first thing to do is to create a complete list of all your assets. Make sure you include the big items like refrigerators that need to be EPA compliant, as well as the smaller items that are easily overlooked, such as the toasters.
You can then record all the warranties and service history guidelines. This will ensure every piece of equipment is serviced when it should be, which will help to extend its life.
You should then log the amount of work each appliance does, that’s the hours of use. Combine this with the repair history and you’ll quickly see how often you have an issue with a particular machine and the average repair cost.
Analyzing the data should help you to identify and budget for servicing before it is necessary. But, it will also help you to identify which appliances and manufacturers do better in your particular kitchen, making it easier to choose a new appliance when you need to.
This will guide you regarding whether it is worth repairing the item or ordering a new one. You may be surprised at how often a new one is the cheaper option.
Preventative Maintenance First
Your schedule will ensure you know when preventative maintenance needs to be done and schedule it in plenty of time. This will help you to budget for it and help to ensure your appliances do not fail when you need them the most.
In general, preventative repair will cost you substantially less than waiting for something to go wrong. If you wait for something to go wrong, you’ll have to pay the call out fee as time will be of the essence. You may also find there are multiple issues as the preventative care has not been performed.
Get the Contractor Onside
A simple way of reducing maintenance expenditure is to speak to your maintenance contractor. The more appliances that one firm can take care of, the more likely they are to give you a discount, as they can look at more than one machine on a visit.
You can also combine this with pre-planning your maintenance schedule, allowing them to plan their workload and provide you with a lower cost as a reward for your loyalty. The saving may seem small but it will add up in the long term.
By simply pausing to take stock of the appliances you have, the ones you really need, and how often they need to be maintained, you can save yourself a considerable amount of funds, which will help the success of your restaurant.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
