Ken Burgin

Restaurant Productivity

Fraud & Theft

Restaurant Crisis Planning

No-Crisis Planning for Restaurants & Cafes

August 7, 2022 No Comments

Crisis and drama seem to be part of daily life in hospitality – something most of us learn to put up with and live through. We often have it for breakfast! But, with a little thought and planning, you could thrive instead of just surviving. Your life would be less stressful, costs would be lower and your businesses more profitable! Effective crisis planning and management is a must. That’s if you want to stay sane

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Watch Out for These Problems with ‘Perfect’ Staff

February 15, 2021 No Comments

Do you have a dream employee? They smile a lot, cover extra shifts, keep the bar clean, and know how to fix the fryer and the coffee grinder. They can cheer up cranky guests and sell them all dessert… and they know how the boss likes her coffee. And because everything is going so well, it’s easy to leave them alone while you concentrate on fighting fires. But putting time into managing these people can

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The Fraud Triangle: Could it Hit Your Cafe or Restaurant?

June 28, 2020 No Comments

Ever had a trusted employee rip you off? When I spoke with a bar owner recently, she was still in shock after uncovering a six-figure fraud carried out by a ‘trusted’ manager over more than 4 years. I hope that doesn’t sound familiar. Most people who commit fraud against their employer are not career criminals. The vast majority are trusted staff who have no criminal history and don’t even consider themselves lawbreakers. Donald Cressey, a

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Petty Theft – Where Do You Draw the Line With These ‘Grey Areas’?

February 18, 2020 No Comments

Ever seen staff help themselves to food, drink or even cash, and they seem to think it’s OK? You call it shrinkage, waste, ‘unders’, discrepancies or theft. What do they call it? It’s the grey areas that cause problems: drinks or food for friends and family, sloppy work that results in waste, or taking home left-overs. Grey has to become black or white. Does the culture you’ve created reward honesty, or overlook those who break

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7 Small Ways You Could Be Leaking Money

January 20, 2019 1 Comment

None of these is major, but each week they soak up cash and cut into profits. Part of the fix is showing staff that every cent counts and you do watch the cents! They can be an active part of the solution, not standing on the side watching. Every single member of your staff could point out something that’s ‘leaky’ and wasteful – do they tell you? Do you ask? Late to Arrive and Early

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Dealing With Copycats…

May 24, 2018 No Comments

Tell the truth – most restaurant and foodservice ideas are some version of what you’ve seen or eaten before. You could call it ‘creative swiping’ instead of copying or plagiarism, but it’s rare for any chef or restaurateur to create a full set of completely original ideas for a new menu or cocktail list. Remember that trip to Chicago, Bali or Barcelona – tasting, taking photos and dreaming up how you could do an Aussie

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It’s World Backup Day – When Did You Do It Last?

April 1, 2018 No Comments

March 31 is World Backup Day – and apparently 30% of people have never backed up their data, ever. Or maybe you did it a long, long time ago…which is equal to never. All your employment records, emails, sales data, recipes, booking information, customer lists, tax records, your website… let alone all the personal information and family photos. One in 10 computers is affected by viruses every month. You need to be backing up to

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Improve a Cafe

How to Improve a Cafe or Restaurant You’ve Taken Over

March 25, 2018 No Comments

A while back I wrote about the decline of a favourite cafe now under new ownership. I was challenged to give suggestions for how this could be done well, so here’s my Improvement To-Do list for a new cafe or restaurant owner: Highlight and Keep What Customers Value in the Cafe or Restaurant New Faces: own it, and let people know who the new owners are. Now’s the time for name tags (yes!) and the

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Another day, another story of restaurant fraud…

September 3, 2017 No Comments

Trusted, helpful staff given too much responsibility by weary owners, and a lack of systems for proper checking. How many times do operators make ‘trust’ their default mode with employees, instead of ‘check and verify’. When you work with cash, food and alcohol and have haphazard security, the thieves will soon find you. It was a bit sad to go through ‘the facts of life’, again, with a couple of new cafe owners… Your Point

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