To Save or Not to Save?
The actual question is which other areas can you save on during this time?
We’ve highlighted different tips below that you can take to reduce your costs.
Save on food cost
- Eliminate unpopular dishes: analyze your POS data to see which dishes on your menu are guests’ favourites, and which are their least favourite.
- Favourites only: edit your menu to include only favourites, especially if offering delivery or take-out
- Use similar ingredients: try to include the favourite dishes that overlap in terms of ingredients. This will drastically reduce the inventory and spoilage that will occur with over ordering
- Pre-orders only: have your guests pre-order their meals, especially for smaller hawkers, mamaks, street stalls, and restaurants
Create partnerships
- Share resources: staff, supplies, kitchen space, and more to reduce costs with other mamaks, hawkers, street stalls and/or restaurants nearby
- Community hub: if there isn’t already a community of owners, managers, & staff of restaurants to ban together during hard times, then create one. At this moment, there is no competition, only partners during these hard times.
Stay on top of government assisted initiatives
As the coronavirus pandemic grows, various levels of government are taking the initiative to assist businesses and sectors affected by COVID-19.
Singapore:
According to the Ministry of Trade & Industry's (MTI), the Government has introduced measures at Budget 2020 to help companies and workers weather near-term uncertainties. These include:
- A $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package to support businesses and workers.
- Additional support for sectors directly affected by COVID-19, i.e. (tourism, aviation, retail, food services and point-to-point transport services.
The Government is working on a second stimulus package in view of the global economy and the evolving COVID-19 situation. Details will be announced when ready.
To support commercial establishments in the food services and retail business:
- The Government will take the lead in providing full month of rental waiver for stall holders of NEA-managed hawker centres and markets while other Government agencies, like HDB, will provide half a month of rental waiver to its commercial tenants.
- There will be a 15% Property Tax Rebate for qualifying commercial properties to support those operating in private property.
Resources:
- Read updates from the The Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) on their response to COVID-19
- Follow the Ministry of Trade & Industry (MTI)’s updates on COVID-19 for businesses
Malaysia:
Only the state of Penang has set aside RM20 million to help hawkers, small traders, and businesses. As of now, there has not been any news of government assistance from other states, but use the sources below to find more information on how Malaysia is handling COVID-19.
Resources:
- Prime Minister's Office
- Ministry of Health's (MOH) information on COVID-19
- Persatuan Pengusaha Restoran Muslim Malaysia (PRESMA) is currently petitioning to have limited dine-in hours.
Vietnam:
The Government has offered a credit package worth VNĐ285 trillion (US$12 billion) for businesses, plus a five-month extension on payment deadlines for taxes and fees to support businesses, including value added tax, income tax, corporate tax and land rent, estimated at VNĐ30.1 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in total.
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