Calculating your average revenue as a restaurant owner is essential for many reasons. Before agreeing to fund your business, many lenders ask for detailed feasibility studies. Understanding how to calculate revenue for a restaurant is critical when setting prices, designing menus, and deciding the size of your business.
What is the average revenue for a restaurant?
The average restaurant revenue varies widely across the industry. A variety of factors primarily influences these figures.
- How many tables can you fit in your space?
- How quickly your customers finish eating and pay.
- How long is your restaurant open daily, every week, or every month?
- What dishes do you sell? (And where)
Due to this variability, even two restaurants of the same size offering identical menus may end up with dramatically different average revenues. This is especially true if they serve geographically distinct markets. For example, a sushi bar in Manhattan will have a much higher average income than one in rural Pennsylvania with the same traffic. Most average restaurant revenue statistics reflect pre-COVID sales numbers. The average restaurant revenue may drop significantly in 2020 or beyond due to lockdowns, economic uncertainty, and social distancing.
How to calculate the revenue of your restaurant business
There are many ways to calculate the revenue of a restaurant. You can do some simple math by multiplying the number of tables times the turnover rate and the average bill of each table. If you re-seat ten tables per day at $100 each, your average daily revenue is $10,000. You can multiply this figure by 30 to get the monthly average.
This method is an excellent way to get a rough estimate but only considers seasonal variations (such as summer holidays or holiday parties). This method is also inaccurate, as you need to separate the prices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – which are all different. This method is not helpful for restaurants that are just starting and need more historical data.
You may need to compare restaurants in your area that are similar to you, both in size and price, to get a ballpark estimate. Previously, it was recommended that new restaurant owners assume their establishments would be at 75% capacity during the first year. All of this happened before COVID. Many old and new restaurants have been forced to drastically reduce their indoor seating due to the social distancing rule. These adjustments have made it harder to estimate revenue for restaurants.
Restaurant revenue calculations were made more accurate.
Previously, you would have collected all the receipts from the day, the week, or the month before to calculate restaurant revenue. Not only were tickets for tableside sales included, but also any takeout or online orders. This method was prone to errors and required a large amount of paperwork. You can instantly eliminate some of the paperwork and guesswork with a system by running detailed reports.
Our premium line of POS restaurant solutions allows you to view the busiest days of the month or the most profitable day of the year. These real-time reports will help you make more informed decisions about your business.
