4 Reasons to Upgrade Your Restaurant Equipment
Has it been a while since you last upgraded your restaurant equipment?
Are things starting to look a little old or are they breaking down on you?
How much time every week are you putting into care and maintenance of your existing equipment?
Depending on how you answered those questions, it may be time to upgrade the equipment in your restaurant. This can be incredibly daunting at first. As a restaurant owner that initial capital investment can be a huge lump of money for your business. Money that you could save for a rainy day, an emergency, or paying out bonuses to your staff and team at the end of the year.
Though the cost of replacing your restaurant equipment can be high and intimidating, you need to think of this as reinvesting into your restaurant and the value you are providing your staff and your customers.
If you aren’t sure if you should get new equipment, here are 4 reasons to upgrade your restaurant equipment.
1) Improve Quality
As we said, investing in new equipment and upgrading your existing equipment should be seen as making an investment in your business. Investing in better equipment is investing in the improvement of your product and service for your customers.
Many things in cooking technology stay the same, but since the last time that you bought equipment, there’s a good chance that companies have made a lot of improvements to their existing models. With that, after years (or decades) of hard use, there is no doubt that your current equipment has undergone some serious wear and tear.
Keep in mind that the quality of kitchen equipment you use has a direct impact on the food you are making. If it has been a long time since you have invested in new, quality kitchen equipment, think of how much better the quality of your product could be.
2) Improve Work Efficiency
Older equipment that has undergone heavy, long-term use can be worn out. Worn out kitchen equipment that’s on its last legs can be temperamental and inefficient. Unfortunately, deterioration happens over such a long period of time that you may not even realize how much your old kitchen equipment is hindering the efficiency of your staff.
Inefficiency and slower turnaround times for orders mean that you aren’t turning tables over as quickly as you could be. This ultimately leads to slower services times, thinner profit margins, and ultimately lost revenue for your business.
Investing in new kitchen equipment can be costly, but the level of effectiveness that it brings will help you save time, save money, and grow your revenue faster than what you are currently capable of.
3) Save on Maintenance Costs
Older equipment means more maintenance. That means that more of your operating budget is going to be eaten up by the cost it takes to maintain your old equipment.
Think of your old kitchen equipment like you would an old car. At a certain point, your car value will reach a low point at which your costs to maintain your older vehicle are going to be higher than the total value of the vehicle. At that point, wouldn’t it make more sense to put your maintenance costs toward the down payment on a new car? Absolutely!
Like new cars, new kitchen equipment is going to require far less maintenance which is going to save you time and money.
4) Increase Perceived Value
Whether you have a kitchen that your customers can see or not, new equipment increases the overall perceived value of your business. Whether that be for attracting better chefs and kitchen staff or appealing to stakeholders and investors, your shiny new equipment is going to give your restaurant a huge value and credibility boost to whoever uses it or sees it.