Overstaffed Oliver runs a popular casual dining restaurant.

Every week, he spends 3 hours building the schedule manually. Texting people. Fixing conflicts. Dealing with last-minute callouts.

And every month, he's shocked when he sees his labor costs: 38% of revenue.

Industry standard is 28-32%. He's bleeding 6-10 points.

Why? Because his scheduling is a mess:

• Monday lunch: 6 servers for 12 tables (needs 3)

• Friday dinner: 4 servers for 40 tables (needs 7)

• Random overtime because he forgot who worked 38 hours already

• People clocking in 15 minutes early every shift (adds up fast)

According to the National Restaurant Association, poor scheduling practices cost the average restaurant $2,000-$5,000 per month in wasted labor.

Oliver's problem isn't his staff. It's that he has no scheduling system.

YOUR ONE STRATEGY LAB THING TODAY: 'Schedule to Demand, Not to Habit'

Most restaurant owners schedule the same way every week:

"We always have 5 servers on Saturday night." "Joe works Monday and Tuesday, that's just his schedule." "We need 3 bartenders on weekends."

But your actual traffic fluctuates. You're overstaffed on slow days and understaffed on busy ones.

You schedule based on tradition, not data.

HERE'S WHAT SMART SCHEDULING LOOKS LIKE:

Instead of guessing, your system shows you:

• Historical sales data by day/time

• Projected covers based on reservations

• Current labor percentage in real-time

• Who's approaching overtime (40 hours)

• Who's available (without texting everyone)

• Actual clock-in times vs scheduled times

Then you build schedules based on ACTUAL DEMAND:

LAST MONDAY:

• Scheduled: 6 servers (anticipated busy day)

• Actual sales: $2,100

• Labor cost: $420 (20% - way too high for slow lunch)

• Should have scheduled: 3-4 servers

THIS MONDAY (with data):

• Schedule: 4 servers

• Projected sales: $2,200

• Labor cost: $308 (14% - optimal)

• Savings: $112 for ONE SHIFT

Multiply that across 30 shifts per month = $3,360 saved.

THE AUTOMATION FEATURES THAT MATTER:

Smart scheduling systems handle:

• Auto-scheduling based on sales projections

• Overtime alerts (before it happens)

• Shift swaps without manager approval (within rules)

• Clock-in notifications (so you know who's running late)

• Labor cost tracking in real-time during service

• Mobile access (approve time-off requests from your phone)

WHAT'S POSSIBLE IN 60 DAYS:

You optimize your labor costs:

• Reduce labor percentage from 38% to 31%

• Eliminate unplanned overtime (saves $800/month)

• Cut scheduling time from 3 hours to 20 minutes per week

• Reduce overstaffing on slow shifts

• Eliminate understaffing on busy shifts (better service = better tips = happier staff)

On a $50K/month restaurant, dropping labor from 38% to 31% = $3,500/month savings.

That's $42,000 annually just from smarter scheduling.

THE SIMPLE FIRST STEP:

Track your labor percentage by shift for 30 days.

Create a simple spreadsheet:

• Date/Shift

• Sales

• Labor cost

• Labor percentage

You'll quickly see patterns: "We're always overstaffed on Tuesday lunch" "Friday dinner we're cutting it too close" "We're paying 4 people to close when 2 could do it"

Then adjust. Test. Measure again.

YOUR ACTION STEP: Calculate your current labor percentage. If it's over 32%, you're leaving money on the table. Pull last month's data and find your most wasteful shifts.

Want the complete scheduling optimization system with labor tracking templates and automation workflows? It's all inside the 14-Day Restaurant Accelerator.

→ jlittrell.com

We got this, Jason | The Strategy Lab

P.S. Your staff doesn't want to stand around on slow shifts any more than you want to pay them to. Smart scheduling is better for everyone.

P.P.S. Every percentage point of labor cost you save goes straight to your bottom line. A 5-point improvement on a $600K restaurant = $30K more profit annually.

#strategylab #wegotthis