The holidays are coming and restaurants are going to start getting busy. Don’t let your restaurant miss out on this busy time of year. Here are 5 easy ways to be prepared for the thanksgiving holiday season crowd.

Promote Catering and Reservations for Holiday parties

If you push to promote that you have catering services and space available for holiday parties in advance you can be sure you will be able to book some parties and services and be able to increase your bottom line. Offering catering service helps families eliminate stress and still be able to feed their relatives that come in to town for the holiday.

Plan a Festive Menu and Offer Specials

Create a thanksgiving inspired menu specifically for the week of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the  holiday that officially kicks of the holiday season. With the special menu you can send out an email to your current customers or post on social media and include coupons or discounts for that week to bring in business.

Don't Understaff or Overstaff

You want to make sure that you have enough staff to work that day, but you also want to make sure that you are not overstaffed. It would be better to start with a few extra people and trim down your staff as the night goes on. Having too many staff members keeps them from making money but also lowers your bottom line.

Prepare Your Staff

Customer service is key to keeping your customers happy. A quick way to keep their focus on the guests wants and needs would be to remind them that during the holiday season tips will increase if the service is impeccable.

Use Previous Sales to Predict Business

You should use the previous years sales during the week of thanksgiving to gage how the week is going to go so that you can make sure you have enough food and staff to make it through the week. This will make sure you are profitable as well as making sure you keep your customers happy.

Thanksgiving is a stressful time of year for many families. There are likely additional family members staying with them which can makes planning and preparing a meal for everyone a daunting task. Having your restaurant open and prepared will help increase your bottom line and take away the added holiday stress from your customers.