The Holiday season means many things to many people, but for restaurateurs it is all about hosting the Holiday Party!  Hosting Holiday parties at your restaurant can be a fantastic way to boost both your brand and your cash flow.  However, in order to reap the financial rewards you must be sure to manage these parties correctly otherwise they can become a financial drain.

If you want to host Holiday parties at the restaurant itself, you need to decide if it is worth closing the restaurant for the duration of the party versus the sales of what your normal customer traffic would bring in.  For example, if a restaurant normally does $5 thousand on a Thursday night, a Holiday buy-out would need to bring in at least 6 to 7 thousand in order to make it worthwhile.  Also, try to encourage prospective party clients to book on slower days by offering better deals.  Thus, that $6 thousand event gets better Food & Beverage options for the same price, but they have to come in on a Monday.  This will easily surpass your normal Monday evening sales, while still keeping your weekends open for your regular customers. 

Extreme attention must also be paid to give enough advanced warning to your regular customers during these periods.  You can never put a price on a guest that arrived to have a fabulous meal at their favorite restaurant, only to find it closed for a private party.  Be sure to use all your resources to alert customers of holiday schedules, including using your Facebook and Twitter accounts to notify regulars.   

Another great option, instead of hosting the party at your establishment, is to offer a holiday season catering option for off-site events.  As long as you remember to keep the cost of set up, clean up, and tear down at a minimum, this is the best way to make additional revenue without the cost of losing regular business to your restaurant. 

Another issue that you must steer clear from is giving customers the option of an all inclusive package, especially those with alcohol.  This could easily get out of hand and end up costing you money rather than making you money.  Try options such as giving a two drink per person inclusive option, or set a specific dollar amount of free alcohol before turning it into a cash bar.

These events should be treated as catering events, with a minimum food & beverage limit with a confirmation required one week prior to the event for ordering purposes.  It is imperative that you give yourself enough time from the confirmation date to the party so that you are able to maintain all of the products and staff needed for a successful event.

 Vine Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and has offices in Corte Madera and Santa Monica, California.  Vine Solutions, Inc., provides accounting and financial advisory services to a variety of high volume independent restaurants and regional chains.  For more information, e-mail Vine  Solutions at info@vinesolutions.com, follow us on twitter at twitter.com/VineSolutions or read our blog at restaurantaccountingblog.com.