Hey, it's Shaun from Open Pantry company and this is the prep list.

Each Monday in under 10 minutes, I'll give you one trend to watch, one tool to test, one real world operator move, and one smart question to take to your team this week.

Let's get set up for the week ahead.

This tip links to finance and technology because better decisions start with cleaner data, especially as we head into the busiest season of the year.

So the trend to watch energy bills that are creeping up again.

I've had a few operators mention this to me lately.

The power bills are back on the rise.

And just like how we all signed up to a phone plan two years ago and never looked at it again, the same goes for electricity.

Venues are busy and it's easy to miss the slow creep of utility costs.

But here's the thing.

When energy makes up a chunk of your fixed costs and your open long hours, especially with coffee machines, ovens, fridges running flat out, a small shift in your plan can mean hundreds of dollars in savings each month.

Now it's time to run our review right?

Not in the middle of summer when the bills have already hit.

Tools like Termina let you compare your energy rates against what's on the market and they do the switch for you as well so there's no paperwork headache or chasing suppliers.

They're a brand that we've known for many years now and really back them.

It's a really low effort, high return move.

Get it done before spring gets busy.

All the links to link up with Termina are in the show notes of this podcast.

Now the tool to test for this week Doing a Data Spring Clean we're releasing this podcast on the first day of spring in Australia, so this one might sound boring, but it's probably the most powerful tool you can make right now.

Clean up that data.

So we're talking about point of sale names that are duplicated or inconsistent.

Old SKUs in your stock system that don't exist anymore.

Roster templates that are out of date, people that don't work for you anymore, casual staff still sitting in your payroll from 2022.

These things add up.

When your data is messy, your reports lie to you.

You think of selling more than what you actually are.

For example, you think your cost of goods are 28% when they're really 34%.

You can't see your true labor costs before your roster is pulling in historical shifts.

You don't need a new tech stack, you just need to set aside a day or two this month to clean it up.

For the next quarter.

A spring clean.

Literally.

Do it now so that when September and October really heat up, your systems are giving you the truth and you're making decisions based on reality and not noise.

The operator move for this week A former client of ours, La Mana Supermarket in Essendon Fields Shout out to the guys just moved into their new production facility to a much larger site in Footscray.

They used to be in a smaller site in Tullamarine, but now they're in a much bigger site in Footscray.

This is a business that's thinking in the long term.

The move allows them to streamline operations, prep for more volume and open up capacity for growth.

They're a great example of looking up from the day to day and making space for what's next.

I think spring is the right season to take that cue.

Even if you're not moving premises, you can still make room for something new by shedding old habits, legacy processes and data bloat that's slowing you down.

Your Team Question for the week have we started our summer schedule yet?

It might feel really early, but if you want a break over the Christmas and New Year period, or even just to be fully staffed during the heat of summer, now is the time to plan.

Sit down with your team and talk about the following when you'll close and why.

Who in the team wants time off and how are you going to balance that against everyone else?

What menu tweaks need testing before that silly season arrives?

Spring is a time to plant those seeds, so summer isn't a scramble, and that's your prep list for this week.

If it's helped you, the best thing you can do is share it with someone else in the hospitality industry.

We'd really appreciate it.

And if you haven't already, hit subscribe and leave a quick rating or review wherever you're listening from.

For more tools, episodes and our Sandwich Press newsletter, head to the link in our linktree page.

The link is in the show Notes of this podcast.

Until next week.

Have a great one.

See you next Monday.