Can Co-Sourcing Help Your Restaurant?

Restaurant business has slowly been recovering as the pandemic wanes, with estimates that it is set to grow over 12 percent since 2021. According to the National Restaurant Association, “the U.S. foodservice industry workforce is forecasted to grow by 400,000 jobs, for total industry employment of 14.9 million by the end of 2022.” This is great news for those of us itching to get back to dining out, but staffing issues remain a constant for many small business owners. If there are no candidates clamoring for restaurant jobs, how will you staff your business? Co-sourcing might just be the answer…

Co-sourcing is a lot like bringing on a consultant or contractor to help out your business. It’s becoming more and more popular with the restaurant industry, which is seeing difficulty in hiring staff. Per OneSourceVirtual, “With co-sourcing, you obtain an external resource that becomes an integral part of your team, working side-by-side with your on-site personnel.” The difference between co-sourcing and consulting is slight, but the basic idea is this: co-sourcing resources are more engaged with your regular staff, and often stay with your business on a much longer-term basis, than a consultant or contractor might. In short, co-sourced staff are integrated on a deeper level.

Where might this come into play for your restaurant business? Co-sourcing is an excellent way for restaurants large and small to tap into the robust talent that’s available worldwide. Business owners are able to utilize these resources as a way to improve process efficiency, reduce costs, and boost productivity. Now, we’re not talking about co-sourcing waitstaff—those roles are best left filled internally. With co-sourcing, you’ll focus on areas of your business including payroll, HR, accounting, marketing, and things of that nature that allow for outside input rather than on-site assistance.

Payroll, for instance, is a piece of the business that need not be filled internally. Remote is just one of many global payroll companies that help you hire and onboard employees, plus they offer HR services and assistance for employees or contractors at all of your locations (making it a great solution for franchise owners). And if you’re not interested in using a digital solution, payroll specialists from across the globe can certainly fulfill your needs.

The same idea goes for business accounting or marketing ideas. There is really no need to hire an internal group to cover these areas when it’s so easy to utilize co-sourcing as a way to bring in remote talent. Customer service can be co-sourced as well! The folks taking reservations and orders don’t need to be physically sitting in your restaurant if you have the technology available for them to communicate reservations and orders to your internal staff. And finally, inventory management. Tracking inventory and ordering supplies takes precious time away from your in-house staff. Why not co-source the job and improve efficiency and costs while you’re at it?

Keep up with all-things small business by checking out The Financial Pantry, ARF Financial’s content-packed blog. From marketing tips to industry trends and everything in between, we cover the topics most important to you. And if you’re looking for a loan solution to help fund your staffing efforts, ARF is the place to be. Learn more about us and see why thousands of companies across the country have turned to ARF Financial for all their small business financing needs.