The restaurant business is one of the most influential industries, specifically because everyone in the world has to eat. This essay seeks to provide an explanation of the security measures that restaurant business can take to ensure that its tangible property is well secured.
Tangible property includes things that can be touched (Cheeseman, 2010). In the fast food industry, tangible property can be broken down into five categories: products, furniture and fixtures, electronic equipment, signage and packaging. In order to further explain what tangible products are, and the measures that can be taken to guarantee their security, we will explore take-outs and delivery pizza establishments.
The furniture and fixtures that can be found in the possession of the company dealing with the production and supply of pizza include tables, shelves and benches for customers to sit on while waiting to be served. Tables and shelves are used for storage of dry inventory and various packages. Furniture and fixtures of any particular restaurant follow the theme and product of the establishment.
The tables and chairs in most restaurants usually have decor on them to make the environment pleasurable to the customers. Pictures, glassware, baskets to serve food, sinks, counters, and storage are the other items that are found in restaurants.
Electronic equipment found in pizza restaurants includes computers for order-taking and receipt printing, ovens, refrigerators, coolers and mixers. All these pieces of equipment assist the business in preparing their product and tracking of customers’ orders.
Signage for a business would include visible external signs to attract business and car-toppers to advertise the business while delivering products to customers. Signage could also consist of a neon sign on the interior of the building, along with the logo on the nearest highway exit sign.
Signage is very important to the business because it exposes the business name at the physical location and surrounding areas. This helps encourage customers to visit the restaurant. The company should also invest in commercials on local channels showing its latest burger with the company logo.
A pizza place also needs to have specific packaging for its products. The packaging of the company’s product is generally presented in the form of carry-out items. These packages usually have the company logo on them with a menu sometimes stapled on the outer part of the bag to encourage future visits. The packaging can also bear the company name and/or logo for additional advertising.
All of a company’s tangible properties assist in the production of the final product, which is sold to the customer. It is extremely important that all the tangible property is accounted for and that it is maintained in proper working condition.
This is in order to ensure proper delivery and satisfaction to the needs of the customers. It is also important for a pizza restaurant owner to ensure that tangible property is protected and well taken care of.
Pizza restaurants usually have an appreciable amount of flowing cash on a regular basis which must be constantly protected. Security for this inflowing cash can be achieved by use of cash registers and safe credit-card check-off systems for transactions. Pizza business owners also need to consider installing additional security devices for the protection of their property. These include such gadgets as surveillance cameras.
A set of security monitors should also be installed to let employees know that they are being watched, thus lessening the likelihood of theft or vandalism. Additionally, in the event that the company has to file law-suits, the security tapes can be used as evidence. Apart from security cameras, there should be signs to inform the employees of the consequences of improper use of equipment, as well as theft and/or destruction of property.
Another measure that should be taken in an effort to secure property is ensuring that guidelines are established to keep employees from wastage. A key method of evaluating the effectiveness of the processes is an inventory count. Typically, these counts are done on a monthly basis but can be more frequent, if needed. The use of weekly, monthly and quarterly inventories will help keep costs low and profits high.
The owner should always know what is going on within the restaurant at all times. If there is more loss than profit the owner needs to take measures to ensure that the employees are not stealing from the company or that the managers are taking inventories correctly.
The owner should oversee all of the sales reports, inventory reports, food costs and labor costs. This will guarantee that there is no theft going on internally and ascertaining that the company remains profitable.
Finally, in order to guarantee profitability, the proprietors of restaurants need to ensure that they conduct a proper research of the market they are going into. This will help them make a proper estimate of the resources they will use in the development of their product, as well as provide proper approximation of profitability.
Conclusion
This essay had set out to provide an explanation of the security measures that a business establishment can take in order to secure its operations. In order to meet this objective, a pizza restaurant was selected to provide the necessary exemplification.
All property owned by a pizza restaurant, including non-tangible property has been listed and their relevance to the discussion well elaborated. In summation, it should be noted that a restaurant like any business needs to ensure that its investment is well protected and this can be achieved by ensuring that all tangible and intangible property are well secured.
Reference List
Cheeseman, H. R. (2010). Business law, legal environment, online commerce, business ethics, and international issues. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.