How many employees to schedule?

[BaklaJava]

Hi - I'm getting ready to open my coffee bar/bakery and don't know how many people I will need to work. Also how much to pay people. Any experiences you'd like to share would be welcome! Thanks,
Betsy

 

[cindy]

hi there

im kinda sitting with a similar problem regarding the amount of staff to employ, but i have had a fairly large amount of experience in the restaurant game.

what i have seen so far is that you wont get away with too few staff members but believe me, more is not always the answer.
keep your staff amounts low enough in order for you to handle all their problems personally, this also ensures that you wont ever have waiters standing about doing nothing. (i hate sitting in a restaurant with 1 waiter helping you and 13 standing around coz their tables are emty).

what to pay them...?
i pay mine per shift...minimum wage as per government requirements.
in south africa thats just over R800 per month (doesnt sound like much but take into account that the waiters get good tips).

your amount of staff will also be determined by your business hours.
how many shifts are we talking about here, and how long do you want a shift to last?

let me know...maybe i can help you work something out.

 

[barefoot]

more than you will feel confident in your ability to pay come payroll day. staff as lean as you can to serve people fast and happy and avoid a dirty place. that means 1-2 people at all times.

 

[NordstromCoffee]

We start our pay at $8 an hour. I would always have at least two, but three will carry you through as long as they are friendly and efficient. I would never leave one employee alone.

 

[celement]

2 to 3

My shop has 2 during all "busy" hours and possibly 3 at peak moments. I have a person thats up to working just 2 hours in the morning which is perfect for my drive through.

One interesting thing...50 cars and hour seems slow for 3 people and overwhelming for 2.

 

[cindy]

i will have to agree on never leaving the staff alone.....no matter how good they are.

sounds like you all know what your talking about...im happy to see that there are more people in this world who tend to become the most hated person after adolf hitler regarding some aspects of staff... :evil:

 

[Muddycup]

set up systems

make sure you spend time setting up your counter so that your staff can work quickly and you might be able to work well with two.

i.e we did $1500 yesterday in 4 hours during a special town event and did it with three people.

jim