Year-Round Numbers For a Seasonal Restaurant

When Sara Hansen and her husband took over The Oystercatcher four and a half years ago, they thought they’d be living out their dreams. But they were shocked to find it was almost a nightmare.

The Oystercatcher is located in Coupeville, a seasonal town on the ocean in Washington.  As the establishment’s third set of owners, Sara and her husband were dedicated to growing the business. But, that meant that their focus was constantly pulled to everything but food costs.

Work became a stressful mess. With no system in place to manage the numbers, they were never entirely sure how much they were spending.

Sara knew she needed to monitor her costs, but the restaurant couldn’t afford to hire someone to do it full time. With an affordable tool like Orderly in her arsenal, she was able to run her restaurant more efficiently. Now, she says that “[Orderly] is such a crucial part of keeping us afloat.”

First and foremost, Orderly put a swift end to Sara and her husband’s haphazard bookkeeping methods. “Four and a half years and we never had a number,” she says. “I don’t know how we’re still in business.”

Oystercatcher can now easily prepare for their upcoming busy summer. They’re able to pinpoint what ingredient prices are fluctuating so they can have the proper conversations with their vendors. They can keep track of their sales and focus on their growth and long-term future, instead of worrying about surviving the next week.

The Oystercatcher is also home to a bakery. Sara and her husband wanted to know: Was the bakery siphoning money off the restaurant, or was the restaurant draining the bakery’s cash? Orderly allowed them to take a hard look at their business and numbers. They found that the bakery was the piece costing them, and have since worked to adjust their spend accordingly.