When the news media focuses on the high financial stakes and opportunities that abound during that magical time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, most of the focus is generally on the retail sector. As such, you might be tempted to dismiss the impact that the holiday season will have on your eatery. However, doing so could cause you to miss out on a genuine chance to expand and flourish. Here are just some of the things you as a restaurateur can do to make the money jingle into your restaurant’s cash drawer during this busy and rushed season.

Address your staffing needs in advance.

There is nothing worse than being slammed with customers on a night when you are operating with a skeleton crew. Particularly in this era of personnel shortages, you must do everything you can ahead of time to hire competent and qualified employees who are ready and willing to step up to the plate when those throngs of hungry holiday shoppers start piling through your doors.

Once you have the right people on board, your next job will be to map out their schedules throughout the season. Keep in mind that employees will request time off and reduced hours to accommodate family events, making your task all the more complex. Attempting to conjure up a full calendar by hand is daunting at the best of times and downright impossible when you are already stressed.

Fortunately, most systems that do payment processing for restaurants include employee scheduling tools. These enable you to keep your workers informed of any changes in real time and give your workers an easy way to request time off that you can easily track. If you’ve been in business for more than a year, you can also use your payment processing software to generate reports about your past sales trends during the holidays. Having that information at your fingertips will give you a better idea of how to allocate shifts so that you can accommodate the maximum number of customers while simultaneously keeping them fed and happy.

Create a positive company culture.

Creating and maintaining a fun and upbeat workplace is never more important than during the holiday season. That’s because when workers are well-prepared, knowledgeable, and happy, the mood permeates your entire restaurant. Food is prepared and served better and more quickly, tables turn over faster, and employees are more able to pivot as conditions change.

In addition to providing top-tier training for seasonal and regular staff, do your best to bring a festive spirit to your workers. Schedule a holiday party, organize a gift swap, or raffle off some yummy gift baskets to boost morale and bring some fun into everyone’s workday.

Get a handle on your inventory.

Whether you run a multi-location chain or one small truck, food storage is an ongoing issue that always needs to be at the top of your mind. However, the frenetic nature of the season makes this an even higher priority. You can’t afford to have too much of a particular item as overstocking leads to food waste and expenditures you cannot afford. By the same token, scrimping too much and failing to order sufficient supplies will lead to shortages of critical ingredients when you need them the most.

This is another example of why having the right point of sale (POS) payment processing solution for restaurants is so important. Using its built-in tools, you can maintain a running count of every food, beverage, and staple ingredient you keep in stock. With your finger on that particular pulse, you can tweak your orders, upping or reducing the quantities as demand dictates.

In addition, it is important to keep your ear to the ground about availability, especially in light of our nation’s current supply-chain woes. If your house specialties feature seasonal foods, be sure that you can readily obtain them. Otherwise, adjust your menu accordingly to keep your customers happy.

Decorate for the season.

The holidays are a time for tinsel, glitter, lights, bows, and festive music. Even if you’re not the craftiest person in the world, your eatery can bring extra cheer to every customer by incorporating the looks and sounds of the season. Of course, be sure that the aesthetics you choose match your restaurant’s theme, but otherwise, the sky's the limit.

Even some lights and a few strings of garlands coupled with holiday music on your sound system can infuse your atmosphere with that special holiday ambiance. While you’re at it, be sure to keep a supply of holiday-themed gift cards in stock for customers to purchase near the card reader at your register. It’s one of the best ways to get the word out to your loyal diners’ friends and family about one of their favorite restaurants.

Accommodate at-home diners.

Although it’s a great idea to focus on making your dining room merry and bright for the season, it is also true that many people will be more inclined to prefer eating at home during this busy time of year. Give them the ability to enjoy your second-to-none entrees at their own table by offering online ordering, take-out, and delivery options. The fact is that today’s customers want maximum choice and flexibility, and they will spend their dining dollars at the places that go the extra mile to provide both.

Get the buzz started.

Of course, you want to do all you can to bring people to your café or diner between Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, you also need to be thinking about those long weeks and months after the trees and strings of lights come down. By acting now, you can help to ensure that a stream of customers will continue to enjoy your food long after Santa Claus has returned to the North Pole.

To that end, take time now to bolster your social media and customer loyalty programs. Visit your website to make sure it is easy to navigate, optimized for mobile, and features up-to-date menus and operating hours. Encourage customers to leave reviews on your site and on third-party pages such as Yelp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Use your point of sale system to reward your regulars with free items and discounts after a certain number of visits. Maintaining a robust loyalty program not only will be a favorite with your best patrons. It will also give you access to a gold mine of customer contact information such as email addresses and buying history that you can use in future marketing campaigns.

It’s no secret that running a successful restaurant is daunting even when the economy is running on all cylinders. In these challenging times, business owners of every type are pulling out all the stops to attract customers and keep them coming back. If you want your eatery to succeed and remain at least one step ahead of your rivals, you need to go above and beyond.

During the madness of the Christmas season, that means taking steps in advance to prepare. It means creating an environment that is merry and festive for employees and customers alike. And most important of all, it means using your human and technological resources to their maximum effect to provide your secret ingredient: excellent employee care and customer service. By accomplishing this, your eatery truly can embody the warmth and joy that characterize this time of year.