What Would $3 extra per head Mean to You?
In this Post Shift Shot, I break down one of the simplest but most overlooked levers in hospitality: the $3 per head increase — and how that tiny shift can completely transform your business.
We talk about systems, leadership, menu design, and all the big strategies — but sometimes, the biggest growth starts with a micro-change. That extra $3 doesn’t sound like much, but once you multiply it across the number of guests you serve, the hours you operate, and the weeks you’re open, the math gets wild.
The Power of Small Numbers
If your restaurant or bar serves 200 guests a day, that $3 bump translates to $600 a day — or over $200,000 a year in added revenue.
Think about that:
You didn’t open another location.
You didn’t add a new shift.
You didn’t hire more people.
You just made a small, intentional move that compounds.
The Mindset Shift: Not Price, but Value
This isn’t about price-gouging your guests — it’s about value alignment. That $3 should reflect something better: improved ingredients, better-trained staff, a tighter guest experience, or a more consistent product.
The truth is, your guests don’t mind spending $3 more if the experience feels like it’s worth $10 more. That’s the emotional exchange we trade in.
Raising your check average isn’t about greed — it’s about stewardship. You’re building a stronger business that can pay your people more, reinvest in better systems, and weather slow seasons.
From Math to Meaning
Here’s the challenge I drop in this episode:
What would you do with that extra $200K?
Would you invest in training? Upgrade equipment? Add a benefits program? Build that rainy-day fund your business never had before?
Clarity comes from connecting the math to your mission. That’s where the $3 shift becomes transformational.
Hospitality Math That Matters
Every operator should know their “per-head power.” Once you know what every guest is worth, you can start making decisions that scale profit without scaling chaos.
That’s what I call hospitality math that matters — not theoretical, but practical, tangible, and rooted in daily actions.