The Shift Report

January hits hard and fast — especially for venues unprepared for the tourism wave. In Part 16 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, discover the seven essential steps to mastering the New Year’s Rush, including summer menu tweaks, staff training for tourist traffic, ordering adjustments, January specials, and the marketing push that drives huge post-Christmas walk-ins.

Most Christmas specials flop — they’re overcomplicated, low-margin, and slow your kitchen to a crawl when you need speed the most. In Part 14 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, discover the festive menu items customers actually buy, the drinks and desserts that skyrocket margins, and the Bam Bam rules for building holiday specials that sell fast without wrecking your workflow.

December brings big crowds, big prep, and big risk — especially when it comes to waste. In Part 12 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, uncover the 10 practical moves that instantly reduce waste and protect your margins during the busiest month of the year. This guide is all about smart prep, portion control, ordering discipline, and saving cash when it matters most.

We’re five days into December and the silly season is officially on. This Friday recap distills the first 11 parts of the Holiday Gear-Up Series into the 10 critical moves your venue must nail right now—covering bookings, marketing, equipment, staff morale, prep discipline, and more. If you do nothing else this month, do these.

Your team is the heartbeat of your venue — especially in December. In Part 11 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, discover the practical, Bam Bam–style strategies that boost morale, reduce burnout, and keep your staff energised, united, and performing at their absolute best through the busiest month of the year.

Equipment failure is one of the fastest ways to ruin a December service. In Part 10 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, learn how to protect your café or restaurant from breakdowns by servicing critical equipment, running stress tests, and preparing your team with simple troubleshooting steps before the summer rush hits.

December is the biggest revenue opportunity of the year—if you market your venue properly. In Part 9 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, learn the seven must-do marketing moves that drive sales, increase visibility, and help your café or restaurant stand out during the holiday rush. Stop posting randomly and start printing money.

Holiday bookings can either elevate your venue or overwhelm it. In Part 8 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, discover how to set clear booking policies, optimise your floor plan, control customer flow, manage large groups, and keep your service running smoothly through the busiest weeks of the year.

Your team is the make-or-break factor during the holiday rush. In Part 7 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, we explore the essential staff training every venue needs before December—covering customer service, communication, stress management, speed, expectations, and daily briefings to keep your café or restaurant running smoothly during peak season.

Summer heat can cripple a kitchen. In Part 6 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, we break down the biggest heatwave-related food safety risks facing Queensland venues—fridge strain, warm deliveries, cooling issues, staff fatigue, and more—along with practical steps to keep your food, team, and service safe during peak season.

Every year, Queensland cafés and restaurants get blindsided by supplier closures, stock shortages, early cut-offs and delivery changes just when they need consistency the most. Part 5 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series shows you how to plan ahead, avoid Christmas chaos, and build a bulletproof supplier strategy that keeps your venue running smoothly through the busiest weeks of summer.

December staffing can make or break a venue. With public holidays, penalty rates, tired staff and tourist volume all hitting at once, your roster needs more than guesswork — it needs a strategy. In Part 4 of the Holiday Gear-Up Series, we break down how to build a smart, efficient roster that keeps your team steady, your wage bill under control, and your venue running strong through the craziest months of the year.

Let’s be honest.December–January doesn’t care how creative your menu is. If your menu is too long, too labour-heavy, or full of slow-moving products, then: ❌ Your prep blows out ❌ Your staff fall behind ❌ Your wastage skyrockets ❌ Your ticket times explode ❌ Your coolroom becomes a battlefield ❌ Your profit margin shrinks ❌ And customers become a LOT less forgiving Holiday trading is about smart, fast, profitable .Not complex, fussy, and expensive . Here’s how to get your men

The next three months are the most profitable — and most exhausting — period of the year for hospitality. Christmas parties, school holidays, tourists, big bookings, frantic mornings, tired staff, and endless ticket times… it all hits at once. And here’s the truth most venues don’t want to admit: 👉 If your systems aren’t locked in NOW, December will chew your venue up and spit it out. The good news? A few smart tweaks now can make your entire summer run smoother, calmer, and

Christmas doesn't have to be Chaos

A great menu isn’t just about pretty fonts and trendy dishes — it’s your most powerful profit tool. In this Shift Report, we dive into how smart menu development and costing can boost margins, cut waste, and keep customers coming back for more."

A food safety plan isn’t just about ticking compliance boxes — it’s the backbone of a smooth, profitable venue. Discover how the Food Safety Success System turns compliance into a powerful onboarding and operational tool, saving you time, stress, and money.

Let's be honest—running a café or restaurant is not exactly the leisurely career you dreamed about. Instead of sipping espresso and...

The Real Problem: “Winging It” Doesn’t Work Anymore Let’s be honest: running a café or restaurant is chaos on a good day. Between hiring...

If your venue’s playlist swings from whale noises to screamo… we need to talk. Setting the vibe isn’t rocket science—but it is an art. In this post, we’re diving into music, mood, and a few easy wins to make your space feel as good as it looks. Bonus: we made you a playlist. You’re welcome.