How much margin is your restaurant leaking?
Eight questions. You'll get a score out of 100, your weakest area, and a prioritized list of what to fix first — ranked by how much margin each one moves.
Most independent restaurants leak margin in the same eight places: orders that originate on marketplaces, customer data they don't own, no direct ordering channel, a neglected Google Business Profile, no email or SMS, no loyalty, ignored reviews, and no idea what fees actually cost them. This scorecard weights each by how much margin it moves and tells you which one to fix first.
Why these eight things
A restaurant's online margin is decided less by how much marketing it does and more by where the order lands. An order placed on DoorDash costs 15–30% and leaves you no customer to remarket to. The same order placed on your own site costs a payment fee and gives you an email address. Everything else on this list — Google Business Profile, email, loyalty, reviews — only compounds if you own the destination.
A low score does not automatically mean "switch platforms". If your delivery volume is small, a flat monthly fee will cost you more than commissions. Run your real numbers through the fee calculator before you change anything.
Frequently asked
What does the score actually measure?
Eight things that decide how much of every order you keep: where orders originate, whether you own the customer's contact details, whether you have a direct ordering channel, your Google Business Profile, email/SMS, loyalty, reviews, and whether you track your fee percentage. Each is weighted by how much margin it typically moves.
Is this just a way to sell me Owner.com?
No. Several of the fixes cost nothing — claiming your Google Business Profile, replying to reviews, texting past customers. Owner.com is our affiliate partner and we say so plainly, but if your delivery volume is low, a flat-fee platform will cost you MORE than commissions. Our calculator tells you that outright.
Do I have to give my email to see my score?
No. The score and your weakest area show immediately. The full prioritized fix list is emailed to you, because it's long and because we'd rather send it than have you screenshot it.
What if I score badly?
Most independent restaurants do. The scorecard exists to show which single fix moves the most margin, not to make you feel bad. Start with your lowest-weighted red item and work up.
Affiliate disclosure: Owner.com is an affiliate partner. If you sign up through our link we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It does not change your score, and we say plainly when switching is the wrong move.
Each maps to one of five margin leaks: where the order lands, who owns the customer, whether you have a direct channel, what your free channels point at, and whether a first-time diner ever returns.
Read the five margin leaks, in the order to fix them →