Must-have and nice-to-have technology for your restaurant
What’s your tech stack? It’s a phrase that started in Silicon Valley, went through corporate America, and has entered the restaurant realm. With good reason, there are several things necessary for operational relevance today. A point of sale has gone beyond a cash register to become the hub of all your apps, or at least most. Proprietary software by a POS company is a lot like a Swiss Army knife; it’s got everything in one place, but are those tiny scissors right for the job? Or should you go all-in with a full-fledged garden shears approach, more items and overkill, or the perfect tool for the big job?
Mike Bausch, owner, Andolini’s Pizzeria
I’ve met a lot of owners lately with tech overwhelm. Here is my breakdown of what is NECESSARY and what is optional.
The Must-Haves Tech
1. POS: This is non-negotiable. No POS means you are getting robbed, or you are a dinosaur or laundering money with no paper trail.
2. Scheduler for Staff: Excel just doesn’t cut it. Your staff needs more clarity on shift exchanges, and you need to forecast labor with a direct connection to the POS from the scheduler to create a variance report.
3. Customer E-mail: Whether integrated into your POS or separate, you need this. E-mail baked into a POS is a better solution when it gives the exact sales number of an e-mail. Use a dedicated service when you want robust segmentations. No e-mail or even rarely e-mailing customers means leaving thousands on the table.
4. Data Cloud: Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or something else cloud-based, i.e., a secure place to store and share important documents so you can move quicker and not lose everything if your laptop breaks.
5. Payroll Processor: This can be simple check processing or a whole HR suite. Choose what you need, avoid redundancies, and DO NOT OVERSIMPLIFY payroll. Check it for errors. Payroll should take time to verify and avoid overspend.
6. Accounting Software: QuickBooks or some variance; what matters is it is easy to use for your accounting team. In other words, can you track and act on the money going in and out?
7. Online Ordering: This is the modern era. If you’re not online, you’re not in the game.
8. Security Cameras: These are crucial for security, training, accountability and avoiding potential lawsuits. This is not a suggestion; you need cameras.
The Nice-to-Have Tech
1. Loss Prevention Program: Text checkups post order to send positive customers to review sites and negative customers into a text stream with management.
2. Text Marketing & Loyalty Programs: More direct than e-mail, but only some appreciate the intrusion. These must be exclusives to prove worth.
3. Third-Party Integrations & Aggregators: If you hate delivering yourself but like revenue, then 3rd party is a mandate. If you can’t stand how many tablets you have, go all in on one 3rd party or get an aggregator app that pulls them all together and routes them through your POS.
4. Social Scheduler: I can’t imagine posting to each app native; this is a massive time saver and sets posts to go out evenly.
5. Ad Manager: If ad spending on social media is a component of your marketing, look at ways to do it smarter and with tracking.
6. VOIP Phone Systems: Control calls, where they’re routed, turn voicemails into e-mails, and have different responses when customers call.
7. Gift Cards: These can become free money with unused redemptions.
Your tech stack is your toolbox in this competitive market. Choose wisely, invest smartly, and remember, the objective is to streamline your operations and give you more data to act on or time to create more revenue. If any app or program doesn’t produce 5 x ROI on what it costs via more revenue, more time, or raw cash in hand saved, it’s a no-go.
Mike Bausch is the owner of Andolini’s Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Instagram: @mikeybausch
