As a restauranteur, franchisee, or anyone in the foodservice industry, you’re familiar with the time and attention it takes to keep things moving and successful. Luckily, we’re living in an era of non-stop innovation and automation, as technology continues to simplify every part of our life.
As much as we’ve embraced these technological advances in our personal lives, most of us are slower to implement the same automation and simplification in our professional settings. Leveraging technology whenever you can, especially to help run your restaurant, will allow for better time management and efficient operations.
Below, we’ve compiled some of the best and most effective tools for better and easier management of your everyday tasks and operations.
POS system – Toast
Toast is widely considered the best POS system for restaurants and operations of all types and sizes, and this recognition is well-deserved. They are always adding new features to their core product, and offer an all-in-one solution for front-of-house needs.
Their hardware is restaurant-grade and built to outlast high-intensity environments, with little training needed to get up and running. Flat rate pricing and no hidden fees ensure you know what you’re signing up for. The interface is intuitive and easy to pick up, and all data is stored on a secure cloud server, making it easy to access anytime you need it, no matter where you are.
Toast has you covered from simplified menu management to full analytics and reporting (including sales summaries over any period of time, for all locations), kitchen display screens, and secure cash drawers.
Explore Toast here: https://pos.toasttab.com/
Shift scheduling -TrackSmart
The days of sitting in a back office for hours, solving the puzzle that is shift scheduling are over. Spending that kind of time is a waste when tools like TrackSmart automate scheduling. Web and mobile apps allow you to change or edit schedules while you’re on the go, as well as check in to see who has clocked in and out for the day.
The app’s employee-facing dashboard also allows for easy time-off and shift swapping requests, giving you the ability to review and approve these requests instantly.
Check out all of TrackSmart’s features here: https://www.tracksmart.com/scheduling/features
Food delivery software – DoorDash
With the rise of technology, food delivery has become more convenient and accessible than ever. With the right tool, like DoorDash, customers can enjoy your food on-demand without ever leaving home. This has become more important than ever with the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, but will long endure as a customer expectation and mark of strong restaurant operations.
DoorDash offers flexibility in how you choose to deploy and has already captured 80% of the country’s consumers. Based on your business model and needs, you can choose to use your own delivery staff, only leveraging DoorDash’s system to accept and manage orders at a reduced price, or to leverage the system’s full-service delivery logistics.
And DoorDash isn’t only good at keeping your existing customers happy, but finding new ones as well. 92% of DoorDash orders come from new customers who find your restaurant featured on Door Dash’s website and app searches.
The system offers an easy pick-up option if customers prefer this over delivery, and a seamless integration to your POS system.
Check out DoorDash for your delivery needs: https://get.doordash.com/
Accounting & Payroll- Wagepoint
Tedious financial tasks may be the least fun part of running a restaurant, but also the most important. Luckily, there are tools that make it painless and automated. Wagepoint offers powerful payroll tools at a fair price.
Their online payroll tool is packed with useful features. Pay both employees easily, and when tax season comes, generate W2s and 1099s with the click of a button. Direct deposit automates payday, and payroll taxes are paid and filed automatically on your behalf. Employees will also have a self-serve portal where they can view pay stubs and manage their banking and contact information.
Explore Wagepoint: https://wagepoint.com/
Supply Chain – ChefHero
Managing a supply chain full of disconnected suppliers with bills and receipts living in different systems – or worse, on paper-, is bound to create issues. A digital supplier network and ordering portal like ChefHero is not only the best way to keep orders streamlined, but also to find the best competitive prices.
With a community of hundreds of local buyers, suppliers compete to present the best prices on a wide range of products. The digital system allows for a comprehensive approach to ordering where you can review past orders and invoices all in one place. Compare prices and receive customized suggestions based only our past purchases and searches.
Check out ChefHero here: https://www.chefhero.com/
Customer Feedback – ReviewTrackers
Positive customer reviews can be your greatest asset, and if you have accumulated any, it’s important to leverage them. However, there are several review platforms out there, and most are open-sourced with limited control. Keeping track of every review on every platform could constitute a full-time job, which is why a tool like ReviewTrackers adds control and efficiency.
Aggregate and manage business reviews from 100+ review sites, with dashboards and reports to visualize your business’ reputation based on customer reviews and feedback. And to cut down on manual work, ReviewTrackers lets you reply right in the app’s centralized system. You can also gain information on how your competitor’s reputations and reviews stack up.
Explore ReviewTrackers here: https://www.reviewtrackers.com/
Digital Menu Boards – Yodeck
Many fast-casual restaurants have started to use digital menu boards, as they’re easier to change, manage, and design at a moment’s notice. Digital menu boards like Yodeck offer much more control and customization.
With Yodeck, you can easily change menu content based on the time of day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, easily add and remove limited time offers, and add promotional messages you’d like to present to customers. The system provides free screen layout templates, a drag and drop editor, and support for almost any file format.
Yodeck takes security seriously, with firewalls, IP address control, restricted access, and more. And all screens can be managed remotely, so changes can be made at any store no matter where you are.
Explore Yodeck here: https://www.yodeck.com/
Inventory Management – MarketMan
Managing anything across several locations can be challenging to keep up with, but especially inventory as it changes every hour of every day. A tool like MarketMan rolls up inventory data from each location into a comprehensive dashboard. The system also allows for pricing and vendor guidelines to offer control over orders being made at each store, as well as an easy digital approval process for each order.
The system will suggest orders based on trends and inventory reports, and send alerts when inventory is low. Changes for limited time offers and menu changes are simple to make as needed.
Check out MarketMan here: https://www.marketman.com/
Social Media Management – Buffer
You might be thinking “social media is easy- I definitely don’t need help managing it.” If social media doesn’t currently take up much space or time in your current business plan, you may want to take a step back and consider why. Social media is one of the most powerful tools for any business – and the only tool that’s completely free and under your control.
It is the most effective and convenient way to get in touch with your customers. Will your store be closed for maintenance or construction for a couple of days? Better to let customers know ahead of time with a simple Facebook post rather than turn them away at the door. Have an exciting new promotion coming up? Without social media, the only way a customer might hear about it is by seeing a sign as they happen to drive by or coincidentally show up.
Once you get the hang of using social media channels, you’ll find that it can become time-consuming to post the same message on each one. This is where a social media management tool comes into play. And if you’re just getting started or have a small audience, you’ll want to stick with a free tool like Buffer. It’s still packed with all of the features you’ll need to get social media down to a science.
You can write, edit, and post to your social channels from their central dashboard. The platform even allows you to schedule posts so they publish on a specific day or at a specific time.
Explore all of Buffer’s features here: https://buffer.com/publish
Food Safety – Squadle
And of course, you can’t run a safe and successful restaurant without a proper food safety solution. At Squadle, we’ve digitized the manual food safety practices of the past and made it easy for restaurants of any size and type to stay compliant and consistently offer the best quality to customers.
From digital checklists for restaurants that include everything from food safety, shift management, and food waste tracking to remote temperature monitoring for 24/7 inventory protection. With Squadle, you can be sure your operations are running smoothly and efficiently.
