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Meet Glen. He’s a very good chef. All of his friends and family tell him how great his food is and how his Tikka Masala is better than any restaurant they’ve ever tried and (naturally) he should open a restaurant. A high street vacancy appears. An absence of good Tikka Masala on said high street. A few episodes of Masterchef, red wine and helpful encouragement from Glen’s best and most supportive of mates and the stage is set.
With fire in the belly, cheap cash from the bank and virtually no barriers to entry, Glen enters the esteemed league of restaurant owner operators. What better way than to earn a living than to combine something you’re good at, with something you’re passionate about, with a market need, right?
Before long, Glen finds himself working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week and despite the success of his now famous Tikka Masala, in his spare time he also needs to be a technologist, social media strategist, recruiter, marketer, salesperson, accountant, cleaner, waiter, procurement specialist and so on and so forth. Needless to say, Glen is fictional but all too relatable. In the timeless and poignant words of a 90s rock ballad, “Baby, sometimes love just ain’t enough”. It’s not for lack of effort, but Glen simply is not equipped to undertake all of the above mentioned roles.
As an F&B operator, whether you like it or not, ultimately you are a Chief Decision Maker. What menu items should I add, remove or change? Should I expand or exit? How many staff should I roster next weekend? How much should I charge for an extra shot of coffee? Should I outsource bookkeeping? What’s the best day to close or should I open 7 days? Should I bring on additional service staff? You get the point. The complexity, impact, urgency and importance of the many decisions you’ll need to make will vary tremendously. However, they share one thing in common, and it’s this:
A good decision requires complete, timely and accurate information with which to do so.
You cannot have complete, timely and accurate information without supporting technology. Zii will not improve your Tikka Masala, but we will equip you with data and more importantly actionable insights to improve your business. What exactly is this “actionable insight” that you speak of? I’m glad you asked. Here is one that we produced for a customer recently:
“On Mondays and Tuesdays your revenues are down 50 to 70%. Do not open on Mondays and Tuesdays, apologise to your loyal customers, give them a $25 voucher and save tens of thousands of dollars annually”
Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help you. Let’s get to work.
Dave