Six Steps to Improve Your Restaurant’s Point of Sale Operation Costs

Outside of the eight-top burner and the kitchen dishwasher, the point-of-sale system is the most critical piece of technology in your restaurant. While there are significant costs associated with adopting a new POS, the payoff of a new system can greatly enhance your restaurant’s success.

Cloud-based solutions can actually deliver 2.1 times the return on investment of traditional on-site solutions.

According to a report by Nucleus Research, cloud-based solutions can actually deliver 2.1 times the return on investment of traditional on-site solutions. Cloud systems not only have better mobility (like your servers being able to perform credit card transactions tableside via a tablet), but they also allow less downtime than a desktop system. Further, your customers and your restaurant will enjoy added security from off-site servers that have constant security and malware protection.

Despite the benefits of switching to a cloud-based POS, cost is still the biggest obstacle to adopting a new system, as many restaurant owners rely on older technology that they’ve invested time and money in and that contains years of data. But for those thinking they have too much invested to move away from an older system, there’s a cost to doing nothing, too: Increased time spent pulling reports, manipulating them, and then making the changes in the POS’s back end all add up to hidden costs when using a legacy solution.

Here’s a six-part equation your restaurant should consider when deciding to upgrade to a new POS system:

Determine What’s Most Important to You

Important aspects can include ease of use, mobility, management and communication, service and support, or operational features. Once you rank your needs, you can determine which features your POS absolutely must have, which you’re willing to pay extra for, and which you can do without.

Ask the Right Questions of POS Vendors Upfront

Not all restaurants are the same, and you should treat your situation as such when selecting a POS. Before making a decision, ask your sales rep why the system is designed to specifically meet your needs. First consider whether the POS is designed specifically for restaurants, what its basic features are, and whether any features set it apart from its competitors. Then, ask how it will track staff performance, inventory, and menu, as well as the costs of the POS system’s hardware, software, installation, and customer service fees. Finally, ask whether it has an offline mode to help buffer any potential outages or hiccups.

Bring Your Staff into the Evaluation Process

After all, they’ll be some of the people interacting with the POS the most. No two brains work alike, but the system you’re interested in should be able to cater to most of your staff members. Servers should be consulted on item navigation; managers should be asked about the reporting features; and back-of-house staff should evaluate whether a kitchen display system would work better than printers.

 Ensure you’re prepared for success upon going live. Everything can be promised in the sales cycle, but make sure you truly understand what you’re getting, how it works, and how long it’ll take to perform routine tasks like splitting a check. More importantly, allow you and your staff time to take it on a test drive — leading POS solutions typically have a training mode. Also, look into in-house training. The best way to determine whether a restaurant POS meets your needs is to put it to the test, and who wants to do that during the dinner rush? With a training mode, you can test the POS’s functionality, but thankfully not at your guests’ expense.

Ask About the Process of Importing or Updating your Menu, Roles and Employees

Sometimes, this can be an additional cost that you weren’t necessarily expecting. Also, check to see the difficulty of making adjustments or changes. Try to find the best solution that makes life easier for you and your staff.

Ask How Often  the Provider Updates its Product

When you invest in a POS system, you’re also investing in the company behind it. See how the product has evolved over the last six months to a year to discern how quickly the company innovates and how well it responds to customer requests.

And there you have it: the perfect equation for your restaurant’s POS system. Much like your average math problem, no step should be skipped for fear of reaching the wrong outcome. Perhaps most important is the invaluable input your staff will provide once you decide to upgrade. Listen to their concerns and questions to make your restaurant’s operations as streamlined as possible.

 

Six Steps to Improve Your Restaurant’s Point of Sale Operation Costs posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Del Taco’s Shredded Pork Carnitas are Back – Get Them While You Can!

It’s been a while, but Del Taco have finally listened to the demands and brought back the beloved shredded pork Carnitas! However, the one setback is that this is only for a limited period, meaning you will want to get as much Carnitas as you can before they are gone again! The good news is […]

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Del Taco’s Shredded Pork Carnitas are Back – Get Them While You Can! posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

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Hurricane Season: Common Insurance Coverage Questions Restaurants Should Consider

Hurricane Irma walloped Florida leaving millions of businesses without electricity for days, and for some, for more than a week. Commercial property insurance may help these businesses recover damages from the loss of power, but many factors come into play. An insurance policy is a relatively unique contract between a company and its insurer. As a result, the coverage it affords will vary depending on a variety of factors, including the insurer who issued it and the policy form. Additionally, policy endorsements, i.e. amendments, are commonplace and may specifically address utility service interruption and spoilage. Companies affected by power outages should carefully consider the coverage available under their existing policies.

Here are some common questions to consider when assessing a potential claim for damages due to a loss of power under typical commercial insurance policies.

Is Wind a Covered Cause of Loss?

Many Florida businesses suffered from the statewide loss of power due to heavy winds that downed power lines. The resulting damage was widespread. Perishables spoiled; machinery and temperature-sensitive equipment failed. Millions of dollars of revenue were lost from the inability to operate. But in Florida, and in contrast to residential homeowners’ insurance policies, commercial property insurers are not required to provide windstorm coverage for non-residential properties. Accordingly, the first thing to consider is whether the company’s policy includes wind or windstorm as a “Covered Cause of Loss.”

Where Did the Power Failure Occur?

Many commercial property insurance policies include an “off-premises” exclusion that purports to exclude direct or indirect damage that a company suffers as a result of a power failure that occurred away from the insured premises. An insurer may argue that this provision excludes business losses due to damaged transmission and main distribution lines, substations, transformers, or utility poles, located outside of the insured premises. The applicability of the off-premises exclusion depends on the specific facts of the loss and the specific policy language.  For example, an “off-premises” exclusion may include an exception that applies when the off-premises power failure causes a Covered Cause of Loss. In such a case, if the off-premises power failure causes a mechanical breakdown on the premises, which results in a fire, the policy may still cover the fire damage if fire is a Covered Cause of Loss. Further complicating the assessment, courts of different states have taken different positions on whether particular “off-premises” exclusions are enforceable or impermissibly vague, which remains an open question in Florida.

Did You Suffer Direct Physical Loss or Damage?

Typical commercial property policies require a “direct physical loss of or damage to Covered Property at the premises.” A policy will define “Covered Property,” often describing both the included and excluded property. Disputes often arise over whether a business’s particular damaged property falls within the scope of “Covered Property.”

Direct physical loss or damage is widely interpreted as a change in the property’s condition or structure. Spoilage of foods or temperature-sensitive medicines is typically considered a direct loss resulting from a loss of power caused by windstorm. But an aggressive insurer may argue that there is no coverage if the windstorm did not make physical contact with the perishable items. Mold growth from the loss of air conditioning and dehumidification equipment should likewise be considered direct damage, but insurers may seek to avoid paying on a mold claim arguing a more narrow view of “direct damage” or invoking a policy exclusion related to mold.

Courts outside Florida, broadly interpreting direct physical loss or damage” requirements, have considered the loss of use or access to computer data to be a direct physical loss, but that is still an open issue in Florida.

Can You Claim Business Interruption Losses?

Many commercial property insurance policies cover business income a company loses when it suspends operations due to a hurricane. Business income is often defined as the net profit or loss the company would have earned or incurred, less normal operating expenses, including payroll. If windstorm is a Covered Cause of Loss under such a policy, then the business income the company lost due to a Hurricane Irma shutdown may be covered.

But business interruption, or “time element,” provisions may include a requirement, either within the coverage grant or pursuant to an exclusion, that the suspension be caused by a direct physical loss of or damage to the insured premises. This may not be a complication if the suspension is the result of inventory or equipment that was damaged as a result of the power loss. If, however, there is a risk that the insurer will perceive the claim as one for lost profits arising solely from the inability to operate without power, without an accompanying physical impact on the premises, the company must take care in analyzing the impact of the power loss on the company, and in presenting its claim.

Evaluating and Challenging Insurer Positions

Commercial property policies are not always easy to parse and their construction is further impacted by the governing law, which may not always be settled. In these circumstances, companies often benefit from the support that can be provided by experienced insurance coverage counsel to assess the viability and strength of a company’s claim for coverage, to monitor and deal with the insurer’s loss adjusters, and to maximize the company’s potential insurance recovery.

Hurricane Season: Common Insurance Coverage Questions Restaurants Should Consider posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

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How to Optimize Reservations for Your Restaurant

We would love for all guests to make reservations and to always not only show up, but to also show up on time. However, we all know that it’s not going to happen. While we can only dream of a perfect world with perfect customers, we can still aim for making better use of reservations and optimizing our seating capacity. Here are some good tips to remember:

Offer reservations on your website and your Facebook page: Remember that 84 percent of customers will visit your website before they make a reservation, and 52 percent of them make reservations online. Make it easy for them to do this, so you can capture their reservation before they wander off, change their mind or forget to do so altogether.

Offer a reservation link on other social media platforms such as Twitter, Tripadvisor, Yelp and your Google Plus page: While some of those sites won’t let you place your own widget to accept reservations from their platform, you can always provide a link to your reservation page on those sites. As guests are finding new ways to find places to eat, follow their lead and simplify their path to making a reservation.

Remind your guests that they have a reservation: It’s easy to forget that you made a reservation or to just remember where you made that reservation, especially if you made the reservation months in advance. A day or two before a guest’s planned visit, send them a reminder and also a way to cancel their reservation if their plans have changed.

Be ready for them and seat them upon arrival: There is nothing more disheartening than getting to the host stand and finding out that either your reservation was lost or the restaurant is overbooked. That’s a sure way to disappoint guests and receive those dreaded and highly damaging bad reviews. Be sure to manage your reservations meticulously.

Avoid double-booking: While you inherently know it damages your business, there are many events that could lead to double-booking. For instance, a guest may make a reservation online but decide to also call, as well, to make sure they have a reservation. If you are still managing your reservations with pen and paper, it is excruciatingly hard to spot those mistakes. Invest in restaurant reservation management solutions such as Hostme to avoid those costly mistakes and optimize your operations!

Those few steps can make a big difference that will translate into better customer experiences and augment your restaurant revenues. And what’s great is that none of the steps will take much time to implement. What are you waiting for? Optimize your reservations processes and start growing your business today.

How to Optimize Reservations for Your Restaurant posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

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