Ever-evolving guest-facing restaurant technologies promise operators new revenue streams and a modern refresh to their brand. But with few resources and less time, how do restaurant operators prioritize technology investments? They start with what's most important... operational infrastructure.
That's right, you start with your back-of-house food and labor operations (or BOH-FLO). This is because FLO is the most critical operational component of your restaurant's success. In fact, FLO is your restaurant. While many innovative guest-facing technologies can modernize your brand and increase sales revenue, your back-office food and labor operations platform enables your restaurant to maximize the profits new guest-facing technologies offer. FLO maximizes operational efficiency and, in turn, maximizes profits.
With constant changes in technology, operators can't be certain what new 'revolutionary' restaurant technology will withstand the test of time. Regardless of how the industry ebbs and flows, a successful restaurant will always need great employees and food. Trying to manage restaurant food and labor on outdated systems makes it difficult for your operators to optimize their inventory, food costs, production, and shift schedules. Plus, when they emerge, it will be much more challenging to deploy (or profit from) new guest-facing technologies.
Mary's Pizza Shack, a legendary Northern California pizza chain that has been in business for more than 60 years, still uses the same recipes, ingredients, love, and care that founder Mary Fazio instilled when she started the company. As an established brand, Mary's needed to modernize and meet their guests' evolving expectations. To ensure the success of this endeavor, Mary's upgraded its FLO.
When it modernized its food and labor management platform, Mary's Pizza Shack optimized and boosted the restaurant's operational efficiency. This enabled the team to create advanced reports that focused on what really mattered to the business -- maintaining a profitable operation for another 60+ years. Combining food and labor operations on one centralized platform, Mary's sales forecasts now set the stage for proper inventory levels and food prep production timelines and ensure the right people are scheduled for every shift -- across all locations.
Change in the restaurant industry won't slow down any time soon. As brands discover new ways to better engage with guests to drive sales, all others will have to follow suit to keep up. So whether you've been in business for six months or 60 years, your restaurant brand must not fall behind. Investing in a back-of-house system that can adapt and connect with your guest-facing technologies can help increase your brand's agility.
Technology investments should deliver a positive return for your restaurant. When considering how to modernize your brand for the future, start with your food and labor operations platform. A platform that powers your back-of-house can optimize your food and labor costs (saving between 2%-5% of them) so you can maximize the ROI of new guest-facing technologies and provide excellent guest experiences. To learn more about how to increase operational effectiveness, check out The Restaurant Operator’s Guide to Ops Excellence.
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