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There has been a massive boom in the last few years of online and cloud-based apps for the hospitality industry. These range from point of sale and payroll systems, to time and attendance monitoring apps.
While many of these apps are great, they are often introduced in a hurried fashion – without much thought about how they work together, or talk to existing systems.
Here are three things to consider before introducing digital changes in your business:
Look for ‘true’ integration
New apps will often claim to integrate with other systems but regularly over promise and under deliver.
Do your research. Talk to others in the industry, who have incorporated your proposed new system, to see what they do and don’t like about it. Ask tech experts what they think about it. Check out Google reviews.
It can be easy to be fooled by the glitz and glamour of a new product, so make sure you know exactly how it functions to allow you to make the right decisions for your business.
Evaluate the ‘true’ benefit of change
The only reason you should introduce a new digital system is because it will be beneficial for your business. So, make sure you understand exactly how the new system will help your business run more efficiently.
Will it save time? Will it make your job easier as an owner-manager? Will it make your employees’ job easier? Will it mean less paperwork? Will it mean better communication with suppliers?
Whatever your reasons for making the change, you need to be sure your chosen system will deliver the right solution. If it doesn’t, it’s not right for you.
Look at what key information it delivers
One of the advantages of new software is that it will often deliver information that will help you to make critical decisions about the running of your business.
A product like goRoster, for example, gives you detailed information about the number of staff needed for each shift, front of house and kitchen costs, estimated turnover, and detailed staff costs – including PAYE, holiday pay, and ACC levies.
This information makes many decisions easier, such as how much stock to order, staff to roster and specials to run.