Foodservice Technology Solutions by Henry Pertman
June 2008, vol 7 #6
Why a computer belongs in your restaurant/store/carry-out/prison/whatever you, your wife or your kids call it …
In as much as this is a letter, man, let’s do this like Letterman! So here are the top 10 reasons why you should, must, will have a computer in your restaurant. Actually, there are six today and the four most compelling ones will show up next month. This is strictly because my requests for two full pages in Foodservice Monthly have been denied (laughed at and ridiculed). By computer in this case I am NOT talking about a POS (I LOVE POS you know). I am talking basics here. If you do not have a laptop or desktop in your office or somewhere in your place, this is the countdown of why you should:
10. It is 2008 and you are not stupid. You are a good looking something-year-old who uses a cell phone, has a big plasma television and you traded in your horse and buggy years ago for one of those new fangled cars. Yes, people do get into accidents, but you drive. The stupid cable goes in and out, but you wouldn’t go backwards and get a 19-inch set, and you do drop calls on that phone and want to heave it out of your sunroof, but … YOU ARE NOT STUPID. Technology is moving forward and YOU CAN DO IT. My Mom is 90 and will be 91 in August. She gets e-mail! She is getting a laptop! Maybe you are not as smart as you look …
9. You can cruise the Internet. No, not like your kids, and probably not as much, but how about this: Let your kids (or me, I am always available) help you set up some shortcuts to restaurants. One click and you can see what the competition is up to. What are they doing to stir up some business. No, not just fancy, shancy Web sites. REAL business ideas which you should be doing as well. Blue Plate specials? Frequency programs?
8. You can cruise the Net. See, you are now calling it the Net instead of Internet. Easy does it … FOR RECIPES! This is not your Father’s kitchen. There was no Food Network and MAYBE you knew the names of one or two “Chefs.” You have a couple of portions of salmon left from last night’s special and not enough prosciutto to make a couple of sandwiches. Pull up Google (I SAID I’D SHOW YOU HOW!). Type in “salmon and prosciutto recipes” and VOILA. Neapolitan Salmon Pizza (or pasta), Vodka Salmon Italiano, and … good creative ways of getting $$$ for what you might have given up on.
7. You can cruise the N. Now we are getting intimate, eh? One click to find out if any new restaurants are coming into the area. One click to see what the weather is going to be like before you schedule those EXPENSIVE line cooks for the weekend. One click to see what blockbuster movie is coming out at the theatre nearest you – plan kid friendly specials or lovers’ delights? One click to get directions to that catering delivery you have tomorrow. One click to find out how much you should be paying for rockfish or that new toaster. One click … OK. You get it. YOU ARE NOT STUPID. But, are you doing it? Yet?
6. You can really start getting organized. How long does it take you to make a schedule? How many pieces of paper do you have with your employees time off requests? How many with their phone numbers? How many with orders customers want next Thursday (which is Good Friday)?? How many times did you forget that Graduation days are next week when the 10 tops started showing up and you only scheduled 2 servers? Computers usually come with fast and easy tools which make doing all of those things fast and easy. That’s why they call them fast and easy tools! Not sure how that can possibly be true? Go on the net and ask the little sub shop around the corner with the POS system, fabulous web site and 9 delivery drivers or get a middle school student to show you. But buy the darn thing. Crawl. Walk Run.
5. You can work smarter rather than harder. Everything becomes more professional – eventually. I touched on the schedules, nice signs for your place rather than chicken scratch which your customers dismiss as the “what do you expect from a place like this” (oy vay). Menus which you produce on your computer with easy and quick update, instead of the nice masking tape over the prices in your current menu. E-mails (MUCH more about e-mail next month) to your regular customers on their birthdays, anniversaries with nice invitations to celebrate them with you and your family.
You might think that these are compelling enough for you to drop what you are doing, run to your favorite electronics store and buy a damn computer. But will you? YOU ARE NOT STUPID. Take some time, do some research, be sure that the service for your investment is readily available and call me as soon as you get it! I am logging your progress. On my computer!
Henry Pertman is a sales manager with MICROS Mid-Atlantic, a division of MICROS Systems. MICROS Systems is a Columbia, Md. based provider of Point of Sales systems worldwide. Henry can be reached at 443-285-8000 x2158 or hpertman@micros.com
