How you run your business in its first year is not sustainable, of course. You’re probably scrambling and in survival mode, not necessarily in a contemplative place to start plotting growth. Between training staff and getting everyone on board with using equipment and technology, it’s a true hustle.
But what comes next is an important decision: Are you ready to invest, to take things to the next level? Upgrading to systems that allow you to practice a “smarter, not harder” mantra, will also further refine what sets you apart from competitors. While investing and growing are common goals among restauranters and bar managers, the steps to put these in place are often delayed because of what’s more pressing: Keeping the business alive.
“Once the rent is paid and the lights are on, and you’re paying for staff, I call it the inflection point—the instance that the customer interacts with staff and/or experiences that service or the product. That very moment when the customer is getting what they pay for, [it’s time to ask] what is the customer experience?” explained Demitri Pallis, CEO and founder of Demitri’s Bloody Mary Seasonings, which supply the bar and restaurant industry, including hotels, casinos and airports. The company launched 39 years ago and has experienced a lot of shifts in the industry, as well as the economy.
While there have been many times that he bought new technology or equipment, one instance in particular stands out. “We do a lot of direct sales. We used to use a bunch of different products and we funneled it down to two—Quickbooks and Salesforce,” said Pallis. “The one tool we are using to do our job, which is to manage customer data and information, should be the best quality tool that we have available.”
Running any major purchases or tweaks through a filter safeguards you from wasting money. How do you know this new technology or equipment is right for your company? Will you be able to easily implement it? These are two questions you should always ask. “Keeping the venue at 100 percent is already an investment. There’s a snowball effect—when we’re doing great, I can’t take my foot off the gas,” said Frankie Sciuto, founder of two San Diego bars, Side Bar and Gaslamplighter. “If I stop evolving, we’re dead. I don’t fix what isn’t broken, but if something breaks, I don’t just patch it—I upgrade it. I invest when I know it’ll save money, protect margin, or make us run more efficiently.
On a more granular level, there are certain tried-and-true technological advances and equipment are nearly always going to be a bar or restaurant’s best investment. Also, like the adage says, you get out of something what you put into it. In other words, make sure you’re not onboarding your new technology or equipment during a time when you’re understaffed or in the middle of a busy season. “POS and reservation systems are key—but only if you squeeze them for everything,” said Sciuto. “Invest time to master them, and they pay back. When we added a booking widget and AI, it was like adding a 24/7 VIP host.”
You also need to budget time for trial and error when acclimating to new technology or equipment, so it doesn’t disrupt your ability to serve customers and retain workers. “We learned from mistakes,” said Sciuto. “With Toast, we missed details and overpaid staff—[that] cost us. But when we optimized SevenRooms, adding that widget and AI, we got sales results that felt like a VIP host working nonstop.”
What has worked for him is to roll out technology or equipment slowly. It can be tempting to put a date on the calendar and work towards full implementation. Spend time with it and make sure you are familiar enough before adopting it into your business. “I love making us better, but rolling it out is always a pain. I run it myself first—if I don’t control it, it’ll control me,” said Sciuto.
If, after weighing the pros and cons, you’ve decided to definitely invest, you may still be wondering if prices quoted are fair and reasonable. “The only way you overpay is if you don’t use it enough,” said Pallis. In other words, once you invite something new into your business, it’s at your disposal 24/7 and will allow for higher efficiency. There’s no need to borrow the technology or piece of equipment from someone else or travel to another location to use it: it’s all yours.
Another way to ensure you’re not about to make a mistake is to tap into your network. Ask other bar managers and restaurant owners if they have experience with the product you’re thinking of buying. “I’m not afraid to ask what’s working for them and what’s not. Their experience beats any sales pitch,” said Sciuto.”
Is Used Ok?
Whatever you do, Pallis warned, do not buy used equipment. The money-saving angle might seem like a good idea but it’s actually a poor decision. Worse, trying to sell used equipment when you’re done with it is a time suck: most people prefer to buy new. A better alternative is to lease a brand-new piece of equipment—or sharing production time with another business, as partners.
“I like to know what I’m getting,” he said. “Having a production run stop in the middle of a run is so frustrating. It’s expensive. You send staff home and you waste a lot of products. Leasing equipment is a good option because a lot of times it comes with service.” This includes a warranty and repairs.
The final step, especially when researching or onboarding new equipment, is helping staff understand why the learning curve—which can be painful at times—is necessary.
“What I tried to do was present the problem to my staff and say ‘Look, here’s where are. Here’s what happening. We can’t keep going like this,’” Pallis said. “They weren’t the ones that had to go out and do the research but they should be aware that the problem is going on and we are making a change, and they have some buy-in. Keep them energized on the results of why we’re going through this process. Equipment’s there for a reason. It helps us grow.”