Smart Software Solutions to Scale Your Restaurant Business

Scaling Kitchen Operations & Staffing

If you’re looking to expand your business, numerous tech systems are available that support scaling operations. Software, apps, and other technology can help streamline your operations and reduce the workload associated with scaling. Use these solutions to enhance the customer experience and ensure consistency across multiple restaurant locations.

You might be curious about what makes up a tech stack for scaling a restaurant. Here's a detailed breakdown of its key components, along with product recommendations for each category.

Point-of-sale (POS) Systems

Your point-of-sale (POS) is the core of your restaurant operations, payment handling, order processing, and performance analytics. More advanced POS systems allow seamless integration with other tools to provide real-time and comprehensive insights for greater efficiency.

POS Recommendations

• Toast—Offers online order processing, customer loyalty programs, and inventory management.
• Square Restaurants—Provides affordable and user-friendly interfaces for small to medium-sized restaurants.
• Revel Systems—Offers customizable and robust reporting for inventory tracking, especially for larger restaurants and chains.

Inventory Management Software

Efficient inventory management leads to less waste and optimized supply chains. Of course, having the right software can make inventory management less labour-intensive and time-consuming.

Inventory Management Software Recommendations

• Apicbase—Provides a centralized inventory, procurement, and analytics suite.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools

CRM tools can help personalize experiences for your returning customers, tracking their meal preferences, order histories, and prior feedback.

Software Recommendations

• Restaurant365—Offers integrations with accounting, workforce management, and other CRM tools to streamline your daily operations.
• Upserve (By Lightspeed)—Combines POS with CRM functionality to provide comprehensive customer reporting, insights, and loyalty programs.

Delivery and Online Ordering Software

With more diners ordering food online or via mobile devices, it is helpful to have the infrastructure and tools needed to handle these orders. These should be scalable and can handle multiple locations.

Software Recommendations

• Restroworks—Aggregates orders from multiple delivery platforms and optimizes workflows adopted by cloud kitchens.
• UrbanPiper—Provides white-labeled apps to help restaurant staff manage their online sales efficiently. 

Reservation and Table Management Software

Reservation software and systems can help minimize no-shows, which reduces lost revenue while improving customer satisfaction.

Software Recommendations

• SevenRooms—Provides advanced reservation features you can integrate with CRM tools.
• Resy—Offers seamless table management capabilities.

Workforce Management Tools

Employee scheduling doesn’t require copious amounts of labour. Scheduling tools and software can offload much of this task, helping you optimize staffing levels while reducing costs.

Software Recommendations

• 7shifts—Allows for straightforward employee scheduling and labour cost optimization.

Accounting and Financial Management

Accounting tools can help track various financial figures, including your expenses, profits, and payroll. The best tools can do this for multiple locations.

Software Recommendations

• Restaurant365—Integrates accounting with operational analytics to help enhance financial decision-making.

Choosing the Right Tools for Your Restaurant

Certain tools work better for different types of restaurants because of their features and how well they match the size of the business. That’s why it’s a good idea to choose software and apps that fit your restaurant’s needs.

The best tools for your restaurant are those that help fulfill your objectives. Try different options, experiment with their features, watch demos or tutorials, and make notes on how they can help your restaurant scale based on your specific needs.

By doing this, you’ll soon discover the perfect tools to help your restaurant reach its growth goals.