How Useful ‘Loyalty & Reward Program’ To Bring More Customers To Your Restaurants Business?

If you are thinking to launch a “Loyalty & Reward Program” to revive your dying food business (Restaurants, Coffee Shop, Pizza Stores, Burger Shops, Sweet Shops, Ice Cream Parlours etc), and still there are crazy questions are remained un-answered such as:

Do you really think introducing “Loyalty & Reward Programs” will bring more customers at your door steps?
Do you really think that people cares for your reward points rather their safety in this pandemic situation?
Do you really think that Big Brands only survive due to their loyalty & reward point systems?
Which strategy is more successful for implementing a “Loyalty & Reward Systems” with my existing business?

The most sarcastic answer is –“It depends…!”. But let’s explore this uncertainty of this answer to understand how you can make your reward point successful.

First basic rule on any marketing strategy is to determine size of your audience as it will make you aware that it doesn’t matter you run any reward program for your single restaurant if your population of town/area is too small, it is going to fail. Instead, give them direct discount on less selling products, make combos, run different offers at regular intervals.

Second rule says that if you complicate the things, customers will go away instead of coming to your restaurant. If you design reward point (For Example, Buy Big Get Small Return) such that your customers feel cheated than it will decrease your footfall.

Third key point is consistency of reward system where if you are changing so many rules for your reward point system then every time your staff needs to explain it to customers which can create trouble with trust of customers with your brand. So visualize a long term rules from inception of reward system and wait for the success.

Fourth point is to give some personalization to customers. Everyone loves to get personal gift, don’t they! If your loyalty system is well defined with effective communication (SMS, Email etc) then it will surely give you growth in repeat customers.

Let’s summarize few good points which make your loyalty & reward point system a chance of success:

Keep reward point as simple as possible so that customers can understand it better
Provide clear communication, diverse and creative offers
Make sure you remain consistent with your loyalty & reward point system
Apply adaptive approach to reward system as no fix strategy will win you repeat customers

We also appreciate if you can write down your suggestions to us if we have missed anything. We wish everyone a speedy recovery to your business & this new loyalty & reward system can bring more profit to you.

Tips for Choosing the Right Franchise for Your Food Start-up

The food service industry is one of the fastest-growing in the world. That’s a direct result of our current lifestyle. People don’t seem to have the time, nor the will to cook for themselves.

It is the food service industry that is cashing in on that trend. From the looks of things, that’s a trend set to grow, without any signs of stopping anytime soon.

Therefore, investing in a food start-up franchise makes perfect sense. Here’s our blueprint on how to choose the right franchise for your food start-up.

Ask yourself: What do I want to accomplish through franchise?

This is all about being honest with yourself, knowing what you want to accomplish, and what can you achieve. But most important of all, you need to know your limits, both financial and else wise. You need to be clear with yourself about all those things so that later you don’t end up overreaching and making wrong estimates.

The truth is, investing in a franchise means that you will always be making decisions. Decisions for which you will need to make your best estimate given the current situation and factors. By knowing yourself and your limits, you can make better and smarter decisions.

How Much Can You Invest?

Food start-up, or some other type of start-up, you need to set up a budget before making your move. Nowadays, there are franchise food start-ups that can be started with $10K and some that require an investment in a couple of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Of course, there are plenty in between.

Keep in mind that aside from your initial investment in the franchise, you will need to take into account operational costs daily. These costs need to be covered until your start-up starts generating cash.

Explore The Food Franchise Landscape

This is about looking at your options, what’s out there, the cost, what people like, what they dislike, how is getting great reviews, who not so much. The idea is to get a sense of what’s available and maybe even make a list of potential food franchise businesses you might invest in.

At this point, it will be like casting a big net and seeing what will come out. The ones that are out of your budget limit, are too demanding, are getting bad reviews, or you don’t like their food, they are the ones that you need to eliminate from your list first.

Choose Facts Over Emotions

Thing is you might like franchise very much. You like their products, how they serve their clients, their business model, and everything in between.

However, don’t just rely on your instinct, or you might end up losing money. In some countries, franchisors are obligated to disclose all their documents. That way, you can have the full picture at hand before making any financial or legal commitment.

Talk To Franchises

Let’s say you’ve identified a specific franchise opportunity, you’ve talked to their representatives, checked all available documents, and from the look of things they look solid.

The next step is talking to some of the franchises. Don’t just talk to the ones that they will recommend you, but also other random franchises. That way, you can have a better feel at what it means to be a franchise for that particular company.

Furthermore, if you can find them, you can even talk to former franchises. The ones that invested and failed to make a profit. Their experience and feedback can be both indispensable and very revealing.

How Long Does It Take To Return Your Investment?

Whether it is a food franchise or some other, it all comes down to how fast you can return your investment, and how much you can earn. Again, it’s all about doing your research, going through the numbers, how fast other franchises got their initial investment back, and how much they earn per year.

Is The Franchisor Easy To Work With?

Truth is some franchisors are way better than others and take great care of their franchises. Typically, the ones that spend more time helping put their franchises, provide a lot of training and support, are the best and most successful ones.

Review The Franchise Agreement With Your Lawyer

This is so you know exactly what you are getting into; what are your legal obligations, what you are entitled to get from your franchisor, what will happen if there is a breach of the agreement from some of the sides, and so on.

Take your time to understand every aspect of the agreement, what it means to you, its relation to the local laws and regulations.

In Conclusion

The main point is not to jump blindly into something that feels like an excellent business opportunity. Do your researches, talk to a lawyer, and even make the call to which franchise suits you most.

BillberryPOS is a custom franchise management solution provider. If you like this article, please share to others with this Affordable POS Software For Franchises.

Benefits Of QR Code Based Menu For Your Customers – Be Contact Less With New Normal

Food industry is facing so many challenges to adapt “New Normal” post COVID era. One of the key area is how do you make your customers order their favorite food with all safety norms. New trend is becoming popular for providing QR Code based digital menu to their customers so that they can view their favorite dishes and order without any touching anything.

Let’s explore basic features of this QR Code Based digital menu for your restaurants, QSR, Coffee shop, sweet shop, bar & food trucks. Product image with basic description of product is main ingredient here because if a person is not able to see how their food will look like than possibly they are not going to order it. If you can provide “Easy To Share” option on social media people can share your menu with their friends which can bring you more business. POS providers now integrating this feature to get following benefits:

Safety Of Customers & Staff Through Contact Less Experience

Your business can be operated easily with social distancing; no one has to really stand to take orders near to customers. This way your restaurant staff and customers remain safe with this new normal ordering system.

Improve Turn Around Time (TAT)

You will experience better TAT as this QR Code based ordering system eliminates time of taking orders from one person to another. Also in the mean time your operations will also improve as whenever customer is ordering anything it is directly going to your POS on real-time basis.

Up Sale & Cross Sale Benefits

You can think digital menu as your virtual assistant to customers. You can always show recommended items at the top where customers are getting attracted more to order. Attractive photos & precise description of product will explain your products to customers.

Decrease Manpower Required To Support Operations

You are now eliminating captains to take order for you. So if you are struggling with staff issues, this QR code ordering system is best tool to fight with this issue.

Increase Repeat Customer Rate With Integrated CRM

Integration with “Loyalty + CRM” programs will increase your repeat customer rates. You are automating everything for them in a safest way possible.

With a current new normal trend we have launched this contactless ordering and delivery platform for you. We also appreciate if you can write down your suggestions to us if we have missed anything. We wish everyone a speedy recovery to your business & this new QR code based digital menu system can bring more profit to you.

Best Features of Franchise Management Solution

Running a successful franchise business is no easy thing. But at the same time, it can be a massive opportunity. To put things into a better perspective, the franchise industry generates more than $2.1 trillion each year. During this hard covid impact it is more important to revise & fine tune your business processes with right franchise management techniques.

According to the International Franchise Association, almost 5% of all small businesses in the US are part of some franchise. Furthermore, there are over 900,000 franchise businesses across the country that employ over 18 million people.

However, there are as many new franchise businesses as there are those that close shop permanently. There can be various reasons why some franchise businesses thrive, and others fail.

The one thing that stands as a common denominator for all successful franchise businesses is a great franchise management solution. According to a survey run by the International Franchise Association, more than two-thirds of all surveyed franchise businesses said that they couldn’t be as efficient as they were without their software management solution.

In that survey, they have listed some of the best features of the franchise management solution they are using. Here they are:

Centralized Control

This feature enables you to always be on top of things and have all data easily accessed. It is the core feature of many franchise management solutions out there. Ideally, it integrates data from all outlets, branches, and territories.

Plus, the data is presented in a way that you can easily recognize trends, patterns, and performances. The best solutions have a centralized control that features a user-friendly UI. That’s not all; it also covers all business processes related to your franchise business.

Workflow Optimization

This is all about being able to analyze the process and optimize it. Every top-rated software management solution is built on the premise of continuous improvement. A big part of workflow optimization is workflow automation. That way, it is possible to convert some of the repetitive workloads into free-running operations for increased efficiency. By doing so, the user can spend less time on repetitive work and focus on other, more critical aspects of the business.

Inventory Management

All the best software management solutions offer excellent inventory management that can automate ordering, tracking, supply, and storing inventory. That way, all of your franchisees are always well-supplied, you can keep track of their performances, and you can make supply plans. Logistic play a big part in every franchise business. The better this feature, the easier it gets to optimize your supply chain, all goes smoothly, and most important of all, uninterrupted.

Integration

Integration can additionally help optimize your workflow, smarter use of available data, increased BI, and so on. The list of benefits can be quite extensive and can vary from case to case.

Cloud integration is also recommended. That way, your franchisees can also have access to some of the features and data. As a result, they can also take advantage of that to improve their internal processes and workflow.

Once everything is in the cloud, they can access it easier from any place or device.

Reporting

Nothing will matter much if your franchise management solution doesn’t come with good reporting. Reports can and should bring you insights into how each franchise outlet is doing, are they lagging in some area, how are their sales, revenue, customer lows and highs, and so on.

The reporting tool should be easy to use and very comprehendible on both sides, the side that makes the report, and the end-user. At the same time, it needs to contain top data and metrics. All of which are essential in making business decisions that will help you run a profitable franchise business.

Based on those reports, franchise owners and managers can analyze key metrics, and send recommendations to their franchisees.

Analytic Tools

Thorough reports and the metrics derived from there can be of great help. However, sometimes we can’t see the entire picture from all that data. That is when the analytics tools come in place. They can reveal something that went under the radar, yet it can be a game-changer or a hint to some new trend. Sometimes it can be a positive trend, other times a negative trend.

But in any case, it will help you be ahead of the curve and prepare a strategy that addresses the issue promptly. To that end, many franchise software management tools leverage powerful BI and AI algorithms.

In Conclusion Franchise Management Solution

All of the features above are designed to help you reach new goals and make better business decisions. But even the most powerful features won’t be worth much to you unless you put your heart and mind in it. It is only when you combine your business intelligence with the power of the software solution when the best results are achieved.

BillberryPOS is a power packed franchise management solution platform where we provide custom solution as per customer’s needs. If you like this article, please share to others for Affordable Franchises Management Solution.

Contactless Delivery & Ordering System Is Must To Fight Corona For Restaurants

COVID19 has changed the way of business for restaurant industry. The most challenging part is to bring back the trust from your customers. Although corona virus pandemic has damaged businesses severely but we are optimistic that bending few things can win more customers to you during these challenging times. If you are feeling being in Stone Age than exactly think like how you have grown your business when there was no internet, no technology, answer is “Trust”.

A common saying is:

When everyone is slow, you need to run & earn the fame you never imagined.

Now, it is a time to turn adversity into opportunity. If you are brand than it takes lots of efforts to improve trust factors amongst customers. Before we go into other details here are some common hygiene standards which must be followed:

Maintain temperature register for your staff with at least 4 entries in a day
Sanitize all surface frequently (once per hour at least)
Good quality masks are necessary for your staff
Follow other guideline provided by local Government like keeping list of nearby COVID centres etc.
If possible try to disinfect everyone who is entering into premises with some low cost solutions. Or at least keep hand sanitizers for all your customers.

The Need Of The Hour – Contact-less Ordering & Delivery Platform

To bring more trust you need to implement contactless approach. Many solutions is going to be implemented with different features but you need to be aware that this is the time you need to learn art of being more self dependent so to cut down food cost you need to rethink on 3^rd party delivery (3PD) apps. Following techniques will bring more ease to your business also it reduces your operational headaches.

Order On The Phone: Just like old days call customers, take orders on phone just provide them option to pay money online to implement contactless payment. It is easy also to schedule such orders for pick up.
Online Store: Opt in for platform which is same as your 3PD partners where now you can do the delivery to save the cost. You can also put easy pick up options to improve service.
QR Code Based Menu: Now there is no need to keep your menu on the table, your customers can scan menu and order whatever they want from their smart phones. They can also pay their bills using their mobile phones.

There are other things which you can consider like:

Writing temperature of your staff delivery boy on your parcel with sanitizer sachet is a good gesture.
Integrating above features with your Point Of Sale (POS) software.
Improving your CRM is necessity now so you never lose communication with your loyal customers.

We understand current requirements well so we are soon going to launch this contactless ordering and delivery platform for you. We also appreciate if you can write down your suggestions to us. We wish everyone a speedy recovery to your business & this new contactless payment & delivery POS can bring more profits to you.

Restaurant Business 101 – Must Read For Start-Ups

The dynamic lifestyle and shifting demographics drive the restaurant industry. More and more people simply cannot find the time to cook, and yet they like nothing more than a cooked meal. It is a trend that is growing year by year consistently without any signs of stopping.

However, the restaurant business is one of the most ruthless ones. There is a huge market, a massive opportunity, but success is far from guaranteed. Each year, more than 9000 independent restaurants close their doors permanently. Moreover, CORONA pandemic has hit this industry very hard. Many experts assume that everything is going back to new normal where you will see new ways this business is going to be operational with much safety and profits.

So, how to make it in the restaurant business? Here are a few basic principles for opening and running a successful restaurant business.

Choose your niche

The first decision should be about the type of restaurant. There are many similarities between the various types of restaurants, but at the same time, there are many differences. Differences in terms of how to run it, the things it takes to be successful, the culture that you want to implement in it and, how to reach your primary group of customers.

The choice is between a fast-food restaurant, a classic American diner, deli for busy lunch-goers, a midscale family-friendly restaurant, an upscale restaurant, or something in between. Whatever it is, you need to have a clear vision of what you want it to be and how to run it.

Write a business plan

Once you are certain about the type of restaurant you want to open and how you will manage it, you need to put all on paper. That means creating a credible business plan on which you will map out everything long before you buy the first fork.

The business plan should include a clear explanation of your concept, your market described in full, menu, pricing, financial information such as the startup capital, the sources of your startup capital, expense forecast, marketing plan, long and short term income projections, employee hiring and training, and challenges you are likely to face daily. Some folks even include an exit plan in their business plan.

Funding your business

The amount of money you need can depend on many factors such as the type of the restaurant, the facility, buying equipment (used or new), inventory, money for marketing, and operating capital until your business starts generating cash.

Here are a few ideas on how to raise some seed money that will help you take your idea from the floor:

Your Resources: Go through all of your assets and see if there is something with value that you can sell. Many people own assets without realizing their worth. The asset can be equity in real estate, some old saving account you have forgotten about, collection of stuff, vehicle, or something else that holds some value. Whatever it is, you may use it to sell it and get cash, or use it as collateral to get a loan.
Friends and Family: Go to your friends and family, explain to them what you want to accomplish, present your business plan, and assure them that you are fully committed to succeed. You never know who might be interested in investing.
Government Grants: Many local, state and federal programs support new businesses. Go through each one of them and see if you are eligible to get a government grant.

Get all required licenses

There are a few legal things to consider when opening a restaurant. First of all, you need to be licensed from the local controlling jurisdiction. Next, you will need to get a liquor license if you plan to serve alcohol at your restaurant.

Sometimes you need to check with the city if there is any zoning issue that might be on your way of opening a restaurant. Check the zoning regulations for your location and your building.

Safety regulations

Running a restaurant means complying with a set of state and federal regulations. If the restaurant fails to meet some or all of those regulations, it can be fined or even closed. Fire safety and sanitation are considered as the most critical ones. Furthermore, you need to provide a safe environment in which the employers can do their duties, and the guests can dine.

There are other safety regulations, but most regulatory agencies will work with any new operator to help them meet the needed requirements. To that end, each state has its general information office that can help you get in touch with all the regulators.

Final words

In the end, if you are dedicated, got a solid business plan, got your licenses in order, and people that believe in you – you don’t have to worry much. Your only concern should be the tastiness of your dishes and keeping your guests coming back and wanting more. Most importantly it will remain a profitable business in the end as long as people with stomach are on earth; this business is never going to be shut permanently.

If you like this Restaurant Tips 101, please share to others with this Affordable POS Software For Franchises.

Tips – What To Do During COVID-19 For Restaurants Business?

We all aware about a fact is the survival for Dine-in food business is going to take new face. There are many uncertainties which are boggling your mind right now like:

How to resume business once lockdown will be eased?
How will cover losses and gain profit once again?
Do I need to diversify the business?

Despite of all above worries this PAUSE of business has given you a chance to verify a certain details which are useful for your future. These are the list of activities where exactly you have keep your focus during this period

Think Of Ways To Make Customers Think Your Place Is Safe:

If you have full dine-in restaurant you can start thinking to invest in few medical equipment like Thermometer, Disinfection Sprays, Sanitizers etc. In Los Angeles, restaurant Sichuan Impression is taking temperatures of customers’ at the door and denying entry to anyone who refuses or shows symptoms. Also make social distance arrangements for sitting. Also follow all Government guidelines making people safe via sanitizing tables after every customer visits.

Find ways for cost savings:

POS data will guide you about purchase history, salary, expenses which can guide you about your “Food Cost“. Now, you have to make some decisions like which menu items you can temporarily eliminate (those ordered less frequently) and which meals your most loyal guests tend to prefer.

Optimize menu & expand delivery options

Keep those items which has lower food cost and preferred by your loyal customers.
Try to include only those items which are quick to make and serve.
Run a cloud kitchen with tied up with online delivery partners with fast moving items only.
Partner up with other local restaurants as this is not the time of competition rather joining hands with others will win you race.

Get creative with promotions and delivery

Mini Restaurant Week: partner up with near by restaurant to make safe weekend fun for everyone.
Work-From-Home Lunch/Dinners Specials & Co-working
Bare-Shelf Cooking Classes

Invest more in marketing & technology

To keep foot fall of customers during the coronavirus, put together special events, email outreach, and social media.
This is a right time when you can change your existing old POS system if it is not giving you information regarding food cost, COGS, expenses, purchase summary, stock management, CRM module etc.
Your new provider can also help you to get analytics from your past records also.
If you are a franchise than it is time to know performance of each and every franchise you sold. A right Franchise Management Solution for restaurants or best POS software can explored during this time.

The coronavirus pandemic is a worldwide crisis, unprecedented in living memory. No expert or Government knows how long it will last, nor what the ultimate economic damage will be. All we can forecast now is that if people become scared to gather in groups, the scars on both the economy and the society will last a very long time.

Think this economic slowdown as an opportunity to build real relationships between people. Your restaurant is in the business of selling experiences — human experiences and connections that transcend food or finances. The coronavirus is a peculiar crisis in that it deprives us of the one thing that helps people adapt to crisis: each other. Your restaurant can be the place people come to get that connection back.

How to Choose the Point Of Sale System for Your Business?

A point of sale system (POS) is not just some high tech cash register. It is a lot more than just a gadget that takes credit cards and records sales data. It can also gather data on inventory management, sales, customers, employees, and a lot more.

Every new generation of POS comes with new and improved features that make it the central hub of any retail business. Here we will elaborate on how to choose the best possible POS system for your business. That way, you can manage your business more efficiently.

Make your business needs a priority

A POS system may be perfect for a small store, but won’t necessarily be an excellent fit for a studio of a dozen of hairdressers. A growing business or a startup might want to choose a system that can scale along with their growth. That way, they won’t need to change their transaction process when they hit high numbers.

In most cases, small businesses can rely on tablet or iPad based POS systems. This type of system is easy to use and portable. Also, it offers a ton of security features and operates in the cloud.

On the other hand, mid to large-sized businesses can’t rely much on this type of system and will have a difficult time managing their transactions.

That is why it is super-important to research the POS systems. Make sure that you base your research on what’s used in your industry, by companies of your size. Talk to other business owners, read reviews, get quotes, and so on.

Integration with other systems

The perfect POS should be able to connect with your other business systems, like email marketing and accounting software. The top benefit of this is that you get a lot of customer data without manually downloading it from one program and then uploading it to another.

That is why integration is something that should be on the top of your list when searching for the best possible POS system for your business.

Don’t ignore scalability

You might be running a small retail business, and you got just one store. But you might plan to expand soon.

The thing is that specific POS systems limit the number of outlets that can be managed using them. That is why you need to make sure that you choose one that is scalable and won’t limit your business once you start growing.

As a result, many business owners choose scalable cloud-based POS systems that support multiple registers and stores. Once you connect all retail stores, you will have a single dashboard from where you can monitor all of them and run your business efficiently.

User simplicity is essential

A POS system may have an incredible set of various features. But that won’t do you much good if they are part of a program that is difficult to understand and use. You don’t want to list the user manual for every little thing. Plus, even if you learn it through and through, you need to make sure all of your employees know how to use it as well.

That is why you need to have a crack at it before you make your final decision. The unwritten rule is the simpler the UI, the better. That way, every user can easily learn to use the POS system, and you won’t need to spend time teaching others or listing the manual every time you are stuck with some features.

Look for POS systems with specific features

Every business has its own specific needs and requirements. Nowadays, POS systems have features designed to fit individual businesses and industries. It’s one thing to buy a POS for a hotel, another for a restaurant, and a way different one for a mechanic shop. Each one of them has unique requirements and needs. There isn’t one POSto fit them all. Plus, the size of the business plays an immense role. The type of POS that serves perfectly a small shoe store may not be fit for a massive one. That’s why you need to consider both the specific needs of your business and the size of it.

For example, a typical restaurant will require a POS system that allows splitting the check, make table reservations, track product status, accept online orders, add tips, and so on. You won’t need most of those features if you run a small coffee shop or a cleaning service.

In conclusion

Choosing a POS system is no rocket science, nor should it be. However, if you neglect some of the points made here, you might end up with one that simply doesn’t meet all of your needs. That is why it’s essential to do your research first, so you won’t have to worry later.

We have a Best Point Of Sale System in our mind for you. Please visit https://www.billberrypos.com to know the potential of POS system.