my-blog

Great technology for customer based business

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:19:45 +0100

When thinking about technology and the pizza business, two things come to mind: online ordering and the pos systems. Both have helped increase business all across the nation. The online ordering helps cut out the middle man for the customer. They can get on the website of their choice and browse the menu, and select exactly what they want, which helps decrease the risk of error. Customers can choice to pay with their credit card online lessening the risk of overage charge due to error on the employee’s behalf. To read more on how to set up online ordering for your business, and the benefits check out epizza.

The POS system, point of sale system, is mostly beneficial to any cash receiving business. It will help prevent theft in more ways than one. First, a POS system can be set up to clock employees in and out from work using fingerprint recognition technology, making it impossible for an employee to clock their late friend in. Second, these systems can come attached with a camera monitor system, monitoring both customers and employees. Third, a good POS system has the option of image burn technology, meaning it will record the sequence of button mashing and will take a picture of the money going in the drawer every time it is opened. There are so many POS systems out there; I personally recommend contacting Chris at Revention. The only down side to the POS system would have to be dependency. I have actually gone to a McDonalds that stopped selling food because their POS system was down; I guess they did not know how to use a calculator.

More than you want to know about a pizza restaurant owner.

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:13:32 +0100

As you can tell from my previous blog, I am somewhat familiar with the pizza business, as I should be considering I worked for a pizza restaurant for nine years prior to owning and operating it for three years. During my three years as owner, I determined that as operator I was topnotch, but when it came to “paper work” I was lost. I decided that in order to take my next step forward I would have to take one step back, so I put my restaurant up for sale and signed up for college. Some of the business struggles I had were due to a lack of understanding QuickBooks and other computer software programs. During my first semester of college I took ITEC 1001. At first I felt that this class was pointless, I knew Microsoft Word and Excel, or at least I thought I did. I could not believe how much I really did not know about Microsoft Word, seriously, I could have made the best looking pizza restaurant procedural manual had I have known what I know now about Microsoft Word. The next thing that was really awesome was learning how to make a website, cough cough, like this one. Believe it or not I actually paid someone, with pizza, to create a website for my restaurant. It is so amazing to me, how much I have already learned from one class that I did not even think would be useful. Prior to taking this class I thought all I really needed to help me as a business owner, was a few marketing and accounting classes, but now I will add to this list, ITEC 1001. None of these classes are required to become an entrepreneur, but I will personally recommend these classes to any prospective business owner. As far as salary goes, for a sole proprietor or partnership, well the sky is the limit; losing money is also a possibility and when you do it is your own. I cannot testify that education will make you rich, as an entrepreneur, but I can truly say it will help. We must all remember one thing, “In the end you can lose your business, but no one and nothing can take your education.”

A great site to visit for information and classes on entrepreneurship is the Gainesville SBDC website. If you are specifically interested in the pizza industry, check out Pizza Today for helpful articles and product information.

A short senario on how technology has improved the Pizza business since 1998

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:18:36 +0100

Its 1998 and you are working at Grizzly Pizza. The phone rings and you ask, "How may I help you?" The customer places a delivery order ; you take the address and phone number, then ask them to hold while you look at a large paper map on the wall to determine the time it will take the deliverer to get there, and then tell the customer, "It will be there in 30 minutes." When the pizza is ready the deliverer takes it away. While he is gone you get another order for delivery and assume it can be cooked and out the door in 20 minutes, you check the big map and tell them, "It will be there in 35 minutes." Once the pizza is ready it sits on the counter getting cold for another 10 minutes till deliverer finally arrives to pick it up. The pizza is now cold, late, and you realize you did not get the second customer's phone number, so you can't call to warn, the presumably angry customer, that they will have to wait a little longer. What technology would have been beneficial then, that we have now?

Let's look at the same situation four years later. A customer calls and places a delivery order you make the pizza and send it on with the deliverer. A second call comes in for delivery you take the order, check the map and tell them, "It will be there in 35 minutes." Just before you put their pizza in the oven the deliverer calls, from his cell phone, to say he is stuck in traffic and he will be about 10 minutes behind schedule. You hold off putting the pizza in the oven, and attempt to call the second customer, discovering you forgot to get their phone number, but thanks to caller id you can look it up. You call and inform them that the pizza will be delivered about 10 minutes past the original estimated time; you apologize for any inconvenience, offer them a free beverage and hang up. The deliverer arrives just as the fresh hot pizza is coming out of the oven, you box it and the deliverer takes it off. Thanks to the recent caller id, and cell phone technology, the pizza is warm and the customer is happy.

Last but not least, let's look at the same situation present day. You are at work and the high tech POS system beeps and prints out a detailed delivery order, which was placed online, with an estimated delivery time of 30 minutes. The POS system is able to make this estimation because not only does it have a personalized map of Grizzly Pizza's delivery zone, it also knows where the deliverer is because there is a GPS system in the car, linked to the POS system. When this pizza is out the door and on its way to it's destination, the phone rings and you answer, "Thanks for calling Grizzly Pizza Mr. Smith would you like your regular delivery today?” The POS system is connected to the phone line and identifies the caller and regular order by phone number recognition. The POS system then gives you an estimated time of delivery based on the deliverer’s location and his speed he travels. You tell Mr. Smith his pizza will arrive in 45 minutes. While you wait to put the pizza in the oven, the deliverer calls to tell you he is behind on time. You don’t even have to worry because the POS system had factored the speed of the deliverer into the wait time. When the pizza comes out the oven, the deliverer walks in and takes the pizza to the customer. Now you have a happy customer with fresh hot pizza delivered on time and you did not even have to give them a free drink.