Set Up Your Business For Success

Success is a fickle thing. Some people hit gold with their first idea while others work ungodly hours their entire lives for very little return. As a business owner, you’re focused on being successful and making your business the best it can be.  

While there is no defined golden path that will take you directly to that promised horizon. There is no substitute for hard work and those who put the time and care into their business usually see returns. 

This isn’t to say that there aren’t things you can do to give yourself some advantages. In this blog, we’ll be exploring some of the ways you can put yourself ahead of the pack and some useful tools you can use to improve your processes. 

Building a better business

Whether you’re just starting your entrepreneurial journey or opening another franchise, there’s always room for improvement. We’re going to go through some useful business tips that will improve your practices. 

Organise for success

How many times have you walked into a messy office and heard “I know exactly where everything is”? While some may claim that they thrive on chaos, an organised workplace will always be more productive than a messy one. This is especially true of restaurants, where a messy storeroom leads to food wastage. 

Everyone has different preferences for how they organise things so it’s important your organising spree is a collaborative effort with your staff. Get together with your employees and work our an organisation plan together. This will ensure your organised stock stays organised. 

In turn, this will make inventory management much easier. Many electronic point of sales (EPOS or POS) systems, such as the Epos Now Hospitality solution, automatically manages stock and minimise waste. 

Get creative 

Consumer behaviour has changed over the years and many are now looking for an experience. As a business owner, you need to meet these expectations if you want to attract new customers and keep them coming back. This means you need to think creatively. 

Sit down with a laptop or notebook and write out what makes your business unique. Think of ways that you could capitalise on this uniqueness. Could your bartender upsell with themed drinks? Could you hire a band to play live music on certain nights a week? Try to think outside of the box and make your customer experience something truly special. 

Understand your competition

In any industry, there will be competition trying to poach your hard-won customers. It’s natural that someone somewhere will be trying to take a bigger slice of the pie. The key to edging out these upstarts is understanding and undermining them. 

Take some time to evaluate what your competitors are up to. What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong? There’s no shame in taking cues from a competitor if it can improve your process and put you in a better position for success. 

Stay true

You felt the calling of business ownership when you decided to become an entrepreneur. Whatever your original vision was, you must stay the course of what you wanted to achieve. One of the most important things you can do to succeed is to be consistent. 

This may mean that you have to hang in there for a couple of years. Many businesses don't make a profit for their owners in the first year or two. As long as you’re covering your overheads, it’s worth sticking in there and seeing what you can build. 

If you’ve been in business for a while and you’re still not turning a profit, it may be worth evaluating your product or service. You should consider whether or not you need to change or adapt.

Essential tools 

As well as the tips we’ve mentioned above, it’s always good to take a look at what physical tools are available to you. The most obvious option is a top of the line POS system like the Epos Now Complete Solution. These systems can streamline your processes and grant you near-unlimited flexibility to run your business the way you want. 

These systems also give you the option to use some useful pieces of hospitality software and hardware. We’re going to talk about two of these tools now. 

Order & Pay 

Epos Now Order & Pay is an innovative app that seamlessly integrates into your Epos Now system. As the name of this integration implies, Order & Pay allows your to build an online ordering platform that makes things easier and safer for restaurant owners and customers alike. 

It works by allowing you to create a fully customisable profile that features an online menu. This menu can be updated on the fly and is powerful enough to contain your full menu plus any discounts or promotions you may be running. 

Using a simple QR code or URL, your customers will be able to order and pay straight from their table. This means that the entire process is faster, more accurate, and safer for your staff and customers.

Kitchen display system

Kitchen display systems (KDS) are a simple but incredibly effective way to drive productivity and accuracy in your restaurant. In short, KDS are a combination of software and hardware that connects your front and back of house through screens. These screens are connected to your POS system and display orders imputed by the servers to the kitchen. 

It’s easy to make mistakes in a busy kitchen. A KDS system takes human error out of the equation and allows your kitchen staff to understand exactly what needs to be prepared at a glance. These screens can also display customer requests and allergies. 

Paper tickets are a thing of the past thanks to KDS. No longer will your kitchen staff have to spend time working out handwritten orders and fussing with easily lost or damaged tickets. Thanks to the lack of paper, KDS systems even make your restaurant more sustainable. 

Succeed with superior POS 

The best thing you can do for your business is to update your POS system to the Epos Now Complete Solution. Epos Now have a decade long history of providing customers with top-of-the-line POS technology. 

If you’re interested in seeing how Epos Now can help your restaurant, get in touch with our expert team today.