Four Ways Your Business Can Capitalize on National Holidays

23 Jun, 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Nation celebrates many national holidays throughout the year, and the Fourth of July is right around the corner. While the holidays themselves stand as reminders of our nation’s history, let’s be honest, most of us are just excited to have a three-day weekend.

During those holiday weekends, how can you help your small business stand out of the crowd? Here’s four ideas to help get your business out of your four walls and into the public eye during this upcoming Fourth of July weekend, and any other upcoming national holidays.

1. Sidewalk Sales

You might think the sidewalk in front of your business is there for pedestrians, but during holiday weekends, that sidewalk is there for you to make sure every pedestrian knows your small business exists. Get some of your products together and set up a small table outside. Have a staff member stand outside with your products. Every person who walks by your small business should receive a smile, as well as a quick idea of what you sell.

2. Holiday Related Products

Holidays are all about getting creative; so let your creative self out of the bag. The Fourth of July is all about celebrating the rich heritage of this great nation. How can your small business represent the red, white, and blue for a weekend? Specialty cocktails on your patio, small flags surrounding your windows and sidewalks: whatever you decide to offer, give your customers an opportunity to celebrate the national holiday with you!

3. Community Events

Sometimes national holidays are all about getting away from your building and into your community. Community events are a great way to get exposure to potential new customers who otherwise might not get the opportunity to know your small business. Take your product into the community. There are always many options for community events during holiday weekends, and many of those events are held in public areas like schools, parks, farmer’s markets, or block parties. Find a holiday event that your small business can participate in, and take your staff and products to them!

4. Holiday Social Media Campaign

Stand strong, and stand proud; let it be known that your small business celebrates national holidays! Your small business’ social media accounts are the best way to ensure your customers know how they can participate in your holiday festivities. Use creative graphics, show teasers of specials, and give a heads up for any discounts or markdowns you’ll be offering. Your social media accounts are a paramount tool during holiday weekends; without communication, your customers won’t know to come and take part in your holiday specials.

Sidewalk sales, holiday related products and sales, community events, and using social media skillfully, are all easy ways to start capitalizing on national holiday weekends. Utilize your staff members to put your best foot forward on these weekends. Use What Time Do I Work to schedule your staff appropriately throughout the weekend to make sure you’re ready to pick up on all that new holiday weekend business! What are some ways your small business capitalizes on holiday weekends? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget, holiday employee scheduling doesn’t need to be a source of stress, try What Time Do I Work today!

10 Mobile Applications for Your Growing Restaurant

20 Apr, 2015 | Tags: , , , , , ,

Mobile app technology is growing exponentially and the tools available at your disposal are becoming harder to filter out. With numerous applications that serve the same function, it becomes a tiresome exercise made up of 2 key questions: 1. Which tool is best? and 2. Do we really even need this?

There is no general right answer for any of these questions. Each business and restaurant will have different sizes, customers, and objectives so it’s futile to define who needs what. With this list we provide a basic overview of several online and mobile applications that are designed to make life easier as a restaurant owner.

If any of our suggestions make you think “Hey, this would really help us out a lot”, then go check it out. Make sure you search for and compare between similar applications so you can properly decide which one is right for you.

1. The Suggestion Box– If your establishment is already using table technology to make payments and take orders, this app is a great add on to let customers provide anonymous reviews and ratings of their overall customer experience.

2. Accupos–  If you are just getting started and are looking for a point of sale system, AccuPOS might be the right place to start looking. It integrates cleanly with Quickbooks and it’s scaleable design allows you to add-on tools like magnetic card readers, touchscreen pc’s and receipt printers.

3. Appsuite- Appsuite is a restaurant loyalty and reward program software that tracks your customer’s order history and “behavior”. It allows you to customize loyalty programs based on what the customer has purchased in the past.

4. Canvas–  Canvas is a great tool for any kind of business that needs proper tracking of inventory, cleaning supplies, restaurant inventory, employee time sheets,  etc. It also works together with Spreadsheet Processors and Quickbooks.

5. Ezee menu- When a customer is making a decision on wether to visit your restaurant or not, a well made menu goes a long way in drawing them in. With the prevalence of mobile devices, it is important to have digital version of your menus available online. Sometimes the restaurant that a customer ends up choosing is the one whose menu loaded quicker on their phone.

6. What Time do I Work– This one is our favorite for no specific reason. If you are tired of employee scheduling conflicts and the internal communication issues that come along with it, then this might be the app for you.  Not only does it offer clean scheduling options, but it allows you to contact your entire staff, handle employee request, and manage employee alerts with just a few clicks.

7. Gopago– Gopago makes a heavy promise by stating it is “Everything you need to get your business up and running”. It certainly offers many tools, among them being credit card processing, cloud storage, loyalty programs, invoicing systems, and mobile ordering.

8. Nowaitapp- The nowait app makes life easier for your employees as well as your customers. Your customers can hold a place online before ever arriving to your location. It is a real time wait list and seating tool for restaurants that allow your hosts and customers to see where they are in the wait list.

9. Chownow.com– Chownow is a web app that allows you to take orders online. This obviously allows you to digitize your menu as well. If your restaurant is located near office business centers, it will greatly facilitate patrons to place their orders while they are at work so that they are ready for pickup by lunch time.

10. Uncorkd –  Uncorkd is a wine and beverage menu app that lets you go the extra mile whith your wine menu.  You can provide extensive information on the wines you offer, even allowing you to offer pairing suggestions and options.

These are just a few of the thousands of tools available at your disposal. Some of these might be useful for you. It’s always a wise idea to research all your options before deciding on one particular choice.