As a small restaurant operator, you understand that every dollar counts. You probably also understand that rapidly advancing technology is changing the way that many restaurants are doing business. You don’t want to be left behind, but you also don’t want to waste precious resources on unnecessary tech.
“The technology we have at our fingertips is advancing at an amazing pace right now,” says Back of House tech expert Rachel Morgan. “We see exciting new innovations every day in this business. But as a smaller restaurant, you want to prioritize the tech that addresses actual business needs.”
As you build out your initial restaurant technology stack, start with only the most essential restaurant software solutions.
Thanks to the fast pace of innovation in restaurant technology, small and independent restaurants now have access to a lot of advanced technologies. Many of the essential restaurant software solutions we highlight below have become a lot more affordable, scalable, and user friendly in the last few years.
“These trends are great news for smaller businesses,” says Rachel, “because it means many of these essential tools are customizable to businesses of every shape and size.”
These essential restaurant software solutions are both accessible and essential for small restaurants, even those taking a minimalist approach to technology.
The POS system is the very first and most essential piece of tech for any restaurant. The modern cloud-based POS system does a lot more than just take orders and process payments. It’s the nerve center for your restaurant technology stack.
“Even in the most bare-bones situation,” Rachel suggests, “you should at the very least be working with a state-of-the-art POS system. Every other piece of tech you add will depend on the POS as a foundation.”
In fact, a growing number of providers offer all-in-one POS platforms — systems that provide tools or offer add-ons for payroll management, loyalty programs, inventory management systems, and much more.
Rachel notes, “The benefit of this approach is that it lowers the number of vendors you have to deal with, streamlines your operation, and perhaps most importantly, keeps your tech costs down.”
Even the most bare-bones approach to restaurant tech requires you to have a strong online presence. Rachel explains, “Many of your customers are using Google Maps and Yelp to find your restaurant. Your visibility on these forums will depend on the quality of your website.”
A quality website should be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and compatible with your online ordering and reservation systems. It should also be easy for you to update information on your site, whether you’re adding new items to your menu, promoting specials, or creating a calendar of events.
This is why a user-friendly web building platform is absolutely essential tech for small restaurants. Some website builders provide you with the tools to build your own website. In other cases, you may be able to outsource some or all of the web development process to a trusted web builder.
As Rachel says, “You do have some options when it comes to your web development approach. But ultimately, a good website is not optional — it’s a must.”
Your website is one piece of the online marketing puzzle. The other piece of this puzzle is your restaurant’s social media presence.
As Rachel points out, “For a younger generation of consumers, social media is the preferred channel for information and engagement. Think about social media as an opportunity to begin building your marketing strategy, not just for the customers you have today, but for the customers you’ll have in three to five years.”
“Restaurants who want to reach these future consumers need to be on platforms like Instagram and TikTok,” Rachel adds. This is especially true if you’re taking a bare-bones approach to your restaurant tech.
After all, it doesn’t cost anything to set up a social media profile and start posting. If you’re trying to keep marketing costs down, you need to take full advantage of these channels. That said, it does take time, effort, and persistence to use these platforms effectively. In some cases, it can also take paid advertising campaigns.
This is where the right technology can be a game changer. Social media management tools can help you create content, schedule posts across multiple platforms, track user engagement, and more.
The best of these tools offer free trials, affordable service tiers, and user-friendly interfaces — an ideal combination for restaurants taking the leaner approach to technology.
Costing tools provide tracking, data, and insights on your food costs, recipe costs, and labor costs. In short, a good costing tool will tell you exactly how your restaurant spends its money. Your POS platform may already include basic costing tools.
However, if you’re looking for more advanced features, you may benefit from standalone solutions that specialize in food and recipe costing. For instance, with solutions like Opsi or Meez, you can take steps to reduce waste and maximize profits by adjusting recipes, optimizing your menu, streamlining your back of house procedures, and more.
Some of the leading recipe costing platforms also provide inventory management tools that make it easier to monitor inventory, place timely purchase orders, and reduce waste.
As your operation grows, you may also want to consider more advanced solutions designed specifically for food inventory management. These solutions may provide sophisticated features like automated reordering, real-time inventory tracking, AI-powered demand forecasting and more.
Effective costing and inventory management tools can do a lot of the heavy lifting in your bare-bones restaurant technology stack.
Restaurants of every size deal with challenges when it comes to staffing, scheduling and employee retention. That’s why it’s worth investing in a few smart staff management tools, even if you’re taking a bare-bones approach to your tech stack.
Rachel points out, “There are some really great tools that can help you track attendance, automate your payroll system, and even make data-driven decisions about scheduling.”
In other words, a lot of modern staffing tools can instantly complete tasks that might otherwise take hours of administrative work. This benefit alone makes this type of technology a worthwhile investment for a small restaurant with a small management team. But there’s also a big picture benefit to an effective set of staffing tools.
“If you choose the right staffing solutions,” says Rachel, “the ultimate benefit should be an improved employee experience. You’ll see better internal communication, higher morale, and greater long-term retention. Obviously, these are desirable outcomes no matter the size of your restaurant.”
“Taking a selective approach to your restaurant tech stack means looking for tools that solve real challenges for your business,” says Rachel. “Whether those challenges relate to operations, marketing, or staffing, it’s all about choosing technology that you’ll actually use to its fullest potential.”
“Ultimately,” says Rachel, “If you aren’t making the most of the tech, it’s just expensive clutter.”
Now you know exactly what you’ll need, at the bare minimum, to build out your restaurant technology stack. But which vendors offer the best tools for your restaurant? Book your free call with Rachel or another of our tech experts and we’ll help you figure it all out.