How Technology is Disrupting Traditional Wait Staff

shin minoriWe recently did a post on restaurant technology in Singapore where we spoke about how restaurants are adopting technology to deal with the labour crunch. Apps like TradeGecko are helping companies manage inventory, Chope automates the concept of reserving tables and Perx is redefining loyalty cards in the form of an app. Restaurants like Shin Minori and Coastes are adapting to the changing environment by using electronic menus instead of waiters who take orders from customers.

Shin Minori

This restaurant, known for its Japanese buffet, introduced its eMenu in August 2014. Tablets on every table allow customers to order sushi dishes from the buffet. The idea was to reduce waiting time for dishes. emenu__1438286009_50.140.175.122On a busy day, this is especially helpful because no time is wasted on waiters who are busy with other tables. Customers can order as they please and take their time deciding what they want to eat. By using eMenus, the restaurant has reduced labour costs by keeping only food runners to serve food.

Shin Minori also used the introduction of their new eMenus along with a brand new ala-carte buffet menu as marketing tools to rope in customers. And it worked. Food bloggers who reviewed Shin Minori were impressed with the ease of ordering and even mentioned the eMenus on their blogs.

IMG_2609Coastes

Coastes, another restaurant in Singapore, has taken ordering food to the next level. With a neat app, that runs on both Android and iOS, customers can log in their credit card details and order food. Cashless payment options remove the hassle of waiters running back and forth with checks. Only food runners are required to deliver food to customers. The entire system is faster, simpler and more cost efficient.

Coastes and Shin Minori are a few among many restaurants that are bringing down costs by installing electronic menus. Fish and Co is another restaurant chain across Singapore that uses iPads on every table so that customers can order food instantly.

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Android Users Read This

As you may have heard, Android phones have a new vulnerability – and it’s pretty bad. It has been covered on most major tech blogs and media outlets.

From NPR:

Android is the most popular mobile operating system on Earth: About 80 percent of smartphones run on it. And, according to mobile security experts at the firm Zimperium, there’s a gaping hole in the software — one that would let hackers break into someone’s phone and take over, just by knowing the phone’s number.

In this attack, the target would not need to goof up — open an attachment or download a file that’s corrupt. The malicious code would take over instantly, the moment you receive a text message…

Here’s how the attack would work: The bad guy creates a short video, hides the malware inside it and texts it to your number. As soon as it’s received by the phone, Drake says, “it does its initial processing, which triggers the vulnerability.”

Google has already issued a patch for this vulnerability.

BUTmost Android patches don’t make it to existing smartphone owners. They first have to be dealt with by the manufacturers of the phones (of which there are many) and then by telco themselves. Both of which don’t happen super fast – which results in million’s of Android devices being vulnerable to this issue.

At PayrollHero, we push Apple as our prefer platform for clients to use for clocking in and out. We support Android, but most of our new features come out for iOS first. Plus, there are so many added benefits that Apple brings, security being one of them, but other built in features like Guided Access.

Apple does not have this same problem as Android as Apple has controlled the relationship with the telcos and has the ability to push updates to iOS phones themselves. No need for the telco to get involved and Apple makes the hardware, so no manufacturers to deal with.

Apple vs Android

Restaurant Executive: Carlo Buenaflor, CEO Bigg’s, Inc.

Introducing Carlo Buenaflor, the CEO of Bigg’s, Inc. Carlo operates 15 restaurants in the Bicol area of the Philippines and is the honorary consul of Spain in the Bicol Region of the Philippines.

We took a moment to chat with Carlo about operating his restaurants in a province of the Philippines and where he sees his brand going next.

Carlo Buenaflor, the CEO of Bigg's, Inc.1. You are the CEO of Bigg’s and ¿Que Pasa? – can you tell me a bit more about each brand?
Yes, we have 14 Bigg’s Diner in different locations throughout Southern Luzon and a new brand called ¿Que Pasa? with 1 outlet located in Naga City. Bigg’s Diner is a 31 year old brand that serves fried chicken, burgers and several dishes of Filipino and American comfort food. ¿Que Pasa? serves Bicolano Colonial Cuisine which is a mix of Bicolano and Spanish flavors. Although it’s only a few months old, it is already creating waves in social media because of its fresh take on barbecue.

que pasa restaurant philippines2. ¿Que Pasa? – sounds exciting, can you tell us a bit more about how the brand came about, what you did to understand your communities needs, etc?
We realized that the millennial market is constantly looking for something new where they have control over their dining experience. At ¿Que Pasa?, they can choose their meat, sidings and rice options and be in a dining environment that celebrates colonial art and history. The location of ¿Que Pasa? is in a historical district of Naga where a well preserved century old archway is part of the restaurant architecture. ¿Que Pasa? has made Spanish cuisine accessible to the millennial market and has made it cool.

3. You operate your restaurants in a province of the Philippines (not a large city), what challenges come with that?
The challenges with operating multiple stores in the province are logistical and operations support. Our furthest store from our commissary is 10 hours away. There are a lot opportunities in the province because big brands normally neglect it which leaves a vacuum. Visiting and monitoring store operations in this kind of set up is tough.

4. What technology do you use in your businesses? 
We have POS systems installed in all our stores but unfortunately they are not linked to our head office yet. We don’t have any loyalty system in place yet but it is a big consideration as we move forward.

que pasa bicol5. How do you decide on a location? (mall? street level? stand alone business?)
There is no rule of thumb for locations. This process remains to be the most challenging as we decide to grow. Malls don’t assure the business success they once gave. The market is constantly shifting and we have to be ahead of that. The cost to build a store is very expensive so we can’t afford poorly chosen sites. The best indicator for successful locations is the presence of our industry peers.

6. At what point did the number of locations change how the business is run? I have been told, 1 or 2 locations is ok, but 3+ requires a different management approach, systems, procedures, etc. What was the tipping point for you?
Absolutely, I think anyone can run a successful 1 restaurant operation. 2 may be stretching it without a solid system and support groups in place. 3 would definitely be the tipping point. A different structure, mindset and management approach is certainly needed for a multiple outlet set up. Product, service quality and consistency become very challenging at this point. Only a few restaurant chains succeed beyond this critical point.

7. What is next for Biggs and Que Pasa?
Growth. We would like to see ¿Que Pasa? in every city in the Philippines.

8. anything else to add?
As a brand grows, the common mistake of an entrepreneur is that they get too engrossed with fixing the system and playing catch up with the growing demands of a growing business that they lose sight of the future of the business which should be their primary responsibility. Entrepreneurs should invest in good systems ahead of the growth curve of their business. A smart investment in a good inventory, distribution, accounting and payroll system will go a long way and save you a lot of money and time.

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Manila Food and Beverages Expo 2015

Today, I had a chance to take part in the Manila Food and Beverages Expo (MAFBEX) at the World Trade Center. Now on it’s 9th year, I must say that MAFBEX still doesn’t disappoint as one of the most sought after gatherings of the newcomers and pillars of the foodservice and hospitality industry. Whether you’re a company looking to showcase your products, a business owner looking to source out some decent supplies, or just a curious individual wanting to check out the latest trends…this is absolutely an event worth checking out!

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For the purpose of this blog post, I have handpicked some of the brands (and items) that were of interest to me:

Malagos Chocolate ~ Did you know that 70% of the cacao beans produced in the Philippines are grown in the Davao region? Well, these guys should know as their cacao beans are produced in the foothills of Mt. Talomo in Davao, Philippines.

Malagos Agri-Ventures Corporation have ventured into the cacao business since 2003. Aside from their cool booth design, I really enjoyed my quick chat with Rex as well since he made an effort to give me some cool information about cacao and how to best enjoy their product.

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Shakey’s…on Wheels! ~ A clever strategy from Shakey’s by parking the bus inside the World Trade Center. Literally. Definitely a scene stealer!

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McDonald’s ~ One of the most well-known brands in the country and the world. One thing that I like about McDonald’s (aside from their food, obviously) is that they are always making sure that their presence is felt. Whether in events or different advocacies, they never stop.

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11721132_10153433475466136_1441160570_nCoffee brands ~ Really happy that I got to see some coffee brands present at MAFBEX! And guess what? They’re all franchise-ready! I had a trip to Bangkok recently and there were coffee kiosks in almost every street that I went to. Amazing! That would be a perfect dream.

There’s no doubt that the coffee culture in the Philippines has been improving, but I believe that there’s still some room for coffee kiosks and other players to come in.

One of those brands is Farron Cafe. They actually have 80 branches nationwide and growing! I watched the baristas make the drinks and their techniques for mixing the drinks are easy to learn. Not only that, they have a wide range of drinks and their prices are affordable too. Check out their cute mascot!

11787429_10153433475401136_105537773_nBaking supplies
~ There were several booths selling cake decorating tools, packaging materials, stencils, etc. But, I just had to take a photo of the materials below because they were really huge.

Booze On-line Inc. ~ Now, who doesn’t love some fine, imported beers? online!

Empanada de Norte  ~ A popular snack in the Ilocos region. Authentic, savory, and tasty…this definitely hits the spot!

Overall, it was a great experience for me and met lots of great people. If you’re interested to attend MAFBEX, the event will run until this Sunday, July 26th, so make sure to catch it this weekend while you can.

The End of a Legendary Internship

My ten-week internship with PayrollHero reached its end last week. As a fitting closure to my first post on hiring interns in Singapore, I thought it would be a good idea to write about my experience here. I’ve had an amazing summer at PayrollHero and learned more than I thought I would. Ten weeks flew by and it took a few days to organize my thoughts. Here is what I learned from my internship at a startup in Singapore.

PayrollHero Pragya Last DayLesson 1: Learning is built in to PayrollHero’s DNA

The company doesn’t just declare its “Ridiculously Client Focused” psyche on the website, it lives and breathes the idea. To achieve that end, everyone is always learning new things through whichever means that they can. But it doesn’t end at just learning something by yourself, it’s all about sharing it with everyone else. When I joined the communication channel, Slack, the most interesting channel to me was the reading-list. A mandatory channel for all members, the reading-list includes articles that are relevant to the team from all kinds of sources. Anyone can share something that they have read, and anyone can comment on it.

One of the first things I did at PayrollHero was to broaden my reading base. As an economics student, the obvious reading material I blindly follow are opinion blogs by economists, or economics journals, and of course, the newspaper. But within two weeks, I had apps on my phone that gave me news about startups, tech blogs and more. It was awesome to see that everyone was invested in improving themselves and the team. It was also interesting to see what everyone was reading. Rarely does a college kid get the chance to find out what seasoned entrepreneurs are reading. And here I was, discussing the very articles with the founders of PayrollHero.

Lesson 2: You’re an intern, and you’re still taken seriously

Trust me, this one was huge. While I was interning at PayrollHero, I had friends interning at big accounting firms, consultancies and banks. I would often hear stories about their internships where all they did was photocopy documents for their bosses. This was not the case across the board, but I heard it often enough to realize that my internship was unique.

During the ten weeks, I never once had the impression that I was just an intern slaving away at something inconsequential. If it ever seemed like I was not doing enough, I could speak up about it and get more work to do. The great thing about working in a small place is that there is always something to do and the little that you contribute has a visible impact on the company. Furthermore, Steve ensured that the communication lines were open and that an intern in the Business Development team was equally important (and accountable) as any other member on the BD team. The feeling of being a relevant member of a team is definitely something that I will take with me from this internship.

Lesson 3: Diversity

When I read about PayrollHero before sending in my resume, I loved the idea of Adventure Engineering and knew that PayrollHero was based in the Philippines, Singapore and Canada. To me, that seemed to reflect diversity well enough until I met the team. If you hang out with the Singapore team, you will find yourself in a room with around 10 people representing at least 7 different nations. That is incredible and speaks volumes to the success of PayrollHero’s drive to attract talent, no matter where it comes from.

There are many studies that show how diversity improves results in a company. Diversity was a crucial aspect in my experience. Despite being an international student studying in a foreign country, I had never seen so many nationalities from across the world working together before I showed up at PayrollHero. Imagine this, a Canadian, Ukrainian, Polish, Indian and Filipino sitting in a hawker center, eating a plate of prata and talking about the latest episode of Game of Thrones. As ridiculous as that sounds, it’s just another regular day at PayrollHero. You can’t help but appreciate how easily PayrollHero has embodied the concept of diversity in a company.

Lesson 4: Hanging out with the team over beers

If I look back over the ten weeks I was at PayrollHero, some of the most memorable interactions with the team was not during work, but outside it, when everyone hung out with some beers after a long day of work. I learned the most about the people who make up PayrollHero during this time. Whether it was about their professional lives or just a casual conversation about what everyone’s “ah-ha!” moment was during the DDD workshop, these interactions helped me understand people in a world I had little or no idea about.

I think this is especially invaluable to interns because a large part of interning is to try and figure out what to do with our lives professionally. While colleges make an effort to conduct networking sessions with professionals from every field, it does not come anywhere close to actually spending time with the same people day in and day out.

Finally, all these elements together made for an internship that immensely broadened my perspective. When I first walked into PayrollHero, I wondered if an unstructured internship would teach me anything new or if the work would be rewarding. But the truth is, the very fact that it was an unstructured program made me want to push myself to do new things and be open to ideas that I wasn’t exposed to before. At the end of it, I came away having met inspiring people from all over the world, learning about the startup culture and learning more about myself through it all. I hope the little work I did at PayrollHero was useful to the company. I also greatly appreciate the time invested by Steve and Mike and everyone else to make my internship worth it. At the risk of sounding super cheesy right now: good luck, PayrollHero, and may the force be with you!

Editors Note: Thanks Pragya!! While Pragya is off on her next adventure you will still see her posting on the PayrollHero blog a few times a month.  

PayrollHero Scoop (Take 1)

The PayrollHero Interns in our Singapore office put together a Restaurant News Cast for Singapore. What do you think of their first attempt? Would you like to see more videos like this? Let us know by dropping us an email and posting a comment below.

Want to learn more about the restaurant scene in Singapore? Philippines? Download our Knowledge Kits now (free) for a boat load of helpful information for opening a restaurant.

Review: Hyper Sales Growth ~ Jack Daly

‘Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.’
– Harry S. Truman

book-hyper-sales-growth-jack-daly-300x300Jack Daly has been on a tour of Southeast Asia the last few weeks. EO Philippines brought Jack in to speak to the chapter a couple weeks ago, then Jack dropped into Singapore to speak to the EO Singapore chapter follow by Jack being on of the keynotes for EO Brisbane’s Rob Nixon for his wildly popular accountant conference in Bali, Indonesia.

I was given a copy of Jack’s new book Hyper Sales Growth and it is a great read. It covers lots of great tips for building and running a sales organization. Some of the learning I took away from reading the book;

  • If you don’t have an assistant, you are one
  • Never quote price until you establish value
  • People are different, sell accordingly
  • We are what we think we are, raise the bar
  • Hire slowly; fire quickly. You are never “fully staffed”
  • Goals not in writing are dreams
  • Professionalism requires a lifelong learning. Instil a program of books, audio/videos, and seminars
  • plus much more…

The book is packed with solid, actionable tactics to growing your business. It is worth the read and it is even better to hit one of Jack’s events/webinars/seminars.

Last time he was in Vancouver, we arranged to get some one on one personal time with Jack. You can to… check out how we did it.

What book should I read next? Any suggestions, drop them in the comments. I’m always interested in sales development books.

On that note, here is what some of the team was reading a few months ago. I will get an updated list for a new post.

We even suggest books that applicants looking to work with us should read. Check out the list over on our jobs page.

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Creative Destruction in the F&B Industry

Creative Destruction in the F&B IndustryCreative destruction, a term coined by the economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942, is the concept of “incessant product and process innovation mechanism by which new production units replace outdated ones.” Schumpeter says that disruption is an important part of capitalism because it increases productivity.

As the term suggests, creative destruction isn’t a particularly comfortable concept, especially for those who are on the wrong side of it. The invention of the steam engine led to the creative destruction of travel by horses. The invention of automobiles led to the creative destruction of travel by steam engines. It’s an inevitable result of innovation which can make complete industries obsolete, and take thousands of jobs along with it. The positive outcome is that it creates new industries and redefines jobs within them.

So where is all of this going? McDonald’s recently announced its plan to install self ordering kiosks, thereby reducing manpower in their outlets. It’s not the only company to make a move towards automation. Chili’s Grill and Bar has made a move towards self ordering tablets. Restaurants in the US find automation a way to improve productivity.

There already exists a machine that creates 360 gourmet hamburgers in an hour. The entire machine could replace any human making burgers in the kitchen. According to this report, McDonald’s could fund the development of a burger making machine and see a one year return on investment. There are many reasons why companies are moving towards automating their processes.

In the United States, a big reason for this is the growing cost of labour. Currently, the minimum wage in the US is $7.25 per hour. For a few years now, workers in the F&B industry have protested that this number is far too low for it to be sustainable. They say that the reasonable wage floor should be at $15 per hour. LA recently passed legislation for $15 per hour.

The result of this is that fast food franchises are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the labour costs. The alternative is to automate. Mundane and repetitive tasks can be done by smart machines. Jobs where human interaction is required, like serving food, can be taken up by people. Another reason why automation makes sense is that it’s more efficient and faster. Queues are shorter, human errors are less common, if not completely erased.

You can see parallels in the F&B industry between the US and countries like Japan and Singapore. On the one hand, labour costs are increasing in the US, forcing companies to automate. On the other hand, Japan and Singapore are facing a labour crunch often due to unwillingness of the countries’ citizens to participate in this industry, leading these countries to automate as well. The story is the same, where labour as a factor of production is being replaced by machines that can do the same work and produce better results. And this is where creative destruction fits in.

What does this mean for the F&B industry? Restaurant technology will develop and will facilitate automation. The hamburger machine by Momentum Machines, Inc is just the beginning in the back-end of a restaurant. POS systems, self ordering kiosks, cloud based scheduling applications and online reservation websites are taking over the work of regular staff in a restaurant. An entire ecosystem of automation surrounding retail and F&B already exists but what will trigger the momentum of creative destruction is the lack of a sustainable solution to the problem of increasing costs: in this case, the cost of labour.

SME Business Conference: 19th and 20th of August

Singapore Chinese Chamber of CommerceThe Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry is organizing a 3 day bilingual SME Business Conference on the 19th and 20th of August in the Exhibition Halls of Suntec Singapore. The event is co-organized by iDA Singapore and Lianhe Zaobao. The theme of the event is “Think Creatively, Act Innovatively”.

The SME community in Singapore gathers every year to share ideas about how to boost productivity, cut down costs and more. This year, the conference caters towards transforming businesses in Singapore through innovations in productivity.

With that theme in mind, the event will feature speakers from all facets of the business world, from startups to large corporations. They will speak about why businesses need to be agile in order to keep up with ever-changing global trends. One of the interesting sessions is on integrating technology like cloud computing, business analytics, social media and customer relationship management so that small businesses can scale smartly.

Singapore SME Conference AugustNow here is the awesome part. In an event like this, you can’t expect PayrollHero to be left behind, can you? Steve Jagger from PayrollHero will be speaking in a forum on “Innovation and Value Creation from Buzzwords to Actions for Business”. Steve will be joined by a panel comprising Dr Christopher Holmes, managing director of IDC Insights Asia Pacific, Ms Jenny Jang, manager of Jiransoft, Mr Law Chee Keong, director of Asia Pacific Partner Sales in Apigee. The discussion will focus on how Singapore businesses can transform their business plan into a reality by adopting technology.

The forum will be between 2.15pm to 5pm. in Hall 404. Mr Stephen Lim, CEO of SQL View will be moderating the discussion. Mr. Lim has a wealth of experience behind him: he is a member of the board of SPRING Singapore and NTUC Fairprice. He has 25 years of experience in the IT industry and is the perfect person to host this forum.

We’re excited about the event and hope to see many business personalities participating and networking over the two days of the programme. It will be interesting to see academics, notable members of the government and business people discuss the way forward for small and medium enterprises in Singapore. We look forward to the event and wish the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry good luck for hosting the conference!