Do Bartenders Dream of Electric Sheep?

Or, how will the advancing world of technology affect your business? We all know that tech startups are the business to be in these days, and as the digital world becomes more of a major part of our daily life, it’s time to start thinking about how technology can help you grow. One of the best uses of modern technology in the trade is managing service, such as staffing organization and costs. In Singapore, Infinium Robotics has developed flying bots to combat the serious shortage of service staff.   Something that will be a lot more familiar to our readers is mobile ordering and payment. Many businesses – even here in the UK – now have apps to allow their customers to grab a bite from the comfort of their table. They can even be used to monitor habits and create personalized offers – much like supermarket loyalty cards. Not only will this speed up service, it will also lessen the load on your staff, meaning they have more time to attend to your customers’ needs and comfort.   Chances are, you’ve already got some serving technology in use in your business – for instance, if you use tablet-style till systems. Did you know you can often email or text the receipts from these machines to your customers, instead of printing them? Imagine how much till roll that would save! Of course, there can be a steep learning curve with these, however handy your staff may be. Launching your snazzy new till system right into the busiest service of the week is a recipe for trouble, and many companies offering the systems also offer complimentary training on them. If not, it’s still definitely worth getting your staff to familiarize themselves.     Often the easiest way to start is to think small; some of the easiest adaptations are the simplest. Switch traditional gas hobs to induction to save energy. Use mobile phone-controlled thermostats and lighting to always be as efficient as possible. And if your internet is the issue, check out the government’s Superfast Broadband initiative here, and see what help you can get.