TECH: Breaking Down the New & Improved SportsTV Guide Features
If you are a long-time SportsTV subscriber, then you know we have evolved significantly over the past 20+ years as we have delivered sports TV schedules to restaurant operators. We started with four fax lines and emailed a PDF file, and now we have a state-of-the-art web app. We have learned a lot along the way and that is why we want to review some of the amazing new features we have deployed over the past two years, including some exciting new ones.
DID YOU KNOWS…
“Eat Mor Chikin”
A Chick-fil-A in Indiana got a bit of a free (and live) marketing effort when a cow ran through traffic toward the restaurant. It’s unclear why the cow was there in the first place -- other than perhaps it wasn’t liking the feed it was getting at home. Video was caught of the entire incident, which got more than 11,000 views over the weekend. We really enjoyed the police trying to pull the cow over. But maybe cows really do like Chick-fil-A?
Work Distractions
According to a new poll by Udemy and Toluna, 80% of people report being distracted by chatty coworkers, the number one office place distraction. Office noise is the second most cited workplace disturbance, with seven out of ten respondents citing noise as a top bother in their day-to-day workflow.
UFC Goes Exclusive
If you show UFC PPVs, you’ll need to get an ESPN+ subscription. The UFC is cutting out cable and satellite and other outlets that showed UFC PPVs, like Amazon. The UFC and ESPN also extended the previous deal by two-years and is worth a reported $300 million per year. All events will cost $59.99, and new subscribers to ESPN+ can instead pay $79.99 for a year of service and the one PPV.
MOONS OVER MY SCAMMY
Why it matters to you: A Denny’s manager stole for over a year and no one noticed.
There’s a lot to unpack in the story of the Denny’s manager that stole $56,000 from the restaurant in just over a year. First, the way he accomplished it should be chilling. He hid the transactions by recoding them from cash to the delivery service, GrubHub. Clearly, no one was reconciling the reported deliveries with the actual figures from GrubHub. In fact, it took a customer questioning a receipt for the operator to even notice they had a problem. This is evidence that when someone wants to steal, they will find a way. However, if you are being stolen from and it takes a year for you to figure it out, YOU’RE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH. Yes, I shouted that. The administration of your business is the responsibility a manager and owner have to their business.
Let’s start with the fact that $56,000 is almost $1100 per week. If the restaurant was doing $40,000/week in sales then he was stealing almost 3% of sales. Every number in that restaurant would have been out of whack. That is why we constantly stress having administrative systems in place for everything you want to manage. Weekly inventory, labor control projections, and a declining budget for consumables are all methods to manage those sensitive expense-related departments. While you are a victim if someone steals from you (which we know someone will), you are also complicit if you don’t everything you can to make it more difficult.
[Source: The Daily Gazette]
HEY, I.C.E. IS ON THE PHONE, NOW WHAT?
Why it matters to you: You need to be prepared when I.C.E. visits; here’s some tips
There have been plenty of news stories concerning ICE raids at food service operations over the past couple of years. With a huge spike in enforcements during the last two years, now is the time for you to prepare for a possible audit at your location. This primer published on Modern Restaurant Management does a great job of explaining the basics you need to understand in order to survive an immigration raid or audit. From getting a Notice of Inspection to how to manage your documentation, this primer gives you a succinct outline of exactly the process of an immigration audit.
The author also covers some technical issues. For example, there is some question as to whether you should photocopy the documentation that accompanies the completion of an I9. The author describes both sides other copy or no argument. One good news conclusion is that you aren’t required to be an expert at identifying fake documentation.
Additionally, he reviews the efficacy of the E-Verify system. If you aren’t familiar, E-Verify can help you avoid an audit through transparency, however, it also exposes you to any inadvertent mistakes you make in taking an employee’s documentation. It’s also expensive to implement and not widely used yet in our industry. We strongly encourage you to read this short post and familiarize yourself with what the potential disruption is from an immigration audit -- and the get ahead of it.
[Source: Modern Restaurant Management]
