Mar
31
2023

Accounting Software For Restaurants

It appears that restaurants are starting to turn around from their race to the bottom. Prices at the major restaurant chains dropped rapidly during the economic downturn as competitors raced to offer a better deal to customers who had thin wallets. Even though margins have been pretty thin, this has at least led to one good outcome for restaurant owners and managers: they are being fiscally responsible.

In order to shave costs and offer better value to customers, restaurant managers have been relying heavily on their accounting software. Those managers with a good system in place have been able to make better decisions because they had a good handle on which products were profitable.

Restaurant owners with good restaurant accounting software and good people know exactly how much each ingredient costs. Although prices fluctuate daily they are disciplined and enter the necessary data into the software each day. They can then use the restaurant software to turn the data into information. Data is just a bunch of numbers, but information represents something that can be understood and used to make decisions.

How is your system working?

You’ll need to ensure that after ingredient purchases are made at your restaurant, your team enters the prices into the computer. Sometimes restaurant managers don’t see this as a value-added activity so they skip this step and just assume that prices haven’t moved. Over time this can lead to faulty data and bad decisions.

ERP for Restaurants

ERP stands for enterprise resource planning and it is the hottest trend in software and business today. Basically a restaurant ERP software solution would mean that your restaurant is all run using the same software. Your sales cycle, purchasing cycle, and accounting are all under the same roof. There are several major advantages for restaurants that choose to use ERP software.

(1) Managers don’t have to train the employees on four different types of software. There is just one piece of software that everybody learns to use. This can improve worker morale, and it saves money in training costs.

(2) With your restaurant using an ERP system information will be easier to access and manipulate. If accounting needs information, they don’t have to download the data from sales or purchasing and then re-enter the data into their software. All the data are stored in the same database making it easy for anyone to get the information they need.

(3) The centralized database also provides for more accurate information. Because data is not entered more than once, there is less chance for error.

As your restaurant looks to cut costs try and find an accounting software package that fits and that can communicate with all areas of your business. Make sure you are disciplined in entering information into the software. Use the new information to choose which products are best and which should be dropped.

Mar
30
2023

Social Media E-Commerce

Today, I’d like to take a look at the role E-commerce is beginning to play in the realm of Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites. Social media sites have expanded rapidly over the last few years. For those who don’t remember, Facebook started out as a place strictly for college level students to network. Now all-inclusive, Facebook is the world’s most populated social gaming and media platform with 955 million users worldwide.

Twitter is second with over 500 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is third with just about 175 million, and Google+ trails all three with about 90 million. With such a massive user base to reach out to, an E-commerce presence is the next logical step, and as usual, Facebook is taking the lead. This article will focus on what Facebook has done to streamline the E-commerce aspect of social media.

“Like” Pages

It’s safe to say most Facebook users are familiar with the “Like” button and similarly, the “Like” pages. These pages describe the interests and activities of the user, offer updates to certain products and promotions, as well as allow users to share their thoughts on those products.

The end goal of any merchants Facebook “Like” page is the get the most number of “Likes” and subsequently the most number of page views and purchases of your particular product. The problem lies with differentiating potential customers from current ones. If someone “likes” a page for a product, they may already own it, be saving their money for that product, or just think its neat but don’t want or need it. As of right now, Facebook has no way to separate these users.

Social E-Commerce

According to Facebook’s SEC Form Q-10, 1.6% of users spent over $1 billion on Virtual goods (accessories for virtual characters, tools in Farmville, etc) in the first six months of 2012. That is money spent on items never seen outside of the browser. If the market for non-tangible goods can be that lucrative, the market for actual goods Facebook users enjoy must be bigger.

Carol Rozwell, Vice President at the tech research firm Gartner had a call to action for merchants unsure of the potential for social media e-commerce. “It’s crucial that organizations implement approaches to handling social media now. The effort involved in addressing social media commentary is not good cause to ignore relevant comments or solvable issues.” According to Gartner, although more than 50% of organizations track social media only 23% actually collect and analyze data.

In June, Facebook made a move to simplify mobile e-commerce payments by decreasing the number of steps involved in checking out, from seven individual steps to two, and eliminating the need to type. The Facebook mobile app SkyBucks, is another innovation in E-commerce, it allows you to charge your virtual accessories to your phone bill directly.

More recently, the social media giant rolled out an offer for stores using Shopify. Since partnering, Facebook is now offering free $50 Facebook Ad credits. This is in addition to the credits from Google AdWords and Amazon Products that Shopify merchants already enjoy. The promotion is another step for Facebook in the E-commerce direction.

The “Want” Button

Above I identified a need Facebook had, the ability to discriminate between current and potential customers for their advertisers and business users. In early July, the Ecommerce Times had a story on Facebooks next big thing, the “want” button.

The button will allow users to create ‘wish list’ of products that they like or want, but do not currently have. Merchants will want to focus on who has marked their product as ‘wanted’ and who has not. The benefits of the “want” button go beyond sales. The button would allow for highly targeted marketing as well as a sharing of ‘wish lists’ between users. Ultimately the goal should be for the wish list to take its place among the social media landscape, along side a user’s general info and status updates.

For the Consumer

To the average consumer and Facebook user, this should add to the ease of purchases that has increased recently. With the additional “want” info that the site will collect, you will be able to see what your friends and family want, add similar items to your personal wish list, and research potential gifts for you friends discretely. All of which add value to Facebook’s ever-increasing platform.

For the Merchant

For merchants looking to expand on Facebook, the E-commerce addition will do wonders. The added marketing affects will help businesses increase name recognition and sales, while still connecting with the end user. It seems to me, that Facebook’s E-commerce push will benefit all involved.

Mar
29
2023

Reasons Why A Lot Of People Are Crazy Over The Latest Mobile Phone Models

Some people change their mobile phones almost as often as they buy shoes. It’s not an exaggeration! There are really those who are so caught up with the mobile phone trend that they cannot resist buying the next, latest model that comes rolling off the production lines. While this may sound impractical, we can’t really blame them. There are units that are so impressive that they can even compete with laptop computers. Take the case of the iPhone. Who wouldn’t want to own one if you just had the budget for it? This amazing addition to the mobile phone industry bowled over all the competition when it first launched. So what makes it so special and in demand? Let’s try to find out!

For those who don’t own iPhones yet, it may still come as a surprise why there are those who literally go crazy over these gadgets. However, if you examine the unique features of the phone, then you might also change your mind. One of the most impressive features of this unit is its ultrafast wireless connection that doesn’t drain the life out of the battery. This means that you can connect to the world wide web just as conveniently or even more so as using your laptop. The wide screen resolution of the phone makes browsing a joy as well. Of course, there are some websites that can’t be viewed as effectively as using your wider screen laptop, but that’s not really such a huge setback.

Perhaps one of the biggest add-ons that catapulted the iPhone to fame is the huge number of apps that you can run on it. Take for example social media networking. You can browse the usual social networking giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumbler on your unit. You can also utilize most of the site features, especially photo sharing. This is where Instagram got really huge. This also brings us to the next amazing feature of the iPhone which is the camera. It’s definitely no point-and-shoot! Actually, the newer version of the unit now has what has been dubbed as the iSight. It is a high-quality, high resolution camera that can allow you to snap more shots without sacrificing image clarity. It also comes with enhanced high-definition video recorder.

Thirdly, this is one gadget that gamers also absolutely love. While it is not really a gaming console, you can still run a number of really good games on it thanks to the new chip that enables faster CPU performance. You also get better graphics that any other smartphone. Last but definitely not the least, music lovers now wonder how they could have survived before without this device. The enhanced audio features on the unit allow for producing quality sound that is literally as clear as a bell. Combined with the speedy wireless connection, it’s pure music heaven as you download the latest tracks, chart-busting hits, movie themes, dance mixes, all-time greats and more. So would you say that this gadget is worthwhile investment? With all that it can do and so much more, then we would most likely say yes!

Mar
28
2023

PlayStation 3 Info – Taking a Peek Inside the PS3 Video Game Console

Lots of families know about PlayStation 3 gaming system. However, what a lot of people really do not realize is what is actually lurking within that brilliant looking shell.

PS3 gaming console is considered to be the ultimate entertainment powerhouse where it can supply the ultimate game play experience that you will never find in other gaming consoles obtainable in the market right now. Then again, you might ask why the PlayStation 3 is able to provide quality gaming while other gaming consoles do not. One way to answer this question would be to find out what makes the PlayStation 3 tick.

Inside that sleek and attractive looking outer shell, you will find that the PlayStation 3 houses the greatest and current systems in gaming consoles. You’ll find that PS3 system is more than merely an attractive looking game system.

PlayStation 3 gaming console was very much anticipated by gamers worldwide when it was first released. It’s got different abilities that will not be found on other gaming centers available in the market these days.

Here are some of the features you should expect from this particular gaming console and why this gaming system is referred to as the next big thing in the entertainment business. To begin with, PS3 gaming system is integrated with a very efficient central processing device that can operate at a speed of 3. 2 GHz, faster than some computers. Adding to the processing speed is another 512MB of RAM. With just these two features, you can expect excellent gaming experience.

Adding on to the very powerful processing speed and a very high RAM is a powerful GeForce graphics chip from NVIDIA. NVIDIA GeForce is known as an extremely powerful graphics processor where it’s capable of producing fine details and adds realism for the game. By integrating the state- of- the- art graphics technology from NVIDIA and SCEI, you can expect professional graphics along with a powerful central processing unit.

Not only that, PS3 video game console is also equipped with an upgradeable hard drive. With a hard drive, feel free to use this to save your games and also store your music or movies. Within the basic configuration, you’ll be provided with a 20GB hard drive. However, with the premium configuration, your PlayStation 3 is going to be equipped with a 60GB, 120gb, 160bg or 250gb hard drive. With this memory space, you’ll be able to effectively save your games without worrying about running out of disk space.

Sony PS3 has also integrated the most recent, technology in disc media. The Blu- ray disc drive is one of the most advanced disc media technology currently available. With the Blu- ray disc capability of storing 5 times more data than your regular DVD, game developers will be able to deliver higher quality games.

Blu- ray disc drive can support DVDs, CDs, and SACDs. For this reason, you will be able to play your DVD movies and audio CDs in your PlayStation 3 gaming system. PlayStation 3 gaming system will also have the backwards compatibility feature which will allow you to play your old PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games. Which means your investment with these games will not be wasted as you can still play with them with the PlayStation 3.

You will find much more features to take advantage of in PS3, such as online capabilities with a built- in Wi- Fi technology. As you can see, the specifications itself can explain why PlayStation 3 is highly sought after by many people in the world today. So, if you want to have a complete entertainment system for a fraction of the cost it would be to buy all the pieces separately, then get your PlayStation 3 now.