Top 5 restaurant management tools for every hospitality owner

Whether you’re planning on opening a bar, pub or restaurant or you’ve been in hospitality management for a while, now is the time to get thinking about your entire business.

COVID-19 has changed the way we work; however, it’s also forced us into a more agile and dynamic business model that has had to adapt and respond to change.

Finding new ways to expand your business is crucial, things like cocktails to go, treat boxes and contactless deliveries are more important than ever. Now you can utilize a specific software to save time, be more efficient, and cut costs wherever possible, the best part being a lot of them are free to use.

1. Hootsuite for Social Scheduling

What is a social media scheduling tool?

In hospitality management, you have to be many things to many people. It’s not enough to be a business owner and team leader, you may also find yourself being a Sales and Marketing Manager, and a Social Media Strategist too.

Whilst you can’t ignore the power of social media to drive new business to your venue, it shouldn’t feel like a headache either. Using social media calendar planning tools like Hootsuite allows you to get ahead of the game by scheduling content promoting your business in advance. Giving you access to insights and analytics to better reach and understand your audience.

Using Social media for restaurant marketing can not only help get your name out there it can also be a great way to set yourself apart from the competition, get more customers talking and most importantly visiting you bar, pub or restaurant.

How much does it cost?

When it comes to social media tools for restaurant owners, it can be a minefield, there’s no shortage of choice, some with many features that you may not ever use and others that take a marketing certification to even get your head around.

So, if you’re a social media novice, we’d advise starting with the free version of Hootsuite with all the basics covered.

2. hopsy Staff Manager for Staff Rotas

Why should I switch to an online rota planner?

Opening a bar isn’t easy and neither is managing the schedule of your entire team in a way that always makes sense commercially. in hopsy allows you to set up your venue and rota in a matter of minutes thanks to our easy to follow staff rota template.

You can then share it with the team which they can check from any device which means you can avoid the same old excuses we're all too familiar with, here the 3 most common ones you wont have to hear again hopsy staff rotas.

How much does it cost?

It's completely free, forever, with no hidden extras or nonsense required. It’s yours to start using, now and always and the best part is it's integrated with everything else hopsy offers like our Covid Secure tools.

3. Mailchimp for Growing your Mailing List

What is an email marketing platform?

Much like Hootsuite, if you’re new to marketing, then we would recommend starting with an email marketing platform like Mailchimp to grow your mailing list and engage with new and existing customers. With its easy drag and drop style format, you don’t need to be a computer wiz to be able to build branded and effective email campaigns that look and feel professional.

How much does it cost?

From our experience, getting to grips with Mailchimp is a lot easier than other more complex platforms especially if you’re just starting out, offering a free version as well as being a pretty cost-effective solution when the time comes that you might need to upgrade.

DineTime for orders and table management

Why should I switch to an online booking system?

The bread and butter of hospitality management software, DineTime is a restaurant reservation system that allows customers to book tables and lets staff see what tables are already booked and when customers need to be served all from a single tool.

Simple automation via their app sends a text message when a table becomes available with access to personalised restaurant management analytics which allows you to make smarter decisions about your business.

How much does it cost?

They offer a tiered system with four levels based on your business size and objectives. You can choose a plan that is right for your budget, it might be that you are just looking for a way to manage a waiting list or it could be that you want unlimited reservations and access to 12 months of historical data tracking. It’s your call!

5. hopsy Compliance for Health & Safety

What is it?

Pub management and restaurant management has always meant having watertight health and safety measures in place and it's only gotten tougher as more and more regulations have left a huge list of compliance tasks you need to complete. That's why hopsy provides you with risk assessment templates, the ability to set up free cleaning schedules and more.

The compliance package in hopsy helps you get key legal compliance checklists all in one place. You also have the ability to set up venue specific checks which are timestamped when completed giving you peace of mind your venue is compliant and what action you need to take to improve with our built-in scoring system.

It is a complete hospitality management software with a dashboard that allows you to measure compliance across multiple venues. This reduces the need for paperwork whilst helping you to stay compliant. Not to mention, it is perfect for implementing new COVID-19 compliant checks to keep your venue Covid-19 secure.

How much does it cost?

it's free to try for a limited period, giving you access to our compliance check template and all of the aforementioned features. Sign up now to try hopsy for 30 days or purchase the full version for just £50 pounds a month to gain access to our full list of features.