Restaurant Industry Professionals Tell Us Why They Love Schedulefly

Yesterday we stuck a note in the Schedulefly app asking people for a minute of their time to tell us how we are making their lives easier. It's really helpful for us to share comments like these with owners and managers that are thinking about trying Schedulefly - so thanks a bunch y'all! We intended to leave the note up for a few days - but after just 3 hours we had over 200 really amazing responses from all different types of restaurant industry professionals. People from both the front and back of house too. I've added a few below. Here are a few more.

Deseret (D&D/ Cocktail server) at Bex Grill in Lancaster, CA
"I love the fact that I can check my schedule from pretty much anywhere! I really like the text message alerts. Schedule fly makes it so easy to pick up or give up shifts! I also like being able to see who I'm working with before I go in! I LOVE SCHEDULEFLY.COM!!!!"

Billy (Server) at The Beehive in Boston, MA
"It just allows us to rearrange our schedules that much easier. It's great because there's often a lot of shift switching amongst us here at the Beehive, and this really streamlines all that."

Lauren (Hostess) at Arch Rock Fish in Santa Barbara, CA
"Yes because it alerts me via email about any schedule changes or messages from my manager. Also, it's easy to look up my schedule online as well as everyone else's schedule for the week, and also for requesting time off, which is nice."

Rob (Kitchen Manager) at Boston Pizza Morrison in Niagara Falls, ON
"Schedulefly is by far the best possible tool a manager can have. It allows my employees easy access to schedules and time off requests and allows me to plan and organize carefully according to budgets. I recommend schedulefly to all my friends in the restaraunt industry. It most defintely makes my life and job alot easier!!!"

Rachel (Hostess) at Boston Pizza Uxbridge in Uxbridge, ON
"Schedulefly makes my life easier, because i can pick up or give up a shift with a click of my mouse. I don't waste time calling people and asking around. Plain and simple i love Schedulefly and i think all business's should use this scheduling tool."

Nicole (Runner) at Bex Grill in Lancaster, CA
"Schedulefly is very efficient so that there is no mistake on what days you are suppose to work. And its nice when you want to pick up an extra shift or need to give one up. You can also confirm total hours you have worked."

Cory (Owner) at Pumphouse in Wichita, KS
"This program has given me an extra hour a day to work on other important issues! I love schedulefly!"

Alison (Assistant Manager) at Thaifoon in Salt Lake City, UT
"I love having all staff phone numbers and emails in one central location that I can access at home, at the office, or on my cell phone. Always comes in handy!!"

Daniel (Bus Boy) at Jose O'Shea's in Lakewood, CO
"I can check my schedule anywhere anytime where I have internet connection and it all can be done on my own time."

Laci (Cocktail/Server) at Arch Rock Fish in Santa Barbara, CA
"I can check it whenever I like, and the schedule is always updated instantly as well as changes. And it is very convenient to just go online!"

Joe (General Manager) at Hooters of Cocowalk in Miami, FL
"Schedulefly makes it easier to communicate with all of your employees at one time. It is a fun and exciting way to keep up on all current events going on in your business."

Elizabeth (Server) at Boathouse Restaurant in St. Louis, MO
"I love schedulefly because it makes it so easy and quick to pick up, switch or give up shifts. Without it all online, things would be much more difficult and take longer to get management approval, see my schedule, and get messages from any employee."

Jessica (Server) at Blackhorse in Clarksville, TN
"Schedulefly makes my life much easier by taking away the stress of exchanging shifts. As soon as a shift is up for grabs, a text is sent to employees(who use this feature)- making it much more likely to be picked up."

Lisa (Server) at Buku in Raleigh, NC
"I love having my schedule emailed and texted to my phone. I always have it with me and it's much easier to make plans."

Lisann (Server) at Romano's Macaroni Grill in Honolulu, HI
"First, SF is my homepage. For instant action when I need to pick up a shift.There are alot of fast fingers out there and it is so easy when I can just be two clicks away from making some extra cash!!!I like how SF has the info relayed to you as soon as it is available. When I need to give one up, it is so easy. Its easier because I do not need to "call" the mgrs to ask them. I let SF ask them. Oh and i can change my availability and request off way in advance!! My life is manageable now with SF.. Thank you!!"

Jennifer (Server) at Hooters in Anaheim, CA
"I am able to plan events and run errands according to my schedulefly set-up and I am able to quickly access my schedule through my iPhone application, which is amazing and a life saver :)"

Tuscan Kitchen Is Opening Soon and They're Kicking Off Their Staff Scheduling with Schedulefly

An exciting artisan Italian restaurant is about to open in Salem, NH. They've got a big staff (100+), a cool location, and a passion for bringing artisan Italian to main street.

Good luck and we'll look forward to making your restaurant staff scheduling and communication easy, simple, and fun!

The Schedulefly Crew

Killarney's Publick House Is In the House...

Check out this cool Irish Pub in Hamilton, NJ. They're passionate about their food and beer and about showing their guests a good, fun time. Here's a cool page on their site, with Polaroid images of smiling, happy customers hanging out and having fun. They've also got a great Facebook page and a cool simple mobile web site.

We're excited that this fun 25-person crew joined the Schedulefly movement, and we hope we're making their lives a little easier.

The Schedulefly Crew

Thank You Schedulefly Users. You Started a Movement!

Schedulefly users, watch this fun 3-minute video clip when you have a chance, because you've started a movement just like this...



You are all the equivalents of the "first follower." As the moderator points out, there is no movement without the first follower. We were the "lone nuts" dancing around in the field, waving our arms and trying to convince people that we have a simple restaurant staff scheduling solution that can make their lives easier. All of you were ahead of the curve and you believed we might be right, so you had the courage to follow us. It's because of you that we are not lone nuts any longer, but rather we are part of a movement that was started and is being lead by all of you!

The cool thing is that the movement is still in its early stages. Right now it's just two of us (we're "shirtless guy" and you are the "first follower"). Because while over 50,000 individuals have joined the movement, we believe that millions will in the coming years. That's why our web site is full of pictures and videos of YOU. You are the most important part of the movement - the spark to our flint. And you are the one that others will follow.

So thank you for being brave enough to walk down the hill and join us. We know it's going to be a fun movement to be a part of for many years!

The Schedulefly Crew

New Feature: Get Your Daily Crib Sheet Delivered To Your Inbox

We've added a feature that allows managers to get their daily crib sheet as an email each morning. The crib sheet is a handy list of everyone scheduled for the day - including their in/out times, contact information and any descriptive shift notes like "Open", "Patio" etc. We also include any events or notes that have been posted on that day as well...like reservations. The name of each scheduled staff member is a link to their email address - clicking it on a computer or touching it on a mobile device will open a new email message to them. Their cell number on most mobile devices will be linked for an easy one touch phone call.

The daily crib sheet is often printed by our customers and left at the hostess stand or somewhere where managers can quickly double check coverage for the day. Our mobile site allows managers to view the crib sheet on the go - and now they can opt-in to have it sitting in their inbox when they wake up.

Admins: this new check box is on the My Account page - in the system alert section

Here is a crib sheet I got this morning...



Keepin' It Simple and Useful,
The Schedulefly Crew

Arch Rock Fish - A Neighborhood Joint....And A Schedulefly Customer

We are really excited to have this fun loving team from Santa Barbara CA in the Schedulefly family. Arch Rock Fish just opened this month and came running out of the gate with a fantastic looking concept and company culture. They are also making great use of social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to help kick off their journey. Clearly that is helping get a buzz going in Santa Barbara...

Check out this great promotional video they put together...



They've also created some funny web commericals. The simple, creative delivery of these messages is great.



Welcome!
The Schedulefly Crew

A Very, Very Cool Book Is Born

We are working on a book called Awesome Indie Owners (or something catchy like that), which tells the stories of twenty highly successful independent restaurant owners. It's going to be an absolute must-have for anybody who wants to own a restaurant. I can confidently tell you it's going to be an incredible book. And I'm not being arrogant.

You see, the book is simply a compilation of interviews with these owners. They have all kinds of wisdom and knowledge and experience, and they have offered to share it. My role is simply to ask them questions, collect their answers, and share it all with you.

So far we have spoken to Joe Johnston and Tad Peelen of Joe's Real BBQ, Rich Taubin of Friends Coastal Restaurant, Jeff Gigante of the Ciccio Restaurant Group and Scott Maitland of Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery. I will follow this post with summaries of those interviews, and with summaries of every interview I conduct.

And by the way, each person I have interviewed has taught me something valuable about running a business. So I've already learned that while this book will be mostly about owning restaurants, it will also contain tons of general business wisdom.

Twenty successful restaurant owners. Tons of wisdom. One fun and educational book. Stay tuned...

Wil

Awesome Indie The Office Drinks & Nosh Is Open for Biz and In the Schedulefly Family

The Office Drinks & Nosh, a really cool place just opened in Oklahoma City, and we are looking forward to keeping up with what's happening out there. Welcome to the 30 staff members - we hope ya'll have fun using Schedulefly to check your work schedules online.

Check them out on Facebook...

The Schedulefly Crew

Hey All You Servers, I've Got A Question...

This week I've tipped one server 25% and one server 10%. At the same restaurant. The guy who got the 25% tip was just so much more attentive, genuine, and helpful. The guy who got the 10% seemed like he couldn't have cared less that I was there. I don't even know why I gave have him 10%. Habit I guess.

So I'm curious, what do all of you do to try to maximize your tips and earn yourself the most income you can on each shift? Fire away in the Comments box, and I'll write a follow up post on some of the best ideas.

Wil Brawley
Schedulefly

Pretend You Are Broke And You'll Be More Creative Than You Could Imagine

I recently sent this email to Wes and Tyler:

"Guys I guess this is stating the obvious, but it's so clear to me that when you don't have any money to spend you are forced to be creative, and that's how you innovate and come up with cool new ideas and elegant solutions. Let's always always always take that approach, no matter how much revenue we are driving, so that we always force ourselves to innovate."

Needless to say, they agreed. But you know what, it's easy to lose site of this philosophy once you start growing quickly and turn profitable. It's easy in business to think that since you have money, you should find creative ways to spend it. But if you pretend you don't have money, you force yourself to figure out creative ways to do things as well (or often better) than you could with money. And you reap the additional benefits of enjoying the challenge of dreaming up creative solutions, and simply having more fun.

There's a cool quote in a book called Founders At Work from Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple: "All the best things that I did at Apple came from (a) not having money and (b) not having done it before, ever. Every single thing that we came out with that was really great, I'd never once done that thing in my life." I couldn't agree more!

Keepin' It Creative,

Wil