New innovation across the board within the food and beverage industry often occurs within the entrepreneurial Independent and small-to-medium business (SMB) growth space. These businesses are operating with less resources, and business owners often have to make agile decisions on things they may not 100% understand, sometimes even building their own solutions.

Join host Rob Grimes as he dives into his experience working with the independent operators as they consider their investment in technology. First, he expresses a common misconception around the technology environment, that what works for one restaurant or business that is similar to yours, will work for you.

“No two operations are 100% alike. If you’re a pizza restaurant, you aren’t going to operate like every other one. So while it is good to know what they use and recommend, simply comparing yourself to them may not get you the solutions that work for you. Without knowing their TechStack holistically, you won’t know what other systems they’re using outside of the POS. For instance, what applications are in the back office, what do they use for payroll, time & attendance, and food costing? And then, what are they (and you) doing manually through spreadsheets that could be automated?.”

If you’re considering how to upgrade, grow, and enhance your service and offerings through new technology as an independent or SMB, Rob gives his tips to lessen your risk, find what you need, be able to grow and of course provide the best ROI to your operations. Involve the entrepreneur, always think holistically, and understand the full scope of your current operations.

To start the process of developing and implementing a tech strategy & roadmap for your business, listen to this episode of Accelerate.