Driving between shops to find out
Your day starts at the first cafe, checking the opening team. Then the second, where the manager is new. Then the third, which is further out and always seems fine until it is not. In between, you check the till app on your phone, one shop at a time, and message each manager about waste, rotas and the milk order. At night you open the laptop and try to compare them.
You know something is off at the second shop, because takings feel light for a Tuesday. You cannot tell whether it is fewer customers, smaller spends, more waste or too many staff on.
Why a few shops are harder than one
- The till back office shows one site at a time, or totals without detail.
- Staff hours are in a rota app or spreadsheet, separate from sales.
- Waste and cash-up notes are on paper or in messages.
- Each manager reports differently, if at all.
- You are the only person who sees all the shops, so everything waits for you.
Big chains have head office teams and reporting systems. Small multi-cafe owners have a phone and a car.
What visiting to find out costs
Time in the car is time not spent training staff or improving the shops. Problems are noticed late, because you only see a shop properly when you are there. Managers are compared by feel rather than by numbers, which is unfair both ways. And you cannot step back and see which shop needs investment, which needs a new manager and which is quietly doing well.
How we build your cafes' daily view
- We connect to your till, such as Square or Lightspeed, for every shop, and read sales by hour, drink and food mix, average spend and number of transactions.
- Staff hours are read from your rota or clocking app, so each shop shows staff cost against sales for the day.
- Waste logs and cash-up notes from each shop are recorded on a phone and appear in the same view.
- Every morning you get one page with yesterday for each shop, compared with the same day last week and last year.
- Anything unusual, such as a big drop in transactions, high waste or a cash-up difference, is highlighted at the top with the shop and time.
- Managers see their own shop's view, so they can spot problems before you do.
| Measure | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Transactions by hour | Whether customers came in |
| Average spend | Whether they bought food, extras and larger sizes |
| Staff hours against sales | Whether the rota matched the trade |
| Waste and cash-up notes | What the numbers alone cannot explain |
If your till already offers multi-site reporting you are not using, we will show it to you first.
A morning with one page
At 7am you read one page over coffee. The first shop was normal. The third shop had a strong day. The second had normal footfall but low average spend, and waste was high on sandwiches. You visit the second shop, talk to the manager about the food display and the prep list, and skip the drive to the third, which does not need you today.
Does this sound like owning several cafes?
- You drive between shops to see how they are doing.
- You check the till app one shop at a time.
- Staff hours are never set against sales.
- Waste and cash-up notes arrive by message, if at all.
- You cannot easily compare your shops.