Season 2 of the Pizza & Robots journey has begun, and already we have a major shift in the journey.
Last year, I ran a lot of A/B tests. Square, Slice, Toast was the big one, but there were plenty of smaller ones, too. At the time, it made perfect sense; it was a single store with single needs. Even at 2 or 3 stores, it still works.
But then, a major shift happened and we went from a few units to a growing enterprise. One became two, and then three, but when December hit, we became 12.
Most of the tech stacks we use do scale; the brains behind each of them work well with one unit or dozens, if not hundreds of locations. ResQ, Marqii, and Science On Call: Tech Support for Restaurants are three that easily come to mind. Toast, too.
Some of them do not, and I had a few meetings with those companies to figure out if they had a plan in place. Because my staff meetings were me, myself and I, I sought out guidance from my favorite village mayor Jimmy Frischling; I spoke with friends like Clayton Wood and Jake Orfinger and got their advice.
In the end, I have to abandon one of the stacks that held a lot of promise, one that will have a significant impact on my business in the new few months when we convert to the new tech stack. They have no succession plan, no vision for anything bigger than a single to a few stores of coverage.
To their end, it’s not entirely their fault. After all, the number of restaurants groups they have that have more than 3 units could probably be counted on a single hand; more than 5 might be a single customer. They knew my vision; I assumed they had a plan for the future. They do not. And there is no way forward with them.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected our growth to happen so quick, but then, I hadn’t expected to unlock a secret so early on that is helping to fuel it.
At the end of 2022, I had a total of 12 locations, most of which are still going through the permit system. I have another 12 locations that the team is doing due diligence on for leases we will likely sign this quarter. And 26 more to complete to hit our stretch goal of 50 stores for this year.
So, on Day 2 of Season 2, we have our first casualty in the transition to an enterprise brand.
The reveal will happen in a few weeks, and I’ll be sharing as we move through the process.
2024 is going to be fun, especially with the addition of my team. No more me, myself and I staff meetings!
Shawn P. Walchef Carl Orsbourn PMQ Pizza Rick Hynum Christopher Heffernan Bryan Brock, PHR Trey Asbridge Tracey Durette Nabeel 🦄 Heather Haley
#subscriptioneconomy #pizzeria #automation
Meyer Design Inc. CEO, Pilot, Coach, Cheerleader
1moWell deserved!