Embracing change, revolutionising traditional businesses | Alan Tan, Shashlik Restaurant

With technological trends such as automation and humanized big data on the horizon, there is an impetus for SMEs to determine how they can leverage on such technological trends to create impactful, productive changes to business operations.

Shashlik features as a prominent example of how an SME can seek to productively reinvent itself in the Internet of Things (IoT) era while not compromising on its traditional brand equity.

Alan Tan, 2nd Generation Owner of Shashlik shares why it is a necessity to look at “change" openly even when nothing's broken, why it was important for him to adapt and adopt innovation and technology, and the positive impact it has since brought to the business.

Like what’s been featured in the video above? Read on below for more in depth SME insights.

In vogue in the 1990s for its famous Russian-Hainanese cuisine, Shashlik is now back in business under the leadership of second-generation owners, brothers Derrick & Alan Tan.

While much of the products and services offered have not changed, the owners have acknowledged the importance of changing the way the business is being managed keep up with current trends or they risk incurring greater costs.

Shashlik has sought to adopt productivity tweaks to its business operations whilst preserving its reputation as a comfort food joint for both loyal and new patrons. In our productivity-driven economy today, more traditional businesses like Shashlik are starting to recognise the value of adopting technological tools to boost operational efficiency. And it's imperative for SMEs understand the need to follow suit or risk being left behind.

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In our productivity-driven economy today, more traditional businesses like Shashlik are starting to recognize the value of adopting technological tools to boost operational efficiency. And it's imperative for SMEs understand the need to follow suit or risk being left behind.

Adopting Automation Tools

The introduction of small yet effective automation tools within their daily operations has shaved costs in terms of time and manpower, freeing up more resources to strategise the improvement of their service quality. They have recently rolled out the implementation of an integrated ordering Point of Sale (PoS) & Ticketing System for customers' orders and kitchen operations tracking as well as a biometric clocking-in system for employees.

Benefits:

• Centralising operational data, cutting back on the time needed for direction communication between the staff team.
• Reduced manual administrative workload, minimising room for human errors that could potentially disrupt the flow of operational processes.
• Instant feedback from social media have allowed Shashlik to increase its focus towards maximising product & service offering via menu upgrading and successfully execute stringent inventory management

Upskilling Veterans

With the above changes which are never easy for traditional businesses to take on, the restaurant manages to retain its endearing tradition by rehiring old staff who served under the First-Generation management, and empower them with the skills needed to remain productive doing what they do best.

To keep their older employees productive, Shashlik provides customer relations trainings for them to enhance their ability to service a new patronage base consisting of technological-savvy youngsters. The employment of a restaurant manager uniquely trained in F&B Operation ensures that older employees on the ground are constantly able to tap on her expertise with regards to servicing new customers.

With the above changes which are never easy for traditional businesses to take on, Shashlik restaurant manages to retain its endearing tradition by rehiring old staff that served under the First-Generation management, and empower them with the skills needed to remain productive doing what they do best.

Ecommerce - Beyond restaurant operating hours, and fixed space

Shashlik openly embraces E-commerce and home delivery services to expand its customer base. This opens a much-needed window of opportunity for Shashlik to boost revenues beyond its limited space. Through a collaboration with leading food delivery company, FoodPanda, Shashlik is able to leverage on the latter's expertise and minimise the effort needed for new customer acquisition.

By embracing productivity, the possibilities are now seemingly endless for Shashlik.

Should you wish to consider implementing business automation, click here to read more on the various tools across 4 areas of your business that can help streamline your business processes and increase productivity.