Summary:
In a restaurant, food and labor account for 60 to 65 cents of every dollar spent, and there are a lot of ways to lose money when you’re not watching them closely. Most back-office tools only tell operators what went wrong after the fact; today’s company gives them a clear picture of what’s happening right now, and what it will cost them if they don’t do anything about it.
David Cantu is the CEO of Craftable, one of the hospitality industry’s leading SaaS profit management platforms. He’s been in the industry for approximately 35 years — starting in operations at P.F. Chang’s, co-founding HotSchedules, and most recently serving as CEO of Black Box Intelligence.
Today, David walks us through how Craftable works, what they’re most focused on as they look to automate the back-office workflow, and why you can’t manage costs at the expense of the customer experience.
Highlights:
- Hooked from the first shift (2:08)
- From P.F. Chang's to HotSchedules (2:52)
- How David came to Craftable (6:40)
- The back-office workflow, explained (9:21)
- Scale and ideal customer (11:40)
- Staying operator-first (13:40)
- Actual vs. theoretical (17:37)
- Cost discipline vs. guest experience (20:09)
- Texas Roadhouse and playing the long game (23:18)
- What's next for Craftable (24:29)
Links:
Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co
What is Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders?
In the increasingly crowded and competitive corporate and financial ecosystem, it’s harder than ever for companies to break through the clutter and be heard. The media, investors, agenda-driven influencers, even customers and competitors, are defining your business story on their terms. Therefore, it is imperative that companies take control and proactively drive the conversation with stakeholders in an effort to build & maintain equity value.
In Welcome to the Arena from ICR, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of ICR, Tom Ryan, interviews key business and financial players who influence the fate of public or aspiring public companies in the capital markets. As a former Wall Street Journal ranked sell-side equity analyst and the founder of one of the largest strategic communications firms in the world, Tom understands what it takes to navigate this complex environment.
This is a forum for CEOs, CFOs, institutional investors, sell-side analysts, financial journalists, private equity professionals and other financial community participants to share their stories and give advice in an open and candid conversation.
For more information, visit http://www.icrinc.com