Becoming a small business owner isn’t for the faint of heart – in fact, the famous phrase, “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” quickly comes to mind – you must be courageous, tenacious and patient in order to succeed. Along with this recipe for success, small business owners across various industries require tailored solutions and resources to help them thrive and address the needs unique to their respective areas.
Owners in the food and beverage industry in particular face a set of challenges that their counterparts in retail or office environments need not be concerned with on a daily basis. For instance, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in six Americans fall ill each year from foodborne diseases. And, in today’s social media-driven society, the account of one food poisoning incident over social networks can tarnish your business’ reputation and quickly affect your bottom line.
Even with strict quality control measures, food spoilage and health code violations can easily go undetected by employees in a fast-paced restaurant environment. Therefore, small business owners must ensure greater control and visibility across the business at all times. While a business owner only has two eyes, there are a host of security and automation solutions that can help you sharpen your focus. Surveillance and monitoring 24/7 helps you run your business safer, smarter and more efficiently.
Babak Bina, an accomplished restaurateur in the Boston area, recognized the need for 24/7 surveillance technology as his restaurant group continued to grow and he required the ability to monitor all his properties simultaneously. Since making this change, he has been able to quickly identify and remedy a host of issues that could potentially threaten his hard earned reputation, from anywhere, at any time.
In one instance following the implementation of video surveillance technologies in all of Babak’s restaurants, he was able to identify a regular patron routinely feeding pigeons on one of his outdoor patios (a significant health violation). Working with local law enforcement, Babak was able to quickly right this issue that otherwise could have persisted for months and resulted in fines and/or customer dissatisfaction. Video surveillance also helped Babak quickly detect a handful of employees that were sweet-hearting. With video evidence in hand, Babak was able to take swift action and send a message to all current and prospective employees that this behavior would not be ignored or tolerated whatsoever in any of his establishments.
While undoubtedly video surveillance is a first line of defense for small business owners in numerous industries, additional technology capabilities, such as enhanced thermostat and climate control features, can help regulate the overall on premise climate and also refrigerator temperatures in order to help reduce food spoilage. For restaurant owners who manage an environment known to heat up during or after business hours, there are also offerings that allow them to be alerted before food spoilage occurs as well as prevent creeping electric and HVAC bills by controlling their thermostats, small appliances, even turning specific lights on and off – all remotely.
With safeguards like these in place, small business owners can take advantage of additional down time with friends and family as we move into the summer months rest assured that they can maintain control of their day-to-day business operations from wherever they are. By implementing solutions with industry-relevant features, food and beverage small business owners can get back to the basics of serving their loyal patrons exceptional food and drinks in a safe, pleasant environment.
Luis Orbegoso is President of ADT Small Business, where he leads the company’s strategy in providing innovative and streamlined security and automation solutions for small business owners. For more information on ways small business owners can proactively protect and automate their businesses for increased success, and to learn more about the company’s Food and Beverage Solutions Bundle, please visit www.ADT.com/business.
