> From: "Bill Arnold" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > On the local consulting front, I've got a small restaurant who has four > interests, in order of priority: > > 1. Accounting > 2. Security > 3. Inventory > 4. Database
Accounting for a reataurant is, well not easy comes to mind. You are really a manufacturing plant with contract workers (servers), hourly workers (cooks, diswashers and bus staff if necessary). What is the restaurant type or style? Breakfast/lunch, a diner, hamburger joint, fine dinning? Each one of them will have their own set of BOM's and setting that up is a RPITA! For inventory, does he wnat to be told what is running low? Or what is not running and needs to be put into tomorrows soup of the day? If you have liquor & wine it gets much harder. > For accounting, I'm inclined to keep it simple and recommend QuickBooks > (premier) > http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/accounting_software/premier_edition > _financial_planning_tools.jhtml, (single user, $399) since I've used the > product myself and am familiar with it, including having written for > it's (half-baked) API. What I really don't like about Intuit is that > they regard any sale as a foot in the door for all kinds of other sales, > where I'm just looking (on my client's behalf) to make a single purchase > for a durable, lasting accounting system. > > For security, he wants 4 cameras located around the establishment, the > most important of which being one over the cash register. I scanned the > list archives and see D-link mentioned, so I checked out their products, > and they look good on paper. I see a $349 model > http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=295 and another for $899, > http://www.dlink.com/products/?model=DCS-6620 the primary difference > being video quality. He doesn't want to use wireless (I don't > necessarily agree, but I'll go along with what he wants). Both of these > cameras have wire (100mb Ethernet) connections. His only computer to > date is one at home, so he'll need a "server" running in the restaurant > to collect the video feeds. The software that comes with these systems > supports an IE browser interface and also recording the video on the > server's hd for going back into it. I've suggested, and he agrees, that > a weeks' worth of recording should suffice. I estimate 2 500gb drives > should be adequate for this purpose, and if he wants to back up the > drives he'll need to add a tape backup. I figure to advise him to > purchase a server and 1 $349 camera to start with, and if it meets his > needs to add 3 more. If he doesn't like the video quality then to move > the $349 model to a less important location and replace it with a $899 > model (i.e. build it a piece at a time). > > For inventory, I just don't think it will work for him. He's a small > business with a handful of workers (cooks, waitresses and bartenders) > and I really don't think he's going to allocate the time and effort it > will take to handle detail level inventory, i.e. it will just be a waste > of time and he'll wind up complaining it's not working. He does need to > track assets (QB), but things like canned food, etc., just wouldn't > work. Maybe if everything were uniformly barcoded, but that's not the > case. So, recommendation for inventory is to do what he's been doing: > periodically go around with a clipboard and a pencil. A boilerplate form > of standard items to use as a checklist will help, but that's about it. > > For database (contacts, etc), I'll set him up as a beta tester for my > own product. Sans the USPS certifications, it will do what he wants. > > Do this plan sound reasonable? > > > Bill > > > > > > > > > > > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
