Good Morning! October. Smells like pumpkin spice, and everything nice. 🌰

When scaling your operations, do you know when to keep maintenance in-house and when to call in a vendor? No? You will in 4.7 minutes…👇

(You’re receiving this newsletter as a “thank you” for engaging with ResQ. If you’re not feeling it, simply unsubscribe here. No hard feelings.🙏)
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What’s on tap in this issue:

• Tech stack: Buy, build, or blend?
• Taking training to a new level
• R&M: In-house vs. Outsource

Headed to Nashville for some fall fun? We’ll be at Informa’s Create Event October 9-11. Hit “Reply” to this email if you want to meet up while we’re in town. 👋

​​​​​Industry news

What’s cookin’ in the industry?

Hot news on scaling up without sacrificing service. ♨

The build vs. buy cage match

A panel of restaurant tech execs at FSTEC hashed out whether to build or buy tech solutions, ultimately agreeing that a hybrid approach is best.

• Buy to save HUGE on software development & maintenance costs – as long as the tech is a good fit, and the vendor is a good long-term partner.
• Build to support the unique complexities in your customer experience (ex: Papa John’s engineered their own ordering system to support their hybrid delivery model).

“Buy for consistency, build for differentiation.” — Shaina Himelstein, director of operations excellence and technology for Brooklyn Dumpling Shop

Testing, Training, & Tasty Growth

Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers is investing internally with a mega training center to help fuel growth to 800 locations by 2026.

The failure safe space: The new center allows testing of new tech and menu items and employee training without disrupting the customer experience.

• The center features a simulated back-of-house space, virtual training sessions, and on-site product testing.
• They expect to host 70 franchisee visits annually, 130 multi-unit managers for annual conferences, and 120 managers for multi-week training sessions.​​​​​

Timely tips

Can you? Or is it time to call a vendor?

When to rely on vendors vs in-house techs — Establish guidelines on when to call in vendors for specialized repairs versus handling routine maintenance in-house to save time and resources.

💡 Some brands use in-house techs for minor fixes like clogged drains or equipment gasket replacements but rely on vetted vendors for complex repairs that require expertise beyond your team's skills (ex: grease trap cleaning).

How to judge whether you can trust a vendor — Trustworthy vendors offer transparency, quick response times, and a proven track record of quality work.

💡 Evaluate vendors based on customer reviews, certifications, and first-time fix data. Don't have that data? Use ResQ’s vendor network to get access to all these details.

How to find reliable vendors — Finding the right vendor can be a frustrating time-sucker, but tapping into a vetted network of service providers can make this task simple and stress-free.

💡 A platform like ResQ provides access to a network of pre-approved vendors with a history of reliability and expertise. 🙌

From the community​​​​​

Good vendors can be hard to find — but they don’t have to be.

Did you know ResQ can help you source top-notch vendors that really want to work with you?

For example, take Daniel Fowley, general manager of Kitchen Works.

Kitchen Works has been around for 40+ years, servicing the hot side of NYC restaurants. They thought they were working with a lot of restaurants, given their extensive experience in the industry. But since joining ResQ’s vendor network, they’ve expanded their customer base to include many more top facility brands they never knew existed.

In addition to market expansion, ResQ slashes finance teams’ grunt work by eliminating tasks like chasing down COIs and manually dispatching payments.

"Without a doubt, ResQ has helped me grow my business." — Daniel Fowley

Break time

When you front like you’re classy, but your fryer spills the truth

Show your customers your elegant, mindful side by keeping things clean and running smooth. How very demure of you.

— ResQ team

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Shameless plug

What does ResQ do?

ResQ is the ONLY facilities management platform that streamlines restaurant R&M operations and enhances oversight. Operators can efficiently track assets, create work orders quickly, and choose from a network of quality vendors to work with.

Love free samples? We do, too. Schedule a FREE demo to see how ResQ can help you kick R&M chaos to the curb.

Learn more about ResQ or follow us on Linkedin.