Chef Quie Slobert also uses remote point-of-sale tools to run Charles Pan-Fried Chicken pop-ups — whether they’re serving 1,800 customers an hour's drive south on Coney Island or cooking for an event 12 hours away in Chicago.
“While I was waiting to come talk to you [during The Way Up interviews], I booked a couple of parties on Square, and I’m not even in New York right now,” Slobert said. “So the tools are everything. Picture Batman’s utility belt. You need that belt to make things happen.”
Slobert emphasized that keeping a real-time eye on inventory, sales, and staff hours has become increasingly important as their business has grown from a single Harlem storefront to three locations (with an eye on expanding again soon).
Jenny Nguyen — who also has expansion plans — constantly analyzes The Sports Bra’s foot traffic at their Portland location to refine operations.
“We can see guest counts during which hours are peak hours [and] low hours,” said Nguyen, whose operation made more than $1 million in revenue in its first eight months of operation. “And if we have six people on staff during happy hour at 3 p.m. — which is the slowest time — why is that happening?”
Nguyen emphasized the importance of combining data with her team’s observations, noting her staff members may spot potential improvements that can be validated by digging into The Sports Bra’s Square Dashboard. That, plus a constant monitoring of food costs versus sales — The Sports Bra does a semi-annual menu refresh — can save money while boosting receipts.
