Garang Grill No Longer Feeling the Heat with Xero
Ask any Singaporean (and most foreigners) about New Ubin Seafood, and you’ll almost certainly be met with gushing praise for this local gem.
Established in its namesake first home, Pulau Ubin, a small island off Singapore, the original New Ubin Seafood served up traditional kampong-style seafood. It developed a reputation for serving fresh and authentic seafood in a laid back environment.
Garang Grill is the latest restaurant offering from the business, launched as a neighbourhood style grill.
‘We offer great value for money food in a casual setting. Our menu follows in the progressive steps of our parent New Ubin Seafood’, says Head Chef Jeremy Cheok. ‘Our goal is to give people somewhere close to home to enjoy top-notch steaks and grill.’
The owners of the business, Mr and Mrs Pang always wanted to open a grill following the success of their foray into serving beef steaks (grilled to perfection). They found an available space with an incredible oven and launched Garang Grill in March this year.
As anyone who has worked in a restaurant will know, there is no such thing as a typical day. There are a few crucial things that the Head Chef needs to do to get things started though.
‘First, I load up the charcoal oven with 10 kg of charcoal and preheat it to 400. We top up the charcoal before dinner and get through about 25 kg in one day,’ says Chef Jeremy. ‘The rest of the day we spend preparing the restaurant and food, as well as staying in top of ordering, invoicing and administration.’
Running a restaurant has it’s own set of unique challenges. ‘We’re a small outfit, so integral administrative work like stock taking and book keeping are often overlooked,’ says Chef Jeremy. ‘Finding technology solutions has made it much easier to keep on top of things.’
Cashflow is king
One solution is Xero. Chef Jeremy made the move to Xero to help him manage cash flow, and get away from ‘a mess of receipts, invoices and folders full of old documents.’
He says ‘keeping the books in order is such an vital aspect of any business, and unfortunately small businesses often neglect it. Xero means I can easily keep clean, current records which helps me keep on top of my finances.’
Chef Jeremy uses Xero’s web app on a weekly basis to check on bank reconciliation. He also uses the mobile app almost daily to capture receipts and issue quick invoices. His favourite feature is the P&L function: ‘it’s great to see how much profit is being made!’.
DBS direct bank feeds launched with Xero this month, and Chef Jeremy says this will significantly improve his time efficiency. ‘Direct bank feeds eliminates the need for importing statements,’ he says. ‘This will save me and my team a lot of time, and ensure are records are always completely up to date.’
Catch of the day
The restaurant business is highly competitive, and tools like direct bank feeds mean Chef Jeremy has the time and resource to focus on his trade. ‘We constantly update the menu and this takes careful time and planning,’ says Chef Jeremy. ‘I make weekly trips to different wet markets and keep an eye out for an interesting catch.’
It also means he can make plans for the future. ‘We’re looking to open another Garang Grill later this year,’ says Chef Jeremy. ‘We’re looking forward to working with DBS and Xero to minimise the complications of a multi-business operation, and keep things simple.’
Running any business large or small is a challenge, but worth every moment of blood, sweat, and tears. ‘Seeing your hard work pay off?’ says Chef Jeremy, ‘It brings an indescribable kind of satisfaction.’
Direct bank feeds from DBS to Xero are now available for all DBS-Xero customers. You can learn more about how DBS-Xero direct bank feeds will benefit your business, or find out how you can get started.
The post Garang Grill No Longer Feeling the Heat with Xero appeared first on Xero Blog.
Source: Xero Blog
