Chuck Lager America's Tavern Cuts Operating Risks with Kickfin

Meet Craig.

Or perhaps you already know him: Craig has made a name for himself in the restaurant franchise world. He’s now president of the Colby Restaurant Group, Colby Brands, and Mid-Atlantic Restaurant Concepts. Craig also has a history of successful collaborations with celebrity chef Fabio Viviani — including his latest sports bar concept, Chuck Lager America’s Tavern.

Craig is well-versed in operations to say the least. Over the years, he’s been an early adopter of restaurant innovation, leveraging new restaurant technology to streamline processes and uncover new efficiencies. But even with a top-tier tech stack, the tip-out process remained slow and error-prone — and he hadn’t found a good fix.

In addition to the operational challenges that come with cash management, Craig said nightly cash tip-outs were simply too much of a liability.

“Cash was a nightmare,” Craig said. “We were keeping $10,000 in cash on site. Some of our servers were walking out with $1,000 of cash in their pockets. It wasn’t safe.”

Kickfin cuts the risk

When Craig found out about Kickfin, he thought it could solve for the cash management issues in his restaurants. With no contracts and no setup fees, he realized there was no reason not to give Kickfin a whirl.

His bet paid off. By digitizing the payout process, he cut cash out of the equation completely. Because tips go straight to his employees’ accounts, his servers still got the instant access to funds they needed and deserved.

Craig and his team quickly got his locations up and running with Kickfin. Immediately, they saw changes to their operations, including:

• Less cash on hand — by design: Craig’s team keeps a small amount of petty cash on hand, but there’s no longer a need to bring thousands of dollars onto the premises for payouts.
• Major time savings: Managers no longer have to run to the bank for cash, so they can spend more time on the floor, managing their team and improving the customer experience.
• Reduced risk: Craig used to worry about his people leaving with large sums of cash after a late shift; now, everyone feels safer — and his employees appreciate the fact that he cares about their wellbeing.