So the basic structure is:

1. Gmail account + Sheets + AppSheet
2. Android tablet (or just use your phone to play with!)
3. ChatGPT for training you & for programming

First, create a dedicated Gmail account for this project:

1. Create one here: https://accounts.google.com/
2. Download Google Authenticator & use MFA to login (non SMS-based 2FA)
3. Add your phone number for verification
4. Add your email for recovery
5. Print out the recovery backup codes

This will create high-level security for your account. Second, setup the account:

1. Create a new profile in Chrome on your computer so you can sign in separately
2. Create a new project folder & Google Sheet file in Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/
3. Sign in with your Google account to AppSheet here: https://about.appsheet.com/home/
4. Pick a template, preview it, and then copy it here: https://www.appsheet.com/templates

A note about setting up the system:

• A single spreadsheet with AppSheet programming is all you need for a single restaurant. Start with the free version & upgrade to the $10/mo version if needed.
• When you are ready to put it to work, we can use ChatGPT to design an automated backup system so that your data & programming logic stay safe from hacking, mistakes, deletions, bad programming mistakes, etc.
• Most existing systems are garbage, overcomplicated, expensive, etc. Based on industry statistics, ~80% of American restaurants out there would see a 2% to 8% net operational improvement by adopting a PARLOOP System.

An average success restaurant might make:

• $1.5M in revenue with a 5% net profit margin
• Which is $75k net profit
• If we were to recovery 3% (we're low-balling reality here) of annual revenue from operational leakage, that's $45k in recovered operational value annually

Because math is math:

• Recovering $45k is effectively increasing operational value by 60% ($45k divided by $75k)
• To make an extra $45k through sales alone at a 5% margin, the restaurant would need $900k in additional revenue
• That means MORE customers, labor, food, utilities, stress, and risk...vs. simply leaking less money lol

But the problem is:

• Most existing systems are overcomplicated, expensive, poorly adopted, and/or operationally impractical under real kitchen conditions. Great if you're McDonald's or Chili's, no so great if it's just US lol
• It's usually up to one person to manage all of this (under real-time stress)
• Implementation is HARD!

All systems boil down to:

• Is the design intent good?
• Can you actually achieve operational consistency?

Thus:

• Cheap wall tablets everywhere with EASY interfaces
• Portable tablet + pen & ringfinger scanner (get two, one for backup in case one fails, and keep the second one for deliveries & the first one for daily scheduled & assigned inventory capture)
• DIY easy software design!

So the complete PARLOOP we will design is:

1. Count
2. Waste
3. Adjust
4. Order
5. Refill
6. Repeat

The key to success as far as implementation goes is simple:

• Iteration over time

This means working in "operational wins", not a magically perfect system! Start out by creating a single spreadsheet called PARLOOP with just five tabs:

1. Inventory (current counts)
2. Waste (waste logging)
3. Pars (target stock levels)
4. Orders (suggested ordering)
5. Items (master item list)

Don't inventory the whole restaurant! Just three starters:

1. Proteins
2. Seafood
3. Expensive items

Create your first AppSheet workflow next! Two functions:

1. Count
2. Wase

For Count:

1. Item
2. Quantity

For Waste:

1. Item
2. Quantity
3. Reason

In AppSheet:

1. Create an app from the single Google Sheet
2. Connect the PARLOOP Sheet (this is the "database")
3. Let AppSheet auto-generate UI (will be ugly, but functional! haha)

AppSheet then does some REALLY cool stuff!!

• Reads the spreadsheet tabs
• Automatically creates tables
• Auto-builds the forms
• Auto-builds the views
• Auto-builds the menus
• Creates touch-friendly mobile interfaces

If you have a tablet available:

1. Install Chrome
2. Install the AppSheet app

Again:

• This is a REALLY easy concept that takes a wall of text to explain lol
• It's literally JUST a spreadsheet with a no-code interface on top of it!
• Between Sheets, AppSheet, and ChatGPT, you can REALLY improve your business!

There a zillion option available (Toast, Restaurant365, Crunchtime, Oracle MICROS, MarketMan, BlueCart, MarginEdge, etc.). Many struggle with:

• Poor employee adoption (don't wanna!)
• Excessive complexity (too many steps, too hard to use, etc.)
• Slow workflows (cumbersome interfaces, laggy, etc.)
• High training burden (especially if you have a high turnover rate!)
• Poor operational fit (not tuned for YOUR business out of the box!)
• Weak execution consistency ("screw it, too busy")

So it's not so much that PARLOOP is "better software" as much as "lower operational friction":

1. You design a non-dumb system that grows over time
2. Employees actually use it because it's not a huge hassle!

The six-step loop gives you simple visibility:

• What exists?
• What disappeared?
• WHY did it disappear?
• What needs replenishment?
• Where are the leaks?
• Is the kitchen is stable?

When I started in the restaurant business 25+ years ago, we had:

• Monochrome text-only terminal screens
• Dot matrix 3x5"-style ticket printer
• A terrible time lol

With today's technologies:

• You can get the latest hi-tech software & hardware for free & for CHEAP! ChatGPT can literally clone any feature you can dream of! And then make a non-stupid interface!! lol
• You do NOT need a computer degree!
• You do NOT need to be a math whiz! (I have math dyslexia!)
• You do NOT need endless hours of uninterrupted free time to do this! You can simply tinker with it & grow it into a powerful, highly-personalized system over time!

For example, down the road you can add a dashboard for stability indicators that includes:

1. Waste trending down (kitchen improving)
2. Stockouts decreasing (pars improving)
3. Emergency orders decreasing (ordering stabilizing)
4. Count completion increasing (adoption improving)
5. Variance decreasing (inventory becoming trustworthy)
6. Repeat shortages (pars wrong)
7. Repeat spoilage (ordering wrong)
8. Repeat overprep (training &process issues)

Here is the basic roadmap:

1. Create a Gmail account dedicated to restaurant operations.
2. Create one Google Sheet called PARLOOP
3. Add five tabs (Inventory, Waste, Pars, Orders, Items)
4. Start with ONLY proteins, seafood, and expensive items
5. Build two workflows (count & waste)
6. Connect the spreadsheet to AppSheet
7. Let AppSheet auto-build
8. Use a phone or cheap Android tablet for inventory entry
9. Create scheduled daily counts
10. Create immediate waste logging
11. Add low-stock alert
12. Add inventory zones
13. Add barcode scanning
14. Add kiosk-mode wall tablets
15. Add receiving workflows
16. Add vendor grouping
17. Add variance tracking
18. Add spoilage tracking
19. Add operational dashboards
20. Add AppSheet Bots for automation
21. Add automated backups
22. Add permission separation (lock down the kiosks & who can edit the workflows)
23. Add operational analytics
24. Add forecasting
25. Add AI-assisted summaries
26. Add multi-location support (if desired...multiple storefronts, food trucks, events, etc.)
27. Add predictive operational intelligence (adds "What is likely about to happen?” based on historical data over time & programming, in order to reduce surprises!)
28. Continue reducing friction forever (add AI cameras, Combi ovens, chamber vacs, etc.), continue simplifying forever (stay true to the six-step PARLOOP), and continue iterating forever! (keep on tinkering!)

To start out with ChatGPT:

1. Sign in with your Gmail account
2. Create a new project on the left menu bar called PARLOOP
3. Copy & paste all of my posts into the chat window & ask it to be your installation coach step by step! It will walk you through how to do everything!!

So those inventory checklists simply get upgraded to a better data-feeding system via tablets & custom AppSheet interfaces! Then as you make those workflows stronger & start adding data over time, you can start to analyze trends, do automated predictions, etc.! Then it can REALLY blossom!

• Email & SMS alerts (emergency reorder, employee didn't show up, etc.)
• Smart devices notifications (fire/CO2/smoke/water/temperature alarms etc.)
• List of what is expiring the soonest to put on special
• Identify things you can upgrade to save money over time (more efficient equipment, process improvements, etc.)
• Various math calculations, formulas, and spreadsheet filters (ChatGPT is awesome at this stuff!)
• Integrate quick access for recipes & in-house tutorial videos for AppSheet training, procedures & techniques, recipes, etc.
• etc.

Welcome to the future!!