Research shows that nearly 80% of restaurants shutter before their fifth anniversary. This all-too-common occurrence caught the attention of Michael Cuevas, president of QSROnline. “Anyone can start a restaurant, but it’s keeping it profitable that’s the trick,” Cuevas said, quoting an old adage. Various inefficiencies may contribute to the truth of that saying, such as managers spending hours at a computer logging inventory information, scheduling and rescheduling employees and performing data entry for payroll and accounting — all tasks that Cuevas had the vision to streamline. Thanks to QSROnline, these tasks and more can be run from a smartphone.
Cuevas founded QSROnline, an enterprise reporting software solution for restaurant operators, in 2004 here in Corpus Christi. Fresh out of college as a software engineer, he was working locally when he first identified a significant gap in the hospitality industry: He recognized the need for an affordable option for inventory management and enterprise reporting to operations, even if perhaps only to a handful of stores. His skill set was exactly what was needed to answer this need.
QSROnline offers invaluable services such as inventory and food cost management, daily custom reports and cost-efficient employee scheduling, and eliminates manual data entry for accounting and payroll to hospitality clientele. Its customers primarily consist of restaurants, but also extend to other aspects of the hospitality industry, such as movie theaters, commissary operations and even casinos. To keep these businesses profitable, Cuevas said, “Our software allows people in the business to really monitor their two largest costs — labor and inventory. It’s really easy to lose money in the restaurant business. We provide those controls to restaurants.”
In addition to providing its clients the tools they need to help them stay in business and be profitable, QSROnline also delivers excellent customer service. One such happy subscriber is Richard Lomax, Director of Operations for Water Street Seafood Company. “QSROnline has drastically improved our speed of reporting, helped us partner with other beneficial vendors and ultimately allowed us to make quicker decisions that will result in greater value to our customers,” said Lomax.
QSROnline’s services have grown to be utilized nationwide. In fact, 90% of its revenue comes from outside the Coastal Bend, as it has customers in almost every state across the U.S. One of its national clients from Genghis Grill, Chet Bhakta is a managing partner for Chalak Mitra Group. “The daily reports we receive give us great insight for multiple locations. We’ve been using QSROnline for 7-plus years, and love the support and data we have access to,” said Bhakta.
But no matter how big it gets, QSROnline continues to be headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas. Cuevas and his wife and the team have strong ties to the Coastal Bend, and are proud to call it home.
