How The Brick House Bakery Saves 7+ Hours Weekly Using Buddy Punch
By swapping printed schedules, spreadsheets, and a stream of texts for Buddy Punch, The Brick House Bakery owner Vincent Zaba now builds three weeks of schedules in under 30 minutes and saves 7+ hours every week — time he gets to spend back in the kitchen doing what he loves.
Company at a Glance
Restaurant, Hospitality
2016
Cobleskill, New York
18 Employees
Shift-based workforce
Buddy Punch Features Used
Time Tracking
Employee Scheduling
Time Off Management
Kiosk Time Clock
Payroll Reporting
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Highlights
The Problem
Before using Buddy Punch, Brick House Bakery’s time tracking relied purely on an honor system using spreadsheets and texts. As the business grew, so did the team, and managing time off requests became increasingly difficult. Schedule changes, availability updates and payroll administration also created too much unnecessary work for the owner, Vincent Zaba. He needed to free up his time to focus on what he loves — baking.
The Solution
After looking at various options, Buddy Punch was the best fit. It provided one central point for employee scheduling, time tracking, employee availability, paid time off management, and payroll reports. Staff could now access schedules via their mobile phones, making it easier to trade shifts and see who is working when. In turn, management also gained better visibility and control over workforce administration.
The Impact
< 30 MINUTES
To create a staff schedule up to 3 weeks in advance
25%+
Reduction in administrative work
7+ HOURS
Saved every week
5/5
Confidence in time and payroll data, up from 3/5
Results
Time-off requests and staff availability managed in one place
Employees can view schedules and trade shifts independently
Fewer time tracking errors and improved attendance accountability
Easier payroll reporting with clear visibility into scheduled versus actual hours
Less time on admin, more time doing what the owner loves
Overview
About The Brick House Bakery
Brick House Bakery is located in upstate New York. Established in 2016 out of love for baking, its owner, Vincent Zaba, left the corporate world to pursue his passion. It all started with a cheesecake that Vincent had entered at their local county fair — it won best of show. With the support from a good friend, and the confidence garnered by his win, Vincent started Brick House Bakery. Over the years Brick House Bakery evolved from baking cheesecakes to a full blown bakery, cafe, deli, and ice cream parlor.
As is true for all businesses, growth brings new challenges. With 18 employees working shifts, time off and availability become major issues. The honor system no longer worked, as mix ups cropped up with scheduling conflicts on manual Excel spreadsheet systems. Brick House Bakery needed a better system: a system that automated scheduling and availability and was easy to use.
The Challenge
As Brick House Bakery grew its offerings, so did its number of staff. The honor system was no longer efficient. Staff members were forgetting shifts, making last minute changes, and making errors when punching in and out. Brick House Bakery needed a system that was easy to use and would solve their scheduling problems, make managing time off requests simpler, remind staff members to punch in and out, and give visibility of everyone’s shifts. Excel spreadsheets were no longer sufficient.
“I had to print the schedule every week and hang it on the board, and they had to come in and look at it, or they would ask me to text ’em a picture of it. It was so much work.”
The Solution
A simple Google search introduced Vincent to Buddy Punch. An onboarding call and first experience with the app was enough to convince Vincent to switch. The system was easy to use and offered a kiosk and mobile phone system for punching in and out. Scheduling, paid time off (PTO) requests, and payroll reporting were all available on one platform. Most of all, staff could see each other’s schedules, and updating availability was easy.
“From that one conversation and just using the app once, I fell in love and said, ‘Well, we’re done with Excel, we’re done with all this.’ And I never turned back.”
Impact
Using Buddy Punch has made the daily operations at Brick House Bakery much easier. Vincent saves time by creating and sharing schedules (at home) in under 30 minutes. He no longer has to manage time off requests and employee availability through numerous texts. Staff can check their schedules, easily trade shifts, and request time off directly through the mobile app. And finally, fewer missed punches, increased accuracy of time tracking, and improved punctuality have all contributed to big savings on payroll costs. Vincent now spends less time on administration, giving him more time to do what he loves.
“[Buddy Punch] is just a system that makes your life a lot easier in a restaurant business.”
