7shifts – Restaurant Staff Scheduling and Management Platform

7shifts is a comprehensive restaurant management platform founded in 2014 by Jordan Boesch, who grew up watching his father struggle with staff scheduling at his Quiznos franchise. This firsthand experience with the industry’s challenges led to the creation of a solution specifically designed for restaurant operations.

At its core, 7shifts offers a user-friendly scheduling interface that makes it simple for managers to create, publish, and modify employee schedules. However, the platform has evolved far beyond basic scheduling to become an integrated restaurant management ecosystem. The core product suite now includes:

• Staff scheduling and time-tracking tools
• Team communication and messaging features
• Labor cost controls and compliance tools
• Employee engagement measurement
• Shift feedback collection
• Integrations with POS systems, payroll providers, and HR platforms

The software is cloud-based, making it accessible from any device with an internet connection. This allows managers to make schedule adjustments on the fly, while employees can view their schedules, request shift trades, and communicate with managers directly through the mobile app. By centralizing these functions in one platform, 7shifts eliminates the fragmentation that typically plagues restaurant operations.

7shifts operates on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) subscription model, offering tiered pricing based on the number of locations and the sophistication of features required. This approach allows the company to serve establishments ranging from small independent cafes to large restaurant groups with multiple locations.

The value proposition that drives 7shifts’ business model centers on three key elements:

• Operational Efficiency: By streamlining scheduling and communication, restaurants save managers 5-10 hours per week on administrative tasks.
• Labor Cost Reduction: The platform’s analytics and forecasting tools help restaurants optimize staffing levels against projected sales, potentially reducing labor costs by 1-3%—significant in an industry with thin profit margins.
• Employee Retention: By improving schedule transparency, enabling shift swaps, and facilitating better communication, 7shifts helps create a more positive work environment that can reduce the industry’s notoriously high turnover rates.

The company also generates revenue through strategic partnerships with complementary service providers in the restaurant technology ecosystem. These integrations not only enhance the platform’s functionality but also create additional revenue streams through referral partnerships. By focusing specifically on restaurants rather than general workforce management, 7shifts has been able to develop features that address the unique challenges of the food service industry, creating a product that resonates deeply with its target market.

7shifts has strategically positioned its platform to serve virtually the entire restaurant industry spectrum, with customer segments that include:

• Independent restaurants and small chains: These establishments benefit from 7shifts’ basic scheduling tools and communication features that replace manual processes without requiring significant investment.
• Mid-sized restaurant groups: For operations with multiple locations, 7shifts provides cross-location management capabilities and deeper analytics that help standardize operations.
• Large enterprise restaurant chains: Enterprise clients utilize 7shifts’ advanced forecasting, comprehensive reporting, and API integrations with existing corporate systems.
• Quick service restaurants (QSRs): Fast food establishments with high employee counts and rapid shift changes leverage the platform’s simplified scheduling templates.
• Full-service dining establishments: These restaurants use 7shifts’ role-based scheduling to ensure proper front-of-house and back-of-house staffing during peak times.

Within these organizations, the platform serves multiple stakeholders. Restaurant owners gain visibility into labor costs and operational efficiency. General managers use the platform to optimize staffing and manage overall operations. Shift supervisors rely on 7shifts for day-to-day schedule management and communication. Meanwhile, staff members benefit from schedule transparency, simplified shift trading, and straightforward communication channels.

This multi-level approach to meeting the needs of various industry segments has allowed 7shifts to expand its market presence significantly, now serving over 30,000 restaurants worldwide and managing schedules for hundreds of thousands of restaurant employees.

7shifts’ operational strategy hinges on a close-knit relationship with the restaurant industry that goes beyond simply selling software. The company’s operations encompass several key components:

Product Development: 7shifts maintains a continuous development cycle heavily influenced by customer feedback. The product team regularly engages with restaurant operators to identify pain points and refine features. This restaurant-first approach has resulted in a platform that genuinely reflects the industry’s needs rather than imposing generic workforce management solutions.

Customer Acquisition: The company employs a multi-channel strategy to attract new customers:

• Digital marketing campaigns targeting restaurant owners and managers
• Strategic partnerships with restaurant POS providers and industry associations
• Content marketing addressing common operational challenges
• Presence at industry trade shows and events
• Referral programs encouraging word-of-mouth growth within the industry

Customer Success: Recognizing that software adoption can be challenging in the fast-paced restaurant environment, 7shifts invests heavily in customer onboarding and success. The company provides personalized setup assistance, training resources, and ongoing support to ensure restaurants maximize the platform’s value.

Technology Infrastructure: The platform operates on a cloud-based infrastructure that ensures reliability and accessibility—critical factors for an industry that operates during unconventional hours. The mobile-first approach acknowledges that restaurant staff and managers often don’t work at desks with computers.

This operational model has allowed 7shifts to maintain strong customer retention rates and steady growth in an industry notorious for tight margins and operational constraints.

The restaurant technology space has become increasingly crowded, with competitors like HotSchedules, Deputy, and When I Work offering similar workforce management solutions. However, 7shifts has established several key differentiators that help maintain its competitive edge:

• Restaurant-Specific Focus: Unlike general workforce management platforms, 7shifts was built exclusively for restaurants. This specialization is evident in features like tip pooling, section management for servers, and integration with restaurant-specific POS systems.
• Ecosystem Approach: Rather than offering just scheduling, 7shifts has developed a comprehensive platform that addresses multiple aspects of restaurant operations. The company’s extensive integration network with over 70 partners—including Toast, Square, and Upserve—creates a cohesive technology ecosystem.
• Data-Driven Insights: 7shifts leverages operational data to provide predictive scheduling recommendations based on historical sales patterns, weather forecasts, and local events. These insights help restaurants staff appropriately for varying demand levels.
• Staff Engagement Tools: The platform goes beyond basic scheduling to include features that boost employee engagement, such as shift feedback mechanisms, recognition systems, and communication tools.
• Compliance Navigation: In an industry increasingly affected by complex labor laws and predictive scheduling regulations, 7shifts helps restaurants navigate compliance requirements in different jurisdictions.

These differentiators have created significant barriers to entry, as competitors would need to develop deep industry expertise and extensive integration capabilities to match 7shifts’ offering. The company’s first-mover advantage in focusing exclusively on restaurants has allowed it to build both product features and industry relationships that generic workforce platforms struggle to replicate.

7shifts’ impressive growth trajectory can be attributed to several key success factors that align with both industry needs and broader business fundamentals:

Market Timing: The company emerged just as restaurants were beginning to embrace digital transformation, offering a purpose-built solution when the industry was ready to move beyond spreadsheets and paper schedules. This timing coincided with the widespread adoption of smartphones among restaurant workers, making a mobile-first platform viable.

Solving Real Pain Points: Rather than creating a technology in search of a problem, 7shifts addressed genuine operational challenges that restaurant managers face daily. The founder’s personal connection to the industry provided authentic insight into these pain points.

Success Metrics: The company measures its effectiveness through several key indicators:

• Reduction in time spent creating schedules (averaging 80% time savings)
• Decrease in labor costs as a percentage of revenue (typically 1-3%)
• Improved employee retention rates
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) reflecting customer satisfaction
• Decrease in missed shifts and scheduling confusion

Risk Factors: Despite its strong position, 7shifts faces several challenges:

• The restaurant industry’s historically slow technology adoption curve
• Increasing competition from well-funded general workforce management platforms
• Restaurant industry volatility, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The need to continually innovate while maintaining platform simplicity

7shifts has mitigated these risks by diversifying its customer base across different restaurant segments, from quick-service to fine dining, and by expanding internationally to reduce dependence on any single market.

7shifts’ journey offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs considering entering the restaurant technology space or developing vertical SaaS solutions for other industries:

Business Model Insights:

• The power of vertical-specific SaaS: By focusing exclusively on restaurants rather than building a general workforce platform, 7shifts created a product that resonates deeply with its target market. Entrepreneurs should consider how specialization might create similar advantages in other industries.
• Tiered pricing structure: 7shifts’ approach to scaling pricing with business size and feature requirements makes the platform accessible to small operations while capturing appropriate value from larger enterprises.
• Building an ecosystem vs. a single product: The expansion from scheduling into a broader operational platform demonstrates how starting with a focused solution can lead to wider opportunities.

Operational Lessons:

• Customer-led product development: 7shifts’ close relationship with restaurant operators ensures the product evolves in line with genuine industry needs.
• Integration strategy: Rather than trying to build every feature internally, 7shifts leveraged strategic partnerships to expand functionality while focusing on core competencies.
• Industry expertise as competitive advantage: The founder’s background in restaurant operations provided insights that technical expertise alone couldn’t supply.

Marketing Strategy Applications:

• Industry-specific content marketing that addresses specific pain points
• Building community through user groups and industry events
• Leveraging testimonials and case studies that speak directly to segment-specific challenges

These principles can be applied to develop specialized solutions for other industries with unique operational challenges that aren’t adequately addressed by general-purpose software.

7shifts exemplifies how deep industry understanding, combined with thoughtful technology implementation, can transform traditional operations in sectors that have historically been slow to digitize. The company’s evolution from a simple scheduling tool to a comprehensive restaurant management platform offers several key insights:

First, vertical-specific software solutions that genuinely understand industry nuances can create extraordinary value, even in crowded software categories. 7shifts’ laser focus on restaurants allowed it to build features that generic workforce management platforms couldn’t match.

Second, starting with a clearly defined problem—scheduling difficulties in restaurants—provided a solid foundation from which to expand. By solving this initial pain point effectively, 7shifts established trust with customers that facilitated adoption of additional features and services.

Third, 7shifts demonstrates the power of building technology that works with existing industry workflows rather than demanding complete operational changes. The platform integrates with restaurants’ existing POS systems and accounting software, minimizing disruption while maximizing value.

For the restaurant industry, platforms like 7shifts represent more than just modernization—they offer a path to increased profitability in an industry known for razor-thin margins. By optimizing labor costs, reducing administrative time, and improving employee retention, such technologies address fundamental business challenges.

Looking forward, 7shifts’ continued success will likely depend on how effectively it can help restaurants navigate emerging challenges, from changing labor regulations to evolving service models. The platform’s ability to adapt to these shifts while maintaining its core value proposition will determine its long-term impact on the industry.