Local pizzeria The Forge relies on connectivity to thrive.

Connectivity via services over the nbn™ network is making a difference to businesses all around Australia, even those that aren’t based in the online realm.

This is the case for Ballarat’s Tim Matthews, who is kept busy running his popular pizza establishment along with his brother Chris.

Since opening six years ago, The Forge has gone from two employees to close to 100 and has expanded to include a 300 seat function room and a catering arm. The staff work across all aspects of the business, with the main growth driver being a focus on customer satisfaction.

As Tim says, when the venue was launched, “we wanted to make a place where we wanted to go, where we wanted to eat and where we ourselves wanted to celebrate with our friends and family.”

Hospitality + technology

To keep his restaurant growing, Tim has turned to technology to help manage staff, administration and operations. “We’ve got certain programs that we can work from anywhere on between our stores, between our different mobile locations and also the function centre,” says Tim.

“Anyone who works in the business will tell you that staffing is probably the hardest thing to manage and you spend most of your time looking after them. So we have tried to reduce that as much as possible by utilising technology.”

Tim’s business harnesses the efficiency of cloud-based systems for day to day management and also offers staff the convenience of fingerprint logins and online timesheet management.

By using this technology, “we make sure that we’re spending more time doing our core business and less doing administration type functions,” explains Tim.

The difference access to the nbn™ network has made

One of the business requirements of The Forge was to have a fast service, especially because there are staff members operating from different locations. Tim shares that connecting to services over the nbn™ network has helped him work anywhere with connectivity, keeping track of what’s going on in the stores and being able to do administrative work in between creating delicious pizzas for customer to enjoy.*

“When you have technology working for you, it can really streamline your business,” says Tim, who has found that online connectivity allows his staff to access information and make quick decisions without needing to call in the managers. “[Having fast connectivity] means I can spend time working on the business, driving the business forward, rather than working in the business.”*

The Forge pizzeria turns the heat up on business efficiency

* nbn is happy to have helped connect Tim so successfully. Of course, end user experiences of the nbn™ network may vary. Your experience including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ network depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control like your equipment quality, software, broadband plans, signal reception and how your service provider designs its network.