From 50% wage costs to 33% (and LOWER wait times)

When Dane was running a single venue, things worked. It was hands-on, day-in-day-out, but manageable. He could see what was going on. Keep an eye on costs. Catch small inefficiencies before they became big problems.

Then he opened a second site.

At first, he tried to manage both the same way - on instinct, and by being physically present. But as the second venue ramped up, that model collapsed.

“By month two or three I was working massive weeks. Constantly pulling my hair out. And the worst part? I wasn’t really paying myself. I probably would’ve been better off working two jobs.”

The 50% wage cost problem

At that point, he technically had Loaded in place. But only the rostering module. Everything else - clock-ins, timesheets, breaks - was still being done on paper. And not the tidy kind.

“Chefs were using crayons. Front of house were using vivid. It was chaos. Trying to untangle it all and get people paid accurately was a nightmare.”

What really broke things open was the wage cost blowout. For three weeks straight, both venues were sitting at close to 50% labour cost. Dane was writing careful rosters in Loaded… and then watching thousands of dollars vanish when it came time to process pay.

He had no visibility. No control. Just a growing sense that something was badly off.

First came visibility

The turning point was Loaded’s digital time clock.

The moment it went live, Dane could finally see what was actually happening. When people were starting. When they were finishing. Who was skipping breaks. Where hours were creeping.

He didn’t need to overhaul his whole team - he just needed a clear view of what was already happening.

“We’d write the roster, but people just wouldn’t stick to it. Once we had real-time clock-ins, we could say to a manager, ‘Hey, this person was rostered for seven hours, but worked ten.’ And anyone who’s dealt with chefs knows exactly what I’m talking about.”

There wasn’t one major issue - it was dozens of small ones. Overages. Early starts. Late finishes. Breaks missed. Shifts running heavy without realising it. Before the time clock, none of that was trackable. After it, everything was.

Even the shift in how breaks were recorded was telling.

“We used to just write a little ‘B’ next to someone’s name to say they took a break. But good luck cross-checking that. Now we run a proper report and it’s all just... there.”

That clarity flowed straight into better resourcing. Dane and his managers could finally match staff levels to actual demand - reducing labour costs while improving the customer experience.

“Kitchen wage cost came down, and wait times improved. We were overstaffed when it was quiet, and short when it was busy. Loaded helped us fix that.”