The Bearded Bakers building a thriving business with Deputy

Bar Biscotti is a successful cafe in inner-western Sydney, part of The Bearded Bakers group of hospitality businesses which runs pop-up knafeh street food trucks across Australia.

Their wonderful cheesy desserts have attracted an army of admirers, while the sight and sounds of a group of handsome Middle Eastern men singing and dancing to traditional Palestinian music has also drawn the crowds.

Co-founder Ameer El-issa runs Bar Biscotti with his brother, Joey, and sister, Mouna. The popular cafe operates out of the old Arnott’s biscuit factory in North Strathfield.

Food is just one of the ingredients that has made Bar Biscotti and The Bearded Bakers group a success. Music, culture, family and the Palestinian heritage of its founders are also a major factor — oh, and beards, of course. 

As a team of energetic bakers and street performers, the main focus is on entertainment and delicious food rather than the administrative side of operating a growing hospitality business. 

“Coming from a Middle Eastern family, we were always surrounded by food and people and entertaining people at home. For us, that hospitality was very natural, so we took those values from home and applied them at work. And we thought, ‘how cool is this?’ We get paid to entertain people. It doesn't feel like work at all,” says Mr El-issa. 

However, while their unique offering was winning the hearts, ears and stomachs of fans, the back end of the business was not so well-groomed. 

“We were using handwritten notes for rostering and time sheets for many years,” says Mr El-issa. “Then we started using technology and found ourselves using multiple platforms, which was very inefficient. It was taking far too much time and taking me away from the areas of the business that I loved.”

As soon as Mr El-issa and the team at Bar Biscotti tried Deputy, they quickly realised how much time it could save them. Manual processes are now a thing of the past and there’s not a handwritten roster in sight. 

As the leader of a growing hospitality empire, Mr El-issa needed a single platform that was efficient, reliable and gave him the freedom to run the business from anywhere in the world. 

“Communication is such a big part of actually growing a business. The moment you lose that communication is when things start to fall apart,” he says. “I'm always on the go and because I'm not always at Bar Biscotti, I think it's so important to know what's happening, to keep the guys updated and for them to keep me updated.”

Mr El-issa is a huge fan of the Deputy mobile app, which allows managers and owners to run their business remotely. For those with multiple locations and big growth plans, this is a major advantage. 

The app allows managers to send rosters, messages and other important documents straight to their team, while employees can keep track of shifts from any device with automatic reminders. It also frees up a manager’s time while giving valuable staff the flexibility they want. Managers no longer need to manually swap shifts for their employees — instead, staff can swap shifts directly with suitable team members via the Deputy app.

“Being able to manage things while I'm on the go has honestly made my life so much easier,” Mr El-issa says. 

“The thought of not having an application like Deputy is pretty daunting. We would either need to hire more people just to manage that side of the business, or it would take us away from the things that we need to be doing.”