No corporate culture, no jargon and no cringey posts – just hospo owners and experts sharing advice.
It’s no secret that new hospitality venues face some of the highest failure rates in any industry. Most bars, restaurants and cafes are opened as passion projects where owners learn on the fly – and there’s no playbook or manual on how to succeed.
Crunch – a new online platform for hospitality operators – aims to change that. It’s an app and social hub that offers masterclasses, in-depth how-to videos, live Q&A’s, discussions with other business owners and no-frills help for hospo owners navigating the industry. Crunch is like Linkedin flipped on its head – no one tooting their own horn, no corporate culture, no jargon and no cringey posts – just hospo owners and experts sharing advice and writing an industry playbook together.
Crunch was launched in 2024 by Alex Haughton and the team behind Fine Food Australia, a leading hospitality industry trade event. After working closely with venues, suppliers and operators all over the country for a number of years, the team wanted to find ways to support the industry it serviced. Early discussions focused on implementing a practical and supportive tool. Haughton says Crunch then came about after identifying a knowledge gap and interviewing hospitality owners to see what help could be provided.
“People open a hospitality business based on passion or romance, which is the awesome thing but difficult thing about the industry,” she says. “They sign a huge lease and suddenly they're running HR, finance and marketing on top of the day-to-day stuff – many businesses don’t survive because they just can’t access any guidance outside of word of mouth.”
That guidance is now accessible on Crunch’s online platform. Users pay a monthly subscription fee of $49 and can access priceless knowledge in return. There are masterclass videos on topics such as team building, marketing, operations, finances, profit opportunities and more, with each topic also broken down into several small courses, tools and templates.
Regular live Q&A’s with hospo experts and seasoned veterans allow Crunch users to speak directly with those in the know and receive mentorship that wouldn’t otherwise be attainable. Crunch’s features are designed to fit into a venue’s weekly workflow – Q&A’s are hosted late on a Monday morning in the pre-lunch lull or off-day for many owners.
“Our interviewees talked a lot about professional isolation – they're working seven days a week, they’re stressed, they’re lonely,” Haughton says. “They don't often chat to other people who are in a similar position to them, so we just wanted to bridge that gap and make it easier with Crunch.”
There’s also a community feed that works similarly to Facebook groups and online forums where users can pose questions, ask for support and discuss common issues. This is central to Crunch’s platform and helps business owners troubleshoot real-world examples with other operators.
Hospitality people are often pressed for time, which also factored into Crunch’s model. Most masterclasses and videos are less than 15 minutes long, with the option for users to explore topics in more depth afterwards.
“The idea is that if you go through each masterclass even if you don't have time to do anything else in the app, you'll be in a much better position,” Haughton says. “You'll understand how to implement a CRM system. You'll understand how to market to your customers, you’ll understand operations and the tricky back-of-house stuff.”
“It’s super practical and palatable and there’s no fluff – really the goal is to just help these businesses that we all enjoy and want to see succeed.”
You can sign up to Crunch here.
This article is produced by Scout Jobs in partnership with Crunch. There are a number of exciting initiatives between us coming up, so keep your eyes on your inbox.
Photography: Supplied
