Today 12/12/12 is 7 years since we have had our shop.
In this time I have had 4 managers (including current one), and untold number of staff. Unfortunately where we are working in pizza is more of a casual job rather than a full-time one hence why we have a large turnover of staff … they mainly stay while working at school / uni and then go to full-time employment. Have only ever sacked 3 workers in this time, a manager who was a drunk, a
useless unreliable driver and a trainee assistant manager who quickly showed unsavoury behaviours.
Some staff only lasted a day or week as they found it wasn’t what they thought it would be (actually having to work !!) while others lasted 2 - 3 years or more. Staff levels increased from 7 originally to our current 20 ( some only work 1 shift a week).
We have doubled our sales, spent 10’s of thousands on shop improvements, added an oven (finally !!), gone to POS and online ordering, plus recently adding phone apps.
The past seven years have seen 4 food places join us in our shopping centre (directly next to our shop), a major chain open up 100 metres up the road from us and a worldwide GFC hit retail. We have survived all of this plus grown the business, allbeit with some very, very tricky times during the GFC where extra funds were poured into the business to keep it afloat.
I went into the store as a complete novice in food, but with a background in Sales and Marketing which I used extensively to build the business.
The greatest tool I found to help grow the business was TT where I have gained enormous information and ideas that have been incorporated into our business. We have gained a upperhand in marketing against our competitors from many of the ideas that have come across the posts on TT. Thankfully our competitors appear not to follow TT as we have out-marketed them consistently.
What have I learnt in the 7 years?
- Staff come and go at a whim so just straighten the shoulders and get a replacement
- Customers support a good product and service despite a premium price being charged
- Gourmet pizzas return a higher sale and profit and if marketed will sell well ( ours are around 30% of volume sales).
- Don’t hesitate to add second oven (our BIGGEST and COSTLIEST mistake)
- A happy customer makes a bigger business - keep them happy and they will return
- Don’t be afraid of trying something “outside of the box” - variety is the spice of life
- Don’t be afraid to have time off. I go on holidays overseas for 2 weeks every year and close from Christmas Day until the 3rd of January. You need to refresh and also allow staff time with their friends and family in the festive season (summer time here). I also only work 4 days in the shop (busy days)
- If I had a choice I would drop delivery as fast as you would a hot potato. They eat into profitability, fees are less than the true cost of providing the service and drivers are the most costly wage factor for the business and cause the most problems.
Would I do it all again today?
Due to the following I would be reluctant, knowing what I know now, to do it all again.
Unfortunately food costs and every increasing wage costs have made it very difficult to make a good income today. We are burdened with too much red tape and wage restraints with penalty rates at double time and a half for weekends and public holidays, staff over 18 earning $450 a month get 9% paid into a superannuation fund. Wages are ridiculously high (15 year olds get a min of $8.80 per hour, plus penalty rates, and they are still at school).
Rents are some of the highest in the world in our state (higher than London, Paris, NY) and increase 5% annually.
There are better options to earn more per hour working for someone else than the return you get for the hours put into the business (hours working in the business and working on the business, plus all the running around required)
80% of businesses fail in the first 5 years so I doubt I would take this risk again
But in saying all of the above I only wished I did it years before I did. 
Thanks to all who have assisted with comments and advise over the years - positive or negative - and the for the bond made in our common goal of trying to make the best pizza business.
Dave