We live in a fairly large metro area. Some friends of mine bought pizza place a little over a year ago. I really think they could make a go of this place, except for the fact they only work 3-5 hours a day and let employees work the rest.
I am on here asking this in hopes of getting input from people who have “been there done that”. They are always trying to find working capital, behind on rent, utilities, and wanting everyone to give them breaks. When at the same time, they work a few hours then go home to get their kids after school and pay at least 2-3 people to work in the pizza place.
I don’t claim to be a highly intelligent person, but to me this is a no brainer!!! Several of us have tried in a nice way to suggest to them that their cash flow might be a little better if they would work more hours and not have to pay as much to the employees,
I would love everyones input on this. I am going to show them this site and let them know I posted this so that they could get input from people who have been successful and maybe some that have not. I hope that this will help them be more successful in their business.
ya, no doubt. i have been guilty myself over the past eight months or so of doing that. i had been hoping to get our second store open this fall but spent way too much on payroll over that time and it really drains the bank account. i am back in the store a lot more now and things are back in line but it set my other plans back a bit. i do have to say though that i am not a high volume store. i think that if the sales are high enough then you can have the bulk done by others. obviously to have multiple units, the owners can’t be at all of them all of the time so they have to be run by the help. it all depends on the sales level.
A couple of things stand out for me when I thought about this post. One is labor percentage. If the labor percentage is in line with gross sales, then it should not be a crisis. Think 20% to 30%, I believe is the standard.
The enxt one is how much they are paying themselves. If they are drawing cash of the business in salaray, then the strain on cashflow would be more significant than if they just show up to keep things moving and take just a little cash for their troubles.
Lastly, I thought about the impact on the business. Generally, the first year+ is a sensitive time for a new business, and demands a LOT of ownership time. If they are working their business, have competent labor to work the shifts at prep tables, manage the money, and use time awa from the shop to build their business effectively, then they gotta do what they think best. 3 to 4 hours could be too little if the business is struggling in the operations end. Cash flow problems can be handled by management working more hours. You didn’t tell us if they have an effective manager and shift leaders to operate the shop and produce good product.
either me or my wife is at work, she may work the day and i work night, or vice versa. or sometimes i work doubles. we do take time off together but varies. watch your pennies and the dollars will follow. i love going to work!!! used too work 7 day 6 of where 7-11 and sundays 7 -4 missed my daughters first life and now get too spend alot of time with her work pays off
It depends on volume. My wife and I do not work any shifts at our place. We do go in and look over the books, pay the bills, talk to the manager etc. We have always had other jobs.
We are currently able to take out better than 10% of sales for ourselves. If we fired the manager and ran the place ourselves working something like 90 hours a week between us we could take out 20% of sales.
As it is, labor (not including us) runs about 32% of sales. We have owned and run our business this way since we opened going on 9 years ago. It can be done. Depending on how much income you need to take running a place this way is an option, but only if your volume is pretty substantial.