32 In a row.

[RobT]

My pizza guy is going away for a month.

Tomorrow i start my Journey of Working 12 Hour shifts, Open to Close for 32 Straight days.

Wish me luck!

 

[Daddio]

Welcome to my world. But only a month? You will not even miss him. :lol:

 

[wa_dave]

Know how you feel.

My daughter has been working for me as proxy manager for 4 months since my manager left. Been unable to attract anyone to the position due to extremely low unemployment here and absurb wages being paid in the mining, building and resources industries (plus add on the unsociable hours we work).

She leaves this coming Tuesday for the US where she will be working as a counsellor at a young disabled peoples camp (Camp America) just out of Chicago. She will be there 12 weeks and thens does 4 weeks travelling with other overseas people from the camp and then another 4 with my wife, before she heads off to the UK for more travelling in Europe. All in all she will away 6 months.

We have promoted our assistant manager to manager but have been unable to get an new assistant / trainee manager on board which leaves us short of people. I did interview a guy who had two Pizza/Kerbab shops which have closed and he gave me the shivers. All he wanted to tell me was how he would do this and that the way he did it in his (“failed”) shops and how he would change things for the better for me. Hey, the guy went belly up while we are still trading from strength to strength so what will he do to my business. Gave me shivers big time.

So now without any back up I’ll be back to doing 7 day shifts until we can find someone to step in and help out. This time I won’t be doing the big hours like what happened last time we were in a similar position, but will still be doing 8 - 9 hours most days with 10 - 12 hours on Friday and Saturdays.

Luckily I live only a couple of hundred metres from my shop so I may be able to slip away for a few hours on quet nights and if needed can be back in a couple of minutes.

Oh the joys of owning a Pizza business.

Dave

 

[bodegahwy]

We now advertise for employees with a box-top flyer. It has worked better than the newspaper at small fraction of the cost. I bang out a help wanted ad and print it 3 times on a standard size piece of paper. Copy about 300 of them and cut. Now you have 600 box-topper help wanted flyers. Cost: $8. I even found my current general manager that way.

 

[Kris]

Ahhhh that makes for a rough month.

When I have to work consecutive doubles I utilize the slow periods to get a break.

At night I do extra prep and come in later the next day. After lunch between 2-4 I usually go home for a bit or just get out of the store. Your other employees are not idiots and if you use them you can find some relief time.

You may even find someone will step up and is capable of “locking up”

Good luck to ya.

Kris

 

[Thunderman]

Assuming this is an unpaid vacation, think of the extra money in your pocket at the end of the month, and how sweet having some time off will be .

 

[pizzapie]

Lets face it, that sucks. For us that have been in this business awhile- we all have done it. It gets me to thinking that bigger isn’t better. We all are trying to grow sales but at what cost? Is there a happy medium? I think so. You can’t get time back so map out a good life and enjoy it.

They asked a rich man " how much is enough?" he said" just a little bit more…

Nobody one their deth bed ever said they wished they would of spent more time a work.

Family life is precious…enjoy it.

 

[Integraoligist]

12 hour shift? thats it!?

Heres my life, and it’s ending one minute at a time :shock:
Wake 9:30am… get to work 10:30am, open 11 am… close 1am Sunday-Thursday, 2am Fri & Sat.
only time I have is when i’m asleep and the few minuets i’m on here.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[snowman]

My “concept” has a small room in the back with a twin bed and a TV. It serves two purposes… entertaining the kids and me getting a nap in when needed/possible. No, my “concept” doesn’t exist except in my head.

 

[Daddio]

snowman:

My “concept” has a small room in the back with a twin bed and a TV. It serves two purposes… entertaining the kids and me getting a nap in when needed/possible. No, my “concept” doesn’t exist except in my head.

For the first 2 years I was open I had a recliner in my office the I sometimes would catch a few winks in.

I was amazed how much stress was releived with a 10 minute nap.

 

[Piper]

pizzapie:

We all are trying to grow sales but at what cost? Is there a happy medium? I think so. You can’t get time back so map out a good life and enjoy it.

They asked a rich man " how much is enough?" he said" just a little bit more…

Nobody one their deth bed ever said they wished they would of spent more time a work.

Family life is precious…enjoy it.

I think the answer is to hire a manager. Why are people working open-to-close every day and not seeing their families? One of the perks of business ownership is to have more freedom. as Big Dave says, “Toss the keys.” If you still have to work every day, open to close (without wanting to) after more than two years of business it might be time to consider something different.

I’m not saying that an owner should be on the golf course everyday; I still put in about 60-65 hours per week, just not all of them at the store. You make yourself much more money out of the store than you do in it.

If an owner isn’t hiring a manger because they can’t afford it it means they’re not making much money to begin with. I’ve never understood why those people don’t just get jobs. More money, more free time, benefits, less stress… it seems like a no-brainer.

 

[TangoPizza]

Wow

I have full crew here MOM-Prep Pizza Maker, wife inside and another girl inside all drivers plus me hee everyday monday thru friday

 

[Fireside_Pizzeria]

We’re a small family based business where we don’t need or want a manager. Our last day off was Easter, before that, Christmas. My whole family is involved here so we see each other daily.

Can I afford a manager, definately not. I have been a GM for a mall based pizza place, had a crew of 25 and up to 4 other managers under me. I don’t desire to do it again. I also would not want to pay someone else to do the job that I can do. Plus, I’m greedy, the more money I do not pay out, the more that goes in my pocket. And that’s why we’re here, to offer great food, have fun, and put money in our pocket all at the same time.

I think of myself as retired, and enjoying life…and as for just going out to get a job, it seems like a no brainer to be doing exactly what you want to do. There’s a reason why we’re all self employed, it might not be the same reasons. But it’s what works for each of us.

 

[wa_dave]

I think the answer is to hire a manager. Why are people working open-to-close every day and not seeing their families?

I’m not saying that an owner should be on the golf course everyday; I still put in about 60-65 hours per week, just not all of them at the store. You make yourself much more money out of the store than you do in it.

Short answer on hiring a manager … been trying for weeks. With our super low unemployment no-one wants to work these unsociable hours anymore. The whole food industry (pizza, restaurants, cafes etc) are all short of staff. Can’t get drivers, pizza makers or managers for the love of money.

The golf course … what is that? When I get back out there I will be like a beginner again (not that I was much better anyway !!!)

Dave[/b]

 

[Piper]

Fireside Pizzeria:

I think of myself as retired, and enjoying life…and as for just going out to get a job, it seems like a no brainer to be doing exactly what you want to do. There’s a reason why we’re all self employed, it might not be the same reasons. But it’s what works for each of us.

Hi Fireside… I wasn’t referring to people that run their restaurants for the love of it. That’s why I put the qualifier “without wanting to” in there. I also wasn’t referring to anybody in particular here even though it may have seemed like it.

I was referring to people I know in real life, both restaurant and pizzeria owners. I talk with a guy that owns a restaurant near me. Every time we talk it’s a b*tchfest. He hates working the long hours, hates the stress, is never home with his family, yada yada yada. “Jim!”, I say, “why don’t you hire a freaking manager?”. And he says “I just can’t afford it.” Why do people in the restaurant business do this to themselves? He’s young, educated and smart. I don’t know why he doesn’t get a regular job.

If you’re miserable and have to work 90 hours in the store per week just to make ends meet… I just don’t see the point. If you’re doing it because it’s fun, I say more power to you!

I feel your pain Dave. We also have an extremely low unemployment rate where I’m at and it can be miserable sometimes. About a year ago I had to drastically raise my pay wages and it was a good financial sting.

BTW, do I remember correctly that you daughter will be working in Round Lake? That’s where my brother lives… I’m originally from Chicago.

And on topic, I feel for you RobT. We’ve all done those long stints. I can tell you that the best feeling in the world is the first day off after one.

 

[NY_Pizza]

Piper:

Fireside Pizzeria:

I think of myself as retired, and enjoying life…and as for just going out to get a job, it seems like a no brainer to be doing exactly what you want to do. There’s a reason why we’re all self employed, it might not be the same reasons. But it’s what works for each of us.

Hi Fireside… I wasn’t referring to people that run their restaurants for the love of it. That’s why I put the qualifier “without wanting to” in there. I also wasn’t referring to anybody in particular here even though it may have seemed like it.

I was referring to people I know in real life, both restaurant and pizzeria owners. I talk with a guy that owns a restaurant near me. Every time we talk it’s a b*tchfest. He hates working the long hours, hates the stress, is never home with his family, yada yada yada. “Jim!”, I say, “why don’t you hire a freaking manager?”. And he says “I just can’t afford it.” Why do people in the restaurant business do this to themselves? He’s young, educated and smart. I don’t know why he doesn’t get a regular job.

If you’re miserable and have to work 90 hours in the store per week just to make ends meet… I just don’t see the point. If you’re doing it because it’s fun, I say more power to you!

I feel your pain Dave. We also have an extremely low unemployment rate where I’m at and it can be miserable sometimes. About a year ago I had to drastically raise my pay wages and it was a good financial sting.

BTW, do I remember correctly that you daughter will be working in Round Lake? That’s where my brother lives… I’m originally from Chicago.

And on topic, I feel for you RobT. We’ve all done those long stints. I can tell you that the best feeling in the world is the first day off after one.

Could not agree more - I work about 50 hours per week, but only about 30-35 in the store. I find that the less time I spend tossing pies, the more sales (and profits) I make. The reason is that virtually every hour I spend working outside of the store is devoted to MARKETING! This does not mean that the store is untended: my brother is there at lunchtime, I’m there over the dinner hour - he works a split when I’m off & I do the same for him. I also find that the more hours I spend in the kitchen (past 40/week), the less I enjoy owning a restaurant.