Anyone ever worry about thier competition spying on PMQ

[jokergerm]

Sincce this is a public forum and there is not many pizza forums do you think any of our competitors spy on us here and figure out who some of us are, just to know what we are up to?

Maybe im just paraniod, but i bet some do for sure

 

[Rockstar_pizza]

Sometimes,… but I figure there really isn’t much that I can keep from my competition. I have been in the business long enough I can walk in a shop and get a good idea of what products they use or what distributor. can look at the dumpster and tell some close amount of volume and maybe not post my sauce blend or crust recipe but a lot of things are hard to keep secret…shhh don’t tell anyone but I watched a distributor unload at one of my competitors counted there large boxes and the boxes of cheese and got a pretty good idea where they stand…other than that what secrets can one hide? Stanislaus in the dumpster I know your sauce, saw the grande poster…no secrets there and veggies are veggies

 

[bodegahwy]

Rockstar is right. I would bet that every one of us that pays attention to the competition could estimate the sales within 20%.

Similarly, we can spend 2 minutes in any kitchen and see what kind of an operator they are.

Don’t visit your competition? Why not? I walk into every one of their places a couple of times a year. Chat with the owner or manager. It maintains good neighbor behavior. Hard to be jerk to someone you actually know. It also keeps the line open to lend or borrow food. Heck, when the Dominos guy wanted out, he called me to list his business for sale. In that process he shared with me all of his books and records. Never underestimate the value of a solid local reputation for fair dealing.

So, do they see my posts up here? Maybe so. Nobody has ever mentioned it but it is not like it is some secret what store I own. I don’t worry about it.

 

[system]

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!” :shock:

 

[bouldercreekpizza]

“Don’t visit your competition? Why not? I walk into every one of thier places a couple of times a year. Chat with the owner or manager. It maintains good neighbor behavoio. Hard to be jerk to someone you actually know. It also keeps the line open to lend or borrow food. Heck, when the Domino’s guy wanted out, he called me to list his business for sale. In that process he shared with me all of his books and records. Never underestimate the value of a solid local reputation for fair dealing.”

Good Point bodegahwy. I once asked a fellow vendor why he was so chummy with another person that most knew to be an @7!*# and his answer was similar to yours and he did borrow that occasional item in a pinch.

 

[indie_pizza]

I know one of my competition reads/read this forum. I’m not as concerned about what I say after most of their stores were seized last year by the state and the founder had to sell his share (still can’t figure out how a business gets seized and is reopened 12 hours later). When I first stumbled across PMQ, we had just been bamboozled into buying our store and were hanging on by the skin of our teeth. I made sure not to let it show how vulnerable we were then.

I’m a lot more confident now in my store and not as worried about making myself look like an idiot. I am hesitant to be very specific about sales or some of the things we’ve used to drive sales up over the last couple years.

 

[bodegahwy]

The way a store gets re-opened in 12 hours is by settling the tax obligation that caused it to be seized or by proving that the store is not part of the entity that is in default. (a separate corp operating under a license or franchise agreement with the same name but with separate/distinct ownership could prove they are not part of the parent)

 

[NicksPizza]

An old friend and teacher was once a big poster here on the 'Tank. As he was opening a second store, he discovered that a competitor opened down the street from him and was poaching his ideas from the Tank. Great ideas, and the competitor used them well to squelch the 2nd location . . . that and a lousy manager falling apart in the original store. Jim stopped posting so much when he found the guy was reading.

Not at all a likely situation for me since I am only place in town or in 8 miles . . . but it has happened once that I have heard tell.

 

[Rick_G]

Damn Nick, I would have thought the best thing to do at that point would be to post bogus info and recipes to help the competitor out a little. If he wants to play follow the leader, lead him on a merry chase down a path that nobody else has taken We used to do this in stock car racing at times. Once I noticed the crew chief of the crew next to us would come into our pit and chat with the owner while we were setting up the car so he could get a glance at the clip board. So I started leaving a dummy clipboard on the tailgate of the truck with tire pressures, wieght distribution tire stagger etc close to right, but not close enough I’m sure they wondered how got the car to go so good set up like that.

 

[Rockstar_pizza]

unfortunately it really isnt just our secrets we have to worry about, if a competitor is on this site he has a lot of information at his hands.
Nick, I also think George w. Bush had a hand in closing his store.

 

[NicksPizza]

Rick G:

d**n Nick, I would have thought the best thing to do at that point would be to post bogus info and recipes to help the competitor out a little. If he wants to play follow the leader, lead him on a merry chase down a path that nobody else has taken

Love that idea, and so did Jim as I recall. But, he was so far in the grease by the time he realized what was what that he spent all his time working to salvage his store, and fight off the competition. They ultimately beat him at his own strategies. Ever notice we don’t talk about door hangers and hanging strategies near as much in the last couple years? Jim was an evangelist for door hanging.

Some have criticized me (including my wife) for sharing (here and in emails) some of our core recipes, like pizza sauce. My answer always comes back to . . . I got it when I bought the place I run, and then I only started using better, signature brands and varieties of the original ingredients. I can give you my recipe right now, and feel confident that you won’t be able to make my sauce. Close, but not the same. (Like I use an imported oregano not often found in pizza kitchens)

 

[amelmor]

Rockstar pizza:

Sometimes,… but I figure there really isn’t much that I can keep from my competition. I have been in the business long enough I can walk in a shop and get a good idea of what products they use or what distributor. can look at the dumpster and tell some close amount of volume and maybe not post my sauce blend or crust recipe but a lot of things are hard to keep secret…shhh don’t tell anyone but I watched a distributor unload at one of my competitors counted there large boxes and the boxes of cheese and got a pretty good idea where they stand…other than that what secrets can one hide? Stanislaus in the dumpster I know your sauce, saw the grande poster…no secrets there and veggies are veggies

GET OUT OF MY TRASH CAN RON!!!1!

You didn’t see the steak hogie poster Jim gave me, did ya? Don’t wanna have that secret stolen! :lol:

 

[brad_randall]

Rockstar pizza:

I also think George w. Bush had a hand in closing his store.

I’ve also found all the former Presidents we’ve hired on made terrible General Managers. Don’t get me started about the time we tried to teach Richard Nixon how to make dough. Oh, and Bill Clinton kept delivering pizzas with slices missing!

I still say the best policy is to stick with Governors in the kitchen.

 

[Rockstar_pizza]

Ah, what I was referring to was that George decided that there was WMD in Iraq, and declared war on them. The backlash to Jim was that 50 percent of his customer base was Ft. Riley Ks. So when the 1st inf unit deployed it wiped out his customer pool!
that left very little capitol for his second store in Manhattan Ks.

 

[NicksPizza]

Kinda like Clinton deciding everyone in America should own a home and making policies to loan more and more money to riskier and riskier borrowers . . . which led to what is knocking so many stores in the head the last 2 to 3 years with skyrocketing foreclosure rates. And now a worldwide economic crisis . . . Glad he got out when he did and is living the good life!