Steve,
Sure is hard to put into context everything in a short post…isn’t it.
Well in answer to your original inquiry…have we had those days…yup. And man they are tough…really tough. What is worse it you are exhausted mentally, physically and financially and you have to get up everyday and do it all over again.
What is nice is every now and again you will have a surge of hope. Like the 10 pizza order.
There is so much going on right now, with you and your partner, contruction, the economy. I would suggest just focusing on a few things…square them off and move onto another. Make a big ol list of things to do and start doing them. Come up with a plan rather than just being hap hazard, which is so easy to do.
Again, there are sooooo many things I would want to get into but typing and getting into the whole dynamic of the situation is just not feasable. But here are a few things.
I understand needing the help. One our locations has a set up in a way you don’t need much labor everyone can move to each station with ease, our other location requires someone in each station the set up is a bit awkward and all the walls would have to be torn down to make it smooth like the other. Plus I am sure at this stage you guys truck along waiting for business and then wham…it all comes out of nowhere and is quite unpredictable. In order to meet customer service you have to have them…or do you?
BUT you are going to have to come up with a plan as far as your labor. You can only cut so much in labor…there is a minimum needed to perform…but at this stage your minimum needs to have maximum output. Just to throw some stuff out there… you need a phone person immediately cross train into cooking. If they aren’t willing or able to learn they must go. Sure their primary duty is phones but they should be training to be successful cooks as well. Same for your cook. Re evalutate him…what good is he if all he can do is make pizzas? In our place our cooks don’t even make a pizza until they can answer the phone.
What good is he if he can’t train a phone person to cook, because he can’t communicate?
Big Dave Ostrander wrote an article on triple threats…aka eagles. Google it and read it Heck memorize it.
Also as for your labor…your phone girls should/could be labeling postcards, out door hanging for an hour. Do they want to do this? probably not…but your job is to help them cross over to other areas and convince them they want to do it.
As for you I am sure at this point are exhausted… you need to keep tabs on yourself…eat regularly…bring a change of clothes and look the “owner” every second…do not become an employee. You need to be in front as much as possible shaking hands getting to know who your customers are. Chances are some of them own these businesses in your area…chances are some of them are teachers at local schools, perhaps the town gossip who loves to gab…so why not treat her like royalty so she gabs about your place. But if you don’t invest in finding out who they are you miss the chance to get your foot in the door.
You are never going to find that one thing that makes it happen…it is a combination of all of it. Your job is to play the part…always.
You have to get out of the kitchen when you are able and manage YOUR company. You need to have a staff you can train and who is willing and able to take the reigns so you can MANAGE. From your wording of “he doesn’t speak english or the phone"girls” don’t convince me these people are the right ones. Your “phone girls” should be up to their elbows in sausage so you can be up to your elbows in getting to know your customers. You community involvement will always come back and is a wise investment. People love themselves and you need to find out who they are.
And finally, and with all due respect…quit looking for an excuse for failure…when we allow our minds to start making excuses and blaming everything under the sun as to why OUR business is slow we are just making excuses. It’s not me…it’s the construction, or the economy. Let’s get real. It is you and your business. Why? YOU own your business.
Pizza is actually a great business to be in during a “recession” Why it is a cheap alternative to a fancy dinner. As for the construction…you deliver right? So how does the construction interfere with that…it doesn’t. Your delivery should be your bread and butter right now. Ohhhhh but we don’t get the exposure because of the construction, people don’t know we are here. Why don’t they know you are there? Cuz YOU haven’t used your business skill to tell them. What if you didn’t have a financial backer and it was all your money invested…every penny…you are just going to have to come up with creative, inexpensive ways to advertise. It is no different if YOU were totally invested. I think the fact that you have a partner with some cash flow gives you a bit of an edge because done professionally I think you can get some advertising $$$ from him.
You need to quit making excuses, dust yourself off and get your name out there. You are your boss…so have a good meeting with yourself and kick yourself and get with it. Be professional. Get the FACTS not the feelings and go to your partner with a plan. With real numbers/ projections. If I send out ??? post cards and we get ??? back we make an ??? ROI. Then we can take that money and do YYYY. Be a business man, not a glorified cook.
And just so you know I am kicking myself the same after writing all this…Hang in there and be SMART!
Kris
