What schedule should I work ?

[twodadspizza]

I have finally decided to leave my day job and work my pizza store full time , I have owned it for 9 years and have seen sales do very well over that time . We have increased yearly . Knock on wood lol . I have a bunch of loyal employees who I don’t want to hurt but I do need to cut some staff with me being there full time . What would be the ideal schedule ? I want to be there during busy hours to keep this ship sailing in the right direction. Any input would be greatly appreciated .

 

[Rico]

It sounds like the ship is sailing pretty well with you only being there part time. Why don’t you not cut anyone’s hours and take the extra time you now have to work on your business instead of in your business and help it grow bigger quicker.

 

[paul7979]

I agree with Uncle Rico, no reason to cut anyone’s hours. Spend all of the rush periods in your store giving even more stellar service than before and spend the down times building the business. With a full time vested owner being fully involved, you will likely have to hire more employees rather than cut any.

 

[PizzaMan215]

^ agree

 

[brad_randall]

Do you need to cut hours and work in your store to make up the lost income from you day job?

 

[bodegahwy]

Think about these things:

1. What does your business need to grow?
2. What are your skills that relate to #1?
3. What do you like to do?

If your business would best grow though improving the day to day execution of making and delivering your product to the customer and you are better at it than the people you have working for you and like making pizza and running the kitchen you should take over as operations manager and take the busiest shifts.

My guess would be that you would be better off taking on more control of the key cost centers of labor and food and investing your time in training, marketing and community relations will provide a much greater payback than making pizzas.

Even if your business would benefit from better operational execution, don’t make the common mistake of thinking that means YOU have to be the one doing it. If you focus on standards, measurement and training you will achieve more in that area than you will by taking the busy shifts.

The things an owner can do that employees typically will not is to focus on marketing, relationships, community visibility and planning. Nobody is motivated like an owner to think through things like sources for food, insurance and how much should be spent on marketing. No manager has the impact that an owner does when he knocks on doors, calls customers and joins in community organizations.