Spring (Fall) Cleaning Your Business

12 Oct, 2015 | Tags: , , , ,

Giving your business a solid sweep doesn’t need to wait until spring. At least once, maybe twice a year, give your company an overall look to make sure your business is running at optimal levels. There are always the basics that you can look at cleaning up; checking on your Internet and electricity bills for example to check for better prices are a good idea once a year.  But here are some places you might not be cleaning up that could use a nice autumn clean.

 

Email Lists:

Growing your email subscriptions can be work, so give yourself a big pat on the back for growing your subscriptions! Now that you’ve grown that email list, when’s the last time you’ve worked on client loyalty through your lists? This month, try offering deals and specials through your email newsletters that make your clients WANT to open your email. If you usually suggest products or services in your email campaigns, go back through and evaluate which were successful suggestions for your clients. Double check all your links to make sure you’re sending clean links; find the dead links before your client finds them. When checking links, remember to go through your website and ensure that all your sub links are working as well.

 

Customer Relations:

As a business owner, you’re constantly on the go; remember your clients are moving too. When’s the last time you checked on the accuracy of your client information? Do they have the same email address? Phone number? Address? Connect with your clients to ensure you have the most recent and up-to-date information. If you haven’t heard from your client in awhile, this check up is a great way to touch base and even reconnect. While reconnecting with your clients and updating contact information, you can also run a customer satisfaction email. Find out how you can make your customers happier. While looking over your client lists, really consider each of your clients. Who are your biggest spenders or most loyal clients? Which clients are the most expensive to maintain and perhaps not the easiest to work with? Cleaning out some of the clients that aren’t your strongest will help you better maintain those clients that will help you continue to build a better business. Once you see which clients are your strongest, consider what these clients have in common. Which services are they using? Use this cross information to help you decide what you need to work on as a company moving forward.

 

Company Procedures:

Take the time to speak with your employees. As the individuals who are working daily with your clients, or working behind the scenes for your business, they may have great ideas for things that may help your business grow or work more efficiently. Remember to give your employees a safe place to speak openly for honest suggestions. Compare your prices to your competitors. How do you match up? Another important aspect of your company is your B2B connections and other business partners. Take time to connect with your vendors, suppliers, and other business partners to make sure you’re up-to-date with all the new information they have to offer. Are you getting the best prices? Are you ordering the best materials for your company? Are there any options to work together to better build your business that you haven’t looked at recently? Talk to your business partners and investors to make sure not only everyone is happy, but see if anyone has suggestions or advice that will help you as you continue to build a more profitable business.

Obviously, there’s always more that can be done when you’re running a business. But by taking time to really evaluate your business plans, orders, and communication, you can ensure you’re continuing to build your business on a solid foundation. Even if you can’t do everything, start with a few small things. So don’t wait for spring to do your cleaning, take time now to sweep up!

Getting Your Restaurant Bar Ready for Autumn

08 Oct, 2015 | Tags: , , ,

Pumpkin Flavored Everthing

Don’t act like you’re surprised to see that pumpkin spice lattes are a huge hit this year… again. If we’re honest with ourselves, I think we all know that autumn is the best season. The fireplaces, the leaves changing colors, perfect weather temperatures, and last but not at all least, all the wonderful fall flavors. While pumpkin spice lattes are obviously a favorite amongst many, here are some other ideas to prep your bar for fall flavor favorites.
Pumpkin Beer: A must for your bar during this time of the year; it’ll be a favorite. Trust us. Imperial Pumpkin Ale is a brewing company from out of Easton, PA and a bottle promises “cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom”, it’s a promising bottle that most everyone will give a shot. Good Gourd out of Tampa, Florida is also arguably one of the best pumpkin beers ever.

Infusions

Let’s be real, infusions are perfect all year round, but now is the time to put away the strawberries and coconuts. Bring out your apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Grab your rums, bourbons, and vodkas, and prepare to have fun. Infusions are always a favorite, because it allows your bartenders to get creative. So bring out the big guns and give your bartenders a whirl at coming up with something spicy and new.
Spicy Sangria: If you’re in a part of the country that isn’t quite fall perfect weather yet, a glass of something that tastes like fall but is chilled might be a push in the right direction. So I give you…Spicy Sangria! Red wine, rum, orange liqueur, and cinnamon sticks will give you an amazing autumn tasting sangria. Perfect for places that are still settled in patio weather.

Apple Pie Infused Bourbon

Everything about bourbon feels so much like summer changing into fall, so why not make it part of your bar’s autumn drink specials? Try doing a bourbon infusion with apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of simple syrup. This is a delicious drink that’ll warm your customers right up!

Tom And Jerry

For the serious fall lovers and rum drinkers, try adding this unique little cocktail to your prep list. Eggs, brandy, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, dark rum, and milk are all on the ingredient list. This makes for a super hearty cocktail, but one that will leave the adventurous autumn tongue quite happy.
What are some of your favorite fall drinks your restaurant keeps on the menu? Don’t forget while you’re planning out your autumn drink schedule, you can also use What Time Do I Work to keep all your other schedules in line too!

Tips To Keep Your Workspace Organized

05 Oct, 2015 | Tags: , , , ,

A disorganized workspace can leave you feeling unproductive. You walk into the office determined to get lots of work done, sit done at your desk, and immediately feel overwhelmed by the amount of clutter on your desk, against the wall, under your chair, and on your computer desktop. Not feeling so productive anymore, are you? Now the only thing you can think about is how much stuff you have to do, but where do you even start? Here are some tips to get your workspace organized, so you can sit down and get the work done that really matters.

1. The Great Office Purge:

Take a quick look around you. What haven’t you used in awhile that is sitting nearby? Are there any gadgets that don’t work anymore? If you haven’t touched it in several months, you probably don’t need it. Don’t forget some of the trinkets or fake (or dead) plants that are around the office too. Take a few moments with a garbage bag, and don’t be afraid of the Great Office Purge.

2. Create Your Office Zones:

If you have a printer, make sure all your paper, ink, and other paper products are in one area of your office—neatly organized. If you have several filing cabinets, create an area of your office for all your filing work. Look around and determine what work happens in your office, and then create work zones for the work that needs to be done, creating a simplified and organized area for each work zone. This way, you’ll never wonder where you left that stapler!

3. Welcome To The World Of Digital:

Speaking of filing cabinets, if you’re still holding on to receipts from 15 years ago, maybe you should consider using a digital filing system instead of holding on to all those papers. It will help you keep track of your information, and keep everything much safer if everything is saved digitally. And another plus, you’ll have more room in your office space.

4. Tackle Your Desk:

Clear off your desk completely! Only keep on your desk the things you need on a daily basis. Perhaps you’ll need a calendar, or a pen, or a notebook, a couple of business cards. Decide what you absolutely need on your desk, and discard or place in another appropriate place. Don’t forget to clean out your desk drawers as well. And remember, If you don’t need it on a daily basis, reconsider it’s position in your desk or even reconsider it’s purpose in your office completely.

5. Repeat Daily:

Once your office is organized and looks nice and clean, you’re ready to be the productive you you’re meant to be! Keep your office clean by spending a few minutes at the end of every day doing a quick evaluation of your office space. Remember to throw out what you don’t need, or to properly put away things you don’t use on a daily basis. And while we’re talking about keeping things organized, make you sure you have the What Time Do I Work app downloaded on your smartphone to keep your scheduling easy! Happy organizing!

Making the Most Out Of A Networking Event

29 Sep, 2015 | Tags: , , , ,

Networking is a necessary evil for those of you in the business world. You may be the type of person who loves to get out there and mingle, or you may be the person who would much rather stay at home and watch Netflix with a large pizza. No matter how you feel, the day you’ll have to get out there and work the system is inevitable. But don’t worry; networking isn’t as hard as you might think. Here are some quick tips on how you can make the most of your networking event.

Find The Right Event

Going to the right networking event is very important. If you’re a restaurant chef trying to network at an social media event, chances are your networking may not benefit. However, if you’re a chef and you go network at a wedding event, you may find individuals who are actively looking for a caterer. See how that works? Not all events are created equal. Be sure to find one that you believe will be worth the time you’ll spend.

What To Expect

Going to a networking event is like looking for yourself in the high school yearbook. You skimming over all the pages, resting quickly to look at some fun looking pictures, but overall the attitude is let’s find “me”. The difference at the networking event however is you’re looking for your business. Who are you meeting? What are their business strategies? How can you both work together for mutual benefit? You’re going to need to talk to people to answer these questions. Don’t be nervous about making your business sound like the type of company people would want to work with!

What To Bring

Always bring plenty of business cards, and pass them out like candy to little kids. You really can never have enough business cards on hand. Depending on the type of event, you may want to bring some brochures showcasing your previous work or business strategies. Feel free to touch base with the event coordinators to find out what is permissible for the event. Again, if you were the chef at a wedding event hoping to network as a wedding caterer, it may benefit you to have a table with samples of your food. It is never wrong to ask what you are allowed to bring, but at the very minimum, carry lots of business cards on you.
How To Act: Remember everyone is at the event doing the same thing you’re doing. Listen to others as they talk about their business. Share some of the highlights from your company. In addition to networking, you may also find individuals who know more about a particular something in your line of work that you’d like to know more about. Exchange business cards with these individuals; ask them out for coffee so you can talk more openly.

Whatever you do, remember to relax and enjoy the event!

Employee Retention – How to Keep Your Top Performers

09 Sep, 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Chances are that you know or have seen people that are self-driven.  They work well with others and they excel at their job.  They’re not clock watchers, they want to excel at everything they do, and they always strive to exceed expectations.  Due to their reputation of striving for excellence, they have created an extensive network of cross-connecting with like-minded people and businesses, and their networks continue to grow in size and quality.  They’re the ones that everyone wants, and recruiters (or “headhunters”) can’t wait to connect with them.  When you have outstanding employees of this magnitude, there is always the concern of losing them, especially to competitors.  So the question remains, how do I keep my top performers?  In order to delve into this subject matter further, you must first be aware that your perspective of whom your top performers are might be quite different than someone else’s opinion.  So, be prepared to back-up your opinion with facts, and be able to express them in a private and/or group setting, and in written form.  Remember, you being able to identify top performers can also make you a valuable asset, and yes, a top performer.

Identifying Your Top Performers. 

In order to identify your top performers, you must first be engaged with your staff, and spending time finding what they feel is working well, their concerns, and positive/negative feedback.  They need to feel connected to you and to the company’s purpose (or vision) in order for them to feel comfortable opening up and sharing.  So, build those relationships with your staff and you will build more trust.  After striving for more open communication, you may find out amazing things.   There are instances where managers assume that one employee was responsible for a great idea, problem-solving a customer service issue, or coming up with huge solution to an existing problem, only to find out that someone took credit where credit wasn’t due.  You will also get a better indication of how people within your business react with one another.  Who is spreading negativity, who is spreading gossip?  More importantly, who works well in a team environment?  So, first and foremost, create and nurture those relationships.  Remember, communication is key.

Now that you know who your top performers are, you can better address ways to retain them.   In order to address this challenge, let’s flip it over and look at this from the top performer’s perspective:

What are their needs? 

People are driven by many different motives and what you may assume drives them, may not be it at all.  This is where you need to start digging.  Make sure you’re having informal conversations with these performers; get to know how they tick.  At times, you may want to take them out to lunch, have some one-on-one time with them, and find out what it is that they really want.  Do they enjoy working with the business?  Why or why not?   Figure out what additional training may be beneficial to them and to your company.  Are they looking at your company as potential for long-term growth? What are their short-term and long-term goals?   If not, when you identify what it is that they want, you can better guide them on this path within your organization. What would motivate them to want to stay longer?  Are they open to continuing education?  Would your company reimburse for approved courses.  As they receive more expertise, they should be able to use it in their current job, and/or along their stated career path within your company.  What’s the best part of their job?  Their worst?  Share a little about yourself and ask them to share a little about them.  Find out what do they like to do for fun?  When you are asking and sharing, you can find out what their “whys” are and understand its importance to them.  Share the good qualities that you see in them. 

Do your business needs and their needs match up? 

No one can see into the future, but it’s important that your outstanding employees see that they are being groomed for better things.  They may not remain if there isn’t a clear path to greater opportunities.  So, what are you making available to them?  We’ve already discussed extra training, and now is a great time to expose them to the next level of work, to get the flavor of it.  You can see how they are responding to this and they are assessing if this is, in fact what they really want too. Continue to keep their goals in front of you both and keep the lines of communication open.

Be a visionary. 

Paint a vision of where you see them in one year and in five years.  Remind them of the opportunities in your company and connect it to their vision. 

Perks.  Who doesn’t like perks?  A gift card for two to a special dinner, a couple of tickets to their favorite sports team game, an afternoon off so they can go see a play their child is performing in.  Raises may or may not be available but potential bonuses might be.  Explore different areas and gear them toward their unique perspective. 

Name Recognition.  When they do something great, make sure you bring it up in the next meeting when appropriate.  Introduce them to higher ups in the company so interaction naturally happens.  Invite them to your LinkedIn.  And, what a great time to ask them if they know of anyone else that might be interested in the company.  Top performers know other top performers.

At the end of the day, the more an employee sees that you know who they are, appreciate what they do, open up opportunities and connections for them, and paint the same vision, the more chance you’ll have of retaining those top performers.