Market Your New Store BEFORE Opening

New merchant and restaurant owners make up the majority of new small business owners as they seek to pursue and share their passions with their patrons. As a first time business owner of a retail store or restaurant, it can be a thrilling and exciting experience planning for your grand opening, however getting customers to come rushing in the doors during the first few months can be a challenge.

First things first...
You should be marketing your business in the community you are opening long before you even open. It takes time for consumers to hear about a new business and the sooner you can begin marketing to the local consumer network the more consumes will know about you when you actually do open your stores. As with any business, it is important to communicate your unique value proposition.

Why should local consumers care about your new business? 

What makes it better than what else is already in the neighborhood and what reasons are you giving local patrons for coming to your retail store or restaurant?

The biggest factor of success for many restaurants and retail stores is of course location. Foot traffic in a city can be the lifeline for many businesses as can a great location in a suburban area that is anchored by other big name stores that create local traffic from the surrounding neighborhoods. However, a good location does not guarantee high in-store traffic. You can expect a different response from a consumer who walks by your new store, but has never heard of you compared to a consumer who heard about you through your pre-opening marketing. Consumers have a higher likelihood of coming into your place of business when they have become familiar with your name.

The old, traditional way of trying to build awareness and encourage patronage at a new retail store or restaurant was through good old newspaper advertising. Every one use to read the newspaper, meaning you would get a lot of eyeballs on your advertisement and the hope was that you could convert readers into customers. Today's challenge with traditional print advertising is that newspaper readership is dropping and print ads for new businesses are not a great way of generating new customers.

Rather, local events or direct mailers are a better way to create buzz about your store opening. When you advertise, you can't measure anything about your advertisement or collect customer information.

However, sending a direct mailer to all the local addresses with a VIP grand opening invitation with 25% off might just do the trick. You can require each customer to bring in the VIP voucher to redeem in-store and since each voucher has the customers name and address on the back, you are now able to collect vital information about your new customers so you can follow-up.

Have fun with it and include your staff when it comes to being creative with enticing customers to your store.

What has worked for you? Do you have a creative idea that would help others get a head-start on their new business?

Motivate Your Employees and Increase Morale

Being a restaurant manager is hard enough when your staff is fired up and running on all cylinders. But what about those times when morale is a little down, or business has slacked off? How can a restaurant manager motivate their employees to rally? Here's three quick techniques you can put in to practice that will help you become the restaurant manager everyone wants to work for.

Tips to Motivate Your Employees

Don't be afraid to "get a little dirty".
Get out of the office. Be "hands on". Bus a few tables. Hop on the line every now and then. Check in with the dishwashers and help run a few racks. Just because you're the restaurant manager, that doesn't give you a free pass to hide in the office all day. You'd be surprised how many times I've bussed an empty table rather than tracking down the server or busser responsible for that duty, only to find three or four other employees immediately offer to help or take over. The ripple effect also causes host/hostesses to wipe glass and brass, bartenders to polish glasses, etc.

Don't be afraid to work alongside your employees. They will respect you for it and work harder for you if they see you "in the trenches" with them.

Recognize your employees.
You are the restaurant manager and your employees work for you. How much do you appreciate the job they do? If a guest comments that they had a wonderful time to you on their way out the door, pay attention to who the server was and let them know what the customer had to say. Did the food runner help clean up a server spill? Thank them for doing so.

Your employees do little things every day that are above or outside of their normal job descriptions. Thoughtful acknowledgment of their actions from the restaurant manager will go a long ways towards motivating them to keep pitching in.

Ask questions.
Don't be afraid to ask your employees questions and encourage feedback and input. Just because you are the restaurant manager doesn't automatically crown you "king know-it-all". Depending on how long you've been a restaurant manager, it's probably been a while since you waited tables for eight-hours straight, or spent an entire evening in the dish pit. Keep in touch with your employees and solicit feedback on how their jobs are going. 
Ask them for input on how to improve operations. Yes, you're likely to get a an extensive wish list of expensive items that are not in the budget. But you're also likely to get a few gems that you haven't thought of. Maybe the coffee maker would be better "over there". If you strike upon a good idea with an employee, enlist their resources to implement it. If Suzy suggested a more efficient place for the coffee maker, give her ownership of the operation. You'll be surprised how well employees respond if given "ownership" over their situation.

These are just a few techniques that you, the restaurant manager, can use to motivate employees. Try putting these in practice for a week and see what results your employees respond with.

How do you motivate your employees - we'd love to hear from you below.

Point of Sale Marketing Tips

How can a good point of sale product help your business? As a business owner, your goal every day is to sell to my customers.

You probably also know that a good point of sale product can help you with that. The point of sale, if you aren’t sure, is wherever your customer goes in order to pay for items or services. The point of sale could be on the internet, in a retail location, or sitting across from one another at a lunch table. You will find that you can get a lot of mileage out of point of sale products if you use them correctly. There are a few ideas that you should at least consider.

If you own a retail or physical location for your business, it is likely that you use a cash register, cash drawer, and printer receipt at your point of sale. If you do, you might as well make them into point of sale marketing materials. For one thing, if you place certain items you are hoping to move quickly near the cash register, customers can use change or extra money to purchase those items as a spontaneous purchase. You may find that this works best as a point of sale products if you mark them as on sale, clearance, or marked down.

For the best results on cash register point of sale products, you should also dress them up a bit. Use merchandisers like toppers or attractive dispensers. With something like that with the merchandise, it will draw a customer’s eye even if they wouldn’t have normally considered the product. A good point of sale product is one that will at least get the customer’s attention, and at most will encourage them to buy more from you.

Another tip for point of sale is to use the receipt. Use your marketing dollars to get your customers return coupons. A way to do that is to print such a coupon on the back of each customer’s receipt. The coupon should be for something on their next visit to your location. Such a coupon can encourage the return of customers in a short amount of time.

There is probably no better place to market your business than at the point of sale. There is where you can lock in return business and can make a final impression. Take the time to look at point of sale products and how they can help you to expand the success of your business.

You may be surprised at how far you can stretch your marketing dollar at the point of sale.

Increase the Success of Your Point of Purchase Displays

Point of purchase displays are often your best salesperson, therefore, you should optimize your POP Displays for maximum exposure and consumer benefits.  Always keep in mind that shoppers will only see your display for a few short seconds before deciding whether or not to buy.  So use short messages that can be read from a short distance very quickly.

Foster relationships with retailers and gain valuable insight into how your display is perceived and tips on improving your chances to make a sale.  And, use these tips to help you sell more of your products, more quickly and win you more satisfied customers:

1. Include a “call to action” – Tell shoppers exactly what you want them to do.  Whenever possible, insert some urgency with an expiration date for gaining the most possible benefit from your products.
2. Make your message readable and understandable at a glance – Use digital printing with big, bold messages so shoppers can understand them at a glance
3. Link the display with other in-store advertising or your brand’s broader marketing campaign – When possible, piggyback your promotions for reinforcement.  The more shoppers see your message, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
4. Work with retail staff on how to assemble and where to place your display – If you can make the time, speak with retail staff personally and get their ideas on best placement.
5. The retailer also must know whether you have an exclusive offering tied into your display – Is there an exclusive bonus offer tied to your display?  If so, let staff know so they can point it out and answer questions if they arise.
6. Give the retailer incentive to sell your deal to customers – Provide retailers with incentives and your products are sure to get a little extra attention.  This doesn’t always have to include money; use your imagination.
7. All elements of the display, including the packages, should be durable enough to survive the life of the promotion – Have you thought about how your display may look after a couple of weeks on the shelf?  Make sure you’re using quality products.
8. Determine how all items in the display can be most cost-effectively distributed to stores – Depending on your service area, it may be more convenient or cost-effective for you to deliver product personally.  Other times, mail is more appropriate.
9. Ensure that the results from your P-O-P effort can be effectively monitored and measured – Don’t just track unit sales.  Track best sales times, shopper demographics and which stores are selling more than others.
10. Are the components of your display easily and efficiently recycled? – Shoppers are more and more likely to purchase products packaged in recycled or recyclable materials.  Be sure to highlight the fact that yours are.

Convenience Store Security Tips

The National Association of Convenience Stores maintains these stores are safe, with as many as 80 percent reporting no crime annually. However, law enforcement organizations identify these businesses as "problem-oriented" and strive to improve their safety with convenience store security tips.

Function

The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, a nonprofit police-affiliated organization, offers convenience store security tips. Their advice, based on research, identifies factors determining criminal activity at a convenience store.

Unfortunately, the aspect making these stores so convenient--operating hours--is also the No. 1 contributor to robbery. Over half of all C-store robberies occur between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. and on the weekends. Increasing staff, and even police presence, during these hours can deter criminals.

Features

Other factors strongly influence robbery. The store's interior and exterior layout can aid or prevent crime. Visibility is a key word. People should be able to easily see in and out of a store with check-out stations in clear sight from the street. Bright lighting inside and outside also wards off crime as does location. Stores in a commercial setting are robbed less than those in residential neighborhoods.

Another valuable tool is video surveillance. The National Association of Convenience Stores reports 53 percent less robberies in stores under video surveillance.
   

Types

Often the type of convenience store plays a part in security. Larger, franchised stores generally have more funds available for security measures than smaller "mom and pop shops." In addition, stores with gas pumps report less robbery due to increased activity. Large stores have proven policies and extensive employee training limiting their victimization. Massive operations like 7-Eleven stores, one of the founders of the convenience store, even commission their own studies about crime prevention.

Prevention/Solution

Though thieves will steal cigarettes and alcohol, cash is their preferred treasure. Althena Research Corporation reports 80 percent of robberies are prevented by limiting cash in the registers. Retailers should advertise this fact, as well as the presence of video surveillance, by posting signs. Convenience store security tips involve making the store unpopular with criminals.

Warning

Even with measures in place, retailers cannot always avoid crime. Criminals, especially those involved in drug activities, are impulsive and in need of quick cash. In desperation, a criminal can target any location.

Law enforcement agencies discourage employees from trying to prevent a crime in process. Employees are advised to remain calm, quiet and complaisant. Basically, do what the criminal says but keep mental details of the assailant.

Customers as well are asked not to get involved. Though bystanders are shown by the media as helpful, the result in most cases is injury or death.
____________________________________________________________

Resources

Center for Problem-Oriented Policy on C-Store Security

9 Business Facts All Restaurant Staff Should Know

Does your staff know how your restaurant business actually works?

They probably weren't taught this at school or in their last job. Without guidance, they'll make up their own reasons to explain your insistence on efficiency or extra sales effort...and they may not get it right.

Regular briefing on business fundamentals can grow them into real "business partners" - there are huge benefits if you take the time.

Start with these:

Profit = Sales minus Expenses. If expenses are higher than sales, we can only stay open as long as someone finds extra cash to make up the difference. If it runs out, the business will close.

There are 2 types of Expense: Fixed and Variable. The ingredients for making a pizza or cocktail are variable costs - mostly raw materials and labor. Rent and insurance are examples of fixed costs. The profit made on the pizza or cocktail first have to pay for the Fixed Costs.

Food and Liquor Stock is just like Cash. Most businesses keep a week's supply of food in stock, and several weeks of liquor. More than this and the boss should be getting worried - it's easy to be overstocked.

Boosting Sales is usually more profitable than Cutting Costs. But most people find it easier to cut rather than grow, so it needs smart leadership to handle them both. When you find someone who loves to sell, look after them!

There are only 100 cents in a Dollar. Take 100 coins and ask staff to divide them up for rent, wages and all the other business expenses. What did they get wrong - any surprises?

Staff is usually the biggest expense in hospitality. That's why the boss watches the roster closely, and why productivity is so important. And why wage rises are a challenge, unless there's a matching rise in productivity.

Extras or 'On-costs' add 30% or more to the total cost of staff. Examples are workers compensation, leave, uniforms, training and staff meals. For every $100 per week you're paid, add at least another $30.

New equipment is paid for by profits. There's nowhere else to get the money, unless we borrow it (then it has to be repaid). The best equipment has a fast 'return on investment' - it pays for itself quickly by saving labor and ingredients, or creating more sales.

The cost of small items can be surprisingly high. Work out the exact cost of a strawberry, an olive, a scroop of ground coffee, a teaspoon or a napkin. How many are lost or wasted each week?

Why Point of Sale (POS)?

For the first time user (and perhaps a refresher for experienced business owners), Point of Sale (POS) is the equipment and computer programs that allow the servers in your restaurant to enter food and drink orders as soon as the customer gives the order to the server. By forcing the server to order through the POS system you eliminate the possibility of food going out of the kitchen without being charged for. The same premise would be true for your bar. POS will allow you to take control of all types of transactions in your restaurant, making it more profitable and virtually impossible to steal from!

What can POS Do for You?

Every item ordered starts with your wait staff. Once the item is entered, any modifiers to that item, such as toppings or wellness can be attached to that item. The completed item is sent through a cable to a printer or printers located throughout the restaurant such as the kitchen, bar, appetizer, or prep area. Once there, the food is prepared just the way it was ordered. POS software insures that all items on an order are printed before they are prepared, giving you control over the order and distribution process. Adding manager control over voids then assures the restaurant owner that food or beverage will not be prepared unless it is on a guest check.

Menu items can be added to the check, and checks can be transferred between bartenders and servers, at any time. Different menus for different time periods can be automatically activated by the time of day, and day of the week. POS software makes splitting checks between customers easy and efficient. Even single menu items such as a bottle of wine or a pizza can be split between customers with little effort.

When the server has completed the ordering for the table, a guest check is printed and presented to the customer. You can customize your guest check to include messages advertising specials or upcoming events. Discounts, promotions, and/or comps are then able to be taken as needed. A good POS system will also insure that questionable discounts require manager's approval before they can be taken.

Once the customer pays for the meal, the server, or cashier will process the payment at the terminal. Credit cards, cash and checks can be processed separately and reports generated by payment type.

Why Should You Choose POS?

Every restaurant has many things that need to be accomplished during any particular day of business. With a POS system, your staff will have the time and information they need to insure that restaurant operations remain smooth and streamlined. A proper POS system can help to correct many common errors that take place in a restaurant, saving you time and money. Consider the following:

• Wrong addition on guest checks
• Incorrect items being ordered
• Confusion in the kitchen
• Possible theft of money, food or liquor
• Employee time keeping and payroll errors
• Ordering food or liquor without putting it on a guest check
• Not knowing your sales breakdown by individual item
• Pricing errors, change errors
• High credit card processing charges
• Walking to kitchen and bar to place orders
• Items lost from not being put on check
• Shrinkage/Theft

These are just some of the problems the proper Point of Sale system can alleviate. If some of the problems relate to your restaurant, then read on.

Is POS for You?

Investing in a professionally installed and maintained POS system will save time and help your bottom line increase. Using a POS system to control a restaurants current revenue base will allow it to capitalize on current revenue and make room for increased sales and customers.

POS Geatly Improves:

• Speed of service
• Accuracy of orders
• Security of cash handling
• Control over discounts and promotions
• Ease of training new employees
• Theft reduction
• Control over servers
• Increased sales
• Sales reporting
• Custom reports
• Tracking server sales & performance
• Tracking menu item performance
• Tracking food & beverage usage
• Cash back on credit card purchases

Find out how POS systems can help you control all of these concerns, automatically!

As always - the team at HAMCO Atlanta is here to talk about how a customized POS System will help take YOUR business to the next level.