Category Archives: Helpful Hints

January 11, 2019 · 3:07 pm

The Right Stuff

It’s Foodie Friday and this week it’s tool time. As I mentioned in some previous posts, I’m in the process of moving, which means that a lot of stuff is packed up and not readily available for cooking. You never think that you’ll use some kitchen-related item (I won’t be ricing potatoes any time soon, will I? Pack the ricer!) right up until you need it. Then comes the internal debate assessing whether to unpack it (assuming you can find it), try to make do with some similar tool, or cook something else altogether.

One of my absolute mantras is that one needs to have the right tool for a job. You might think that throwing a smoothie into a food processor will work (because you packed the blender), but you’re wrong. Not only does it not yield a respectable smoothie but it makes a horrible mess. Then there is trying to make a roux with a fork instead of a whisk because, well you know where the whisk is, and it’s not in the kitchen.

Another non-food example. I just spent a day and a half trying to wire cat5 plugs around the new house. A buddy of mine had most of the tools to do this save for a punch tool to seat the wires properly. We tried to punch them down using everything from a tiny screwdriver to a pen. None of the connections were solid. An hour back and forth to buy the right tool and suddenly we were flying through the job. The right tool makes all the difference. Was $50 expensive to get it? Not in light of what it would have cost to hire someone to do the job.

You should remember that when you’re running your business. The right tools – and I include the right people in that category – makes all the difference. Spend the extra buck on software that works for you and don’t try to shoehorn your business into some freeware that really isn’t right. Sure, there are a lot of very good free tools out there but most of them begin to charge you as you reach the enterprise level. Make sure they’re worth paying for before you get too embedded in their platform.

Finally, spend more on good people that are right for your company and right for the job. Having a fantastic free design tool is great but you need someone that knows how to use it or the results will look amateurish.

Having the right tool makes an excellent finished product much easier to obtain. Using a shoe to drive a nail rarely works, don’t you think?

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January 9, 2019 · 11:14 am

TheYear Of You

So here we are again at the start of a new year. If you haven’t already started to implement your resolutions for the year, let me humbly offer a suggestion that should be a part of them. Make this the year of “you.” To be clear, I’m not suggesting that it be a year of self-centered egomania. In fact, I’m suggesting quite the opposite, and I’m doing so because it will improve your business. As a bonus, it may also improve your non-work life.

How does one go about making it the year of “you?” Start by this: quit saying “I.” Stop thinking about your business’ bottom line and focus on solving your customers’ problems. Don’t put out messages about what people can buy from you. That’s selfish. Focus on how what you’re selling helps. Ask “how can I help you” and not “how can you help my bottom line.”

Let me show you how the “you” focus works because it is something I try to practice here in this space. My focus is on what I hope is important to you. I try to have an outward focus. If all I did was blabber on about what’s important to me, we’d be indulging in a discussion of the new rules of golf or my incompetence at beating certain video games. That doesn’t help you at all and I suspect after 10 years of that my readership would be down to just me. By writing this, which takes time and effort, I’m hoping to grow both the audience and my credibility and I don’t ask for anything in return. OK, once in a while I will remind you that I consult and if you want to look at franchise opportunities, I want to help you do that, but that’s about as far as it goes.

It goes beyond a customer focus. Suppose you’re going after a new job or a new client. Your best strategy is to focus on the needs of your potential employer and client instead of plugging your own skills. Nobody cares about your craft if you fail to make it relevant to them.  You have to change your pitch to suit your audience. I can’t tell you how many pitch meetings I’ve sat through that were generic and which failed to address MY problem as a potential customer or partner. Generally, no sale.

Don’t talk about what you do. Ask yourself if you were your potential client or listener how your service is relevant to them. Don’t be the one at the party who talks only about themselves. Don’t ask “how do YOU like MY outfit?” Ask “how can I help YOU?” If we all do that this year, it will be quite a good year indeed don’t you think?

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December 28, 2018 · 1:16 pm

Top Foodie Friday Post Of 2018

The most-read Foodie Friday post that I wrote this year was written in October. I can’t recall what prompted the thought behind it although I suspect it had to do with some unappetizing takeout food. As the new year approaches, some of you might be making up lists of thing you will do differently and, hopefully, better. I’d urge you to put your best steak forward, which was the original title of this piece. Enjoy!

It’s Foodie Friday and we’re back to our regular nonsense here on the screed. Today I want you to think back to that time when you ordered takeout and it was not very good. I’m sure you’ve had such an instance: we all have. Maybe you ordered some fried dumplings that showed up as soggy as your recently washed laundry. Maybe the pasta dish you ordered had aggregated itself into a small object better suited for football than eating. Maybe you ordered a steak frites to go and it didn’t travel well. No one likes soggy fries and a cool steak doused in cooling, congealing butter.

For many restaurants, takeout has become a critical part of their business. Life today often leaves little time for cooking at home, especially during the week. Think about how many places you know that have only a few tables but do a ton of takeout. The growth of delivery services and apps has accelerated the trend while actually decreasing profitability (the services take a cut of the bill and in many cases, it’s close to the entire margin on the order). I’m not sure, however, that many restaurateurs put enough thought into putting their best products out there for takeout. Why sell something that you know won’t travel well?

Putting your best steak forward, so to speak, is something that every business should do. The most customer-friendly takeout situations have a separate counter to speed customer service. They might have a menu that’s priced a little differently since the costs of servicing a customer are different. They pack hot foods apart from cold foods and they take care to make sure that condensation in the hot food doesn’t make it soggy (vent holes, people). As with any customer encounter, how you present your brand matters. I wouldn’t even offer to sell a customer a product that I know won’t travel well. If they’ve enjoyed it before in my place, they’ll be disappointed. If it’s their first time, they won’t be back. We see this in businesses that take on jobs for which they’re ill-suited. I’ve turned down many opportunities over the years to build people websites since my ability to design and to code is not up to my ability to perform other tasks. That’s not my best steak.

Is that something your business is doing? Are you gathering data and keeping records of every customer interaction? Are you constantly looking for feedback so you can adjust your menu? Are you putting your best steak forward each and every time?

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