Tag Archives: management

April 17, 2020 · 3:04 pm

We’re Trucked

Believe it or not, it’s Foodie Friday again (I know, you can’t keep track of what day it is). Obviously, we’re not dining out here and I’m pretty sure you’re not either. We are, however, bringing in for from some of our regular haunts in an effort to support them during this difficult time. In a couple of cases, the restaurants are moving closer to us by rolling out their food trucks into various places nearby.

Food trucks are one of the businesses I represent along with dozens of other food franchises. I can tell you that the cost to open and operate one of these beasts is significantly less than for almost any other type of food place. I haven’t pulled any of the Franchise Disclosure Documents to check out the operating and earnings claims for trucks vs. brick and mortar but I’m thinking that the trucks probably have better margins.

Margins in the restaurant industry are notoriously small. While you might expect your margin in any other type of business to be north of 25%, in the restaurant world they run 3–9%. Not much room for error and definitely no room for the type of catastrophic business environment in which they’re trying to operate. Having a truck to roll out, either in lieu of or in addition to operating the brick and mortar joint for takeout might just be a lifesaver.

I could spend the rest of today’s screed talking about why the margins are so bad and what can be done about it. The two-word solution is “charge more” but I’ll leave that for another post. What I want us to think about today is how we can “food truck” our businesses. How can we find some other way to operate, maybe even in a more efficient, consumer-friendly manner once we get to whatever the new “normal” will be?  How will you calm your customers’ frayed nerves? How does your business have to change to mirror the changes in society, media consumption, supply-chain and each of the other factors and constituencies that make up your enterprise?

I find I’m spending more time talking to people about businesses that can operate out of the home.  I also remind them that no matter what business they’re evaluating, the process will take time. 2 months for a non-retail business and maybe as long as 5 months if you’re outfitting a store/salon/restaurant etc. The time to be planning and beginning the process is now. Borrowed money is cheap, there will be a glut of real estate, and you want to be ready when the new normal eventuates.

So how are you food-trucking your business?

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April 10, 2020 · 2:38 pm

Crisitunity

I think it’s Foodie Friday although it’s fairly easy to lose track when most days are pretty much the same these days as we all ride out the current pandemic crisis. While many businesses have been damaged and many people hurt, the restaurant business has been particularly hard hit. Most places have ordered them not to serve anything other than take-out. Order volume is way down. Many of the staff have been laid off or fired altogether. Couple that with the fact that the food business is generally a low-margin business to begin with and you have a dire situation.

Think for a minute how other industries are affected by the restaurant situation. Suppliers now face uncertainty. Landlords might not get paid. If they own the building that’s one thing but if they owe a lender payments, they’re in trouble as well. But as Lisa points out to Homer, a crisis is also an opportunity.



One thing I’ve noticed is that there is suddenly a much great awareness of the interconnectivity of all the constituencies of every business, restaurant and otherwise. It all starts with customers, of course, but also shows how critical everyone is and how many people touch a business. Need supplies? What if the delivery person can’t work and there aren’t replacements. What if the supply chain is interrupted due to hoarding? I’m sure you’ve seen that as stores began to see hoarding they imposed limits on the numbers of what could be bought, not to limit their sales but to make sure they were serving as many people as possible. I call it equity, you can call it fairness or whatever you like.


I’ve got friends who work in the food business. Some of them have been laid off. Others continue to work, taking the risk each day that they might become ill to help their restaurant survive during the crisis. They can’t work from home. When this is over, think about that as you’re wondering whether to tip the extra 5%.

I’m hopeful that other businesses will think more about equity. Will that mean higher wages, better working conditions, and increased benefits? I don’t know but I know we won’t be going back to the world as it was. I’m sure many great people are rethinking their choice of employer if not their career choices. I’m quite sure that many employers won’t have the same staff back, resulting in the loss of institutional memory, increased hiring and training costs, and even more lost time. What are they doing about that? Using the crisis to put the “new” world in the context of equity is a start. You can’t pretend nothing has changed. How are you going to?

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Filed under Helpful Hints, Reality checks, Thinking Aloud

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March 13, 2020 · 4:41 pm

Last Night’s Lesson

It’s Foodie Friday. We went out for a bite last night to one of the places that’s in the usual rotation. On most Thursday nights the bar is crowded and there’s often a wait to grab a table. Last night we pretty much had the bar to ourselves and there were tables available without any delay.

My buddy Tina the bartender said that business wasn’t great and I think we all know it’s due to the fear of the coronavirus. It’s hard to keep a safe distance from folks in a crowded bar or when tables are close together. While you expect your servers and cooks to have clean hands, it’s not a great time to find out otherwise. Apparently, my little microcosm isn’t much different from what’s been going on around the country and, I suspect, around the world.

What a number of food businesses (this one included) are doing is a great lesson for those of us in other businesses with respect to how to behave when the proverbial pandemic hits the fan. I’ve seen Facebook posts and received several emails from places I patronize and most of them have the same message. First, they aren’t minimizing the situation with any kind of casual joking (“Hey! Come on out and play! It’s just a little flu!”). Second, they all talk about both their normal cleaning process as well as the enhanced measures they’re taking during the crisis. This includes more frequent cleaning using higher-strength disinfectants and retraining of staff.

It’s the big guys too. Starbucks, which markets itself as a gathering spot (not something we’re being encouraged to do these days) has actually taken to limiting seating, spacing seats further apart, and even closed a store temporarily after a worker fell ill. The message is loud and clear: we place our customers and their health above the short-term profit hit we’ll take. Well, duh, people. Dead customers don’t buy things, so helping to prevent the spread of this virus is smart business no matter the cost.

Some places have amped up their delivery service. I’ve heard of other places that will bring your food to the curb so you don’t have to get out of your car if they don’t deliver. Who knows – maybe those services will become a normal part of their business going forward – we all know how delivery services’ menu of menus has grown over the last year or so. Acknowledging that not everyone is comfortable or able to go out for dinner at this time and not attempting to persuade them otherwise is being supportive and adult. That’s what any of our businesses need to be.

We overtipped last night (50%). Why? These are our friends and they might be hurting for the next month or so. If you get out, do the same. Buy a gift card at your favorite place, restaurant or otherwise, and use it down the road when you go back. We’re all in this together, right?

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