5 Tips for Running a Lean Operation

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5 Tips for Running a Lean Operation

The best things in life are simple.  The same concept applies to running your business! Running a lean operation correctly is the most efficient way to foster growth without adding a ton of stress to you, your employees and your pocket book. The less moving parts needed to keep your business running efficiently, the better. If you feel your business is spiraling out of control, you’re tired of staying up all night just to get your work done for the day, or you feel like there is just way too much on your plate, it’s most likely because you’re trying to run a “flashy” operation, not a lean one.

The rule that small business owners must live by is innovate or die. If you aren’t consistently looking to make your business operate more efficiently, even in periods of expansion, you can’t expect your business to stick around for the long game. Regardless of the industry that you are in, these same rules apply. You must always be on the search for new ways to streamline your processes.

The good news is that achieving a lean operation is much easier than it may initially appear. Small changes will add up over time. Before you know it, your business will be back on track – minimizing costs and maximizing profits at every turn. Most importantly, you’ll be able to use the time you get back on establishing a healthy work-life balance.

How can you achieve a lean operation? Let’s discuss some tips and tricks you can use in your business to identify and remove unnecessary and wasteful processes. But first, it’s important to fully understand the meaning of a lean operation.

What is the ultimate goal of lean operations is to have?

The principles of “lean operation” were born in the manufacturing sector by Toyota in the 1980s. They were wasting far too many parts in their manufacturing process and decided to make a significant move: instead of building to meet specific sales projections, they began to manufacture vehicles as orders were placed.

Following these same principles, running a lean operation refers to removing unnecessary processes, products, or anything else in your business that may be causing additional financial stress. It’s all about keeping only the things that you need and getting rid of anything you don’t. Running a lean operation is a never-ending journey. It is not something you do one weekend.

The motto you need to commit to heart as a small business owner is “innovate or die.” If you aren’t innovating, one of your competitors is. Don’t be left in the dust, and consistently look for ways to improve and simplify your operations.

Tip 1: Make Time for Improvement

This first and most crucial step is to dedicate time to focus on finding operational inefficiencies. We recommend that you schedule time at the beginning of every month to sit down and focus solely on ways to innovate and improve your processes.

We recommend around 10% of your total working hours should be devoted entirely to this innovation process. It may seem like a lot, but using this time to focus on improving your business as you expand will pay off in the long run. Once you find the time to do it (maybe on days you know your workload is less) mark it on your calendar and hold yourself to it.

Tip 2: It All Starts with A Solid Strategy

Now that you’ve scheduled your monthly operational assessments, you must come up with a strategy to make the required changes each month. This is the time to set goals for your business—tangible financial metrics to measure your progress.

Do you want to increase sales without hiring additional employees? Or would you like to automate certain aspects of marketing your business, freeing up time for you to focus on other areas? Whatever your goals are, write them down and hold yourself to them.

Tip 3: The Pareto Principle

Also commonly referred to as the 80/20 rule, the Pareto Principle created by Vilfredo Pareto in 1906 after he noticed that 80% of property in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He then began observing this same pattern in almost everything. The principle specifies “an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs. [It] states that 20% of the invested input is responsible for 80% of the results obtained,” according to Investopedia. Obviously, this principle is especially applicable to business operations.

Based off this principle, the Pareto Chart was created. The chart is a great way to visually represent which 20% of inputs are responsible for 80% of the outputs. It is a hybrid between a bar graph with a line plotting the percentage each of the inputs makes up. The y-axis of the chart is for frequency, and the x-axis is for your inputs. It can be a little tricky to figure out at first, but once you have a solid understanding, it can be incredibly useful in finding the snags in your operation.

Once you start thinking with the 80/20 mindset, you will immediately start to notice the biggest sources of your problems. It could be that one employee is responsible for 90% of the accounting errors, or that two clients are responsible for 80% of your sales.

Tip 4: Improve Efficiency from the Bottom-Up

Changing your overall systems isn’t something that should start at the management level. Instead, your most significant improvements in efficiency should begin on the front-lines of your operation – with your outward facing employees and the day-to-day processes they follow.

It is also important to empower your employees to make suggestions instead of ruling with an iron-fist approach. Your employees are the ones that work every day doing the same tasks, helping customers, and making sales. If they have an idea of how their job could be more efficient and save them time, take the time to listen to them and be flexible.

Give every reasonable idea a chance, and you might notice huge effects on the amount of time you spend managing, the number of sales they’re making, and how much less stress you have knowing your employees are working in a system they helped to create.

Tip 5: Cut Out ANY Inefficiencies

We get it – your business is your life. You’ve spent years coming up with the perfect product or service; dedicated vast sums of capital to getting it off the ground; and (most important!) your time and energy to make it work. Making changes to your business can feel like you’re dismantling your livelihood. However, to make your business operate more efficiently, you’re going to have to rip off the band aid.

Nothing is sacred in your operation. It doesn’t matter if you’ve invested hours in coming up with what you believe to be the perfect financial reporting system—if it isn’t working, get rid of it.

Making your business thoroughly efficient is a never-ending journey and is a constant balancing act of managing existing processes and finding new ways to optimize them. As you grow, continually optimizing your operations will become even more critical to your business’s success. A larger business can make it more difficult to control every operational aspect and you might need to seek out expert advice from industry leaders. Whatever the case may be, always be on the lookout for new ways to streamline your operation. This will lead to a healthier bottom line, less financial risks, and new core company strengths.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

WD

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The Pros and Cons of 9 Restaurant Location Types

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The Pros and Cons of 9 Restaurant Location Types

Do you decide on a restaurant location before or after the entire concept?

Restaurants involve both arts and science. Many of the decisions involving their creation and operations are driven by emotion or an artistic sense of what will appeal to the public and drive the success of the venture.

Most people have an idea of what they want their restaurant to be long before they find a potential site. Unfortunately for many of them, they are not willing or capable of making the changes that their market calls for. It is far easier to be a good matchmaker than back peddling a year or two down the road to re-engineer your concept. If you are totally set on a specific concept / menu, make sure you do your market research and ground work thoroughly before committing to a location.

Your concept / menu and brand are your business drivers. If people are attracted to what you are offering in food, service, ambience etc., your concept / menu should be strong enough to consistently attract patrons to fill your seats. It is your restaurants soul. If it doesn’t fit the market you are considering – move on.

Who is your customer?

Most restaurateurs have a fairly good idea of the type of restaurant they wish to open, even before they have a location. Rarely does it evolve the other way. Occasionally a more seasoned operator might find that one outstanding spot and create the right style of restaurant to fit that particular location.

In any case, before you do anything you need to answer the following questions:

  • Who is your primary target audience?
  • Who is your customer?
  • What is their price point?

Having definitive answers to these three questions is the key to the success of your new location.

Is it a young tech professional market? Hipster urbanites into eclectic funky places? Young families with mortgages seeking places that they can bring their kids? High income executives seeking more upscale environments? Baby boomers downsizing in a golf community? Whatever the market is – establish a clear vision of who you are trying to attract and serve. They may not be your entire customer base, but this will be the primary driver of sales.

Who lives and works here?

With the vision of your primary target audience upfront in your mind, you can begin the search. An old restaurant site search standard states – “85% of your patrons will come from no more that 3 to 5 miles from their bedpost”. People will eat out more in close proximity to where they live and work.

When people are in transit, opportunity and accessibility will drive dining decisions as evidenced by diners and other quick serve restaurants popping up along major thoroughfares and highways. It is more about pass by traffic than it is about who lives there.

Decide what is most important to you?

Did you stumble across what you believe to be a killer location without consideration for the target market or specific restaurant concept? Are you married to a single concept / menu that fits your skill set? Is it more important to be located in the new hot neighborhood or are you seeking population density or a certain income demographic profile? Is your budget the biggest consideration?

Make sure you get your priorities clear, because once on the hunt, emotions often take control of reason and many buyers find a thousand reasons to justify a really bad decision.

What type of location best fits your vision?

9 Advantages and Disadvantages:

1. Urban Commercial / “Downtown” – Primarily commercial neighborhoods. Usually in a major metropolitan area surrounded by offices with little or no residential zoning.

  • Advantages – strong demand generators such as offices and retail. Potentially good lunch and early dinner business. Could be a great Monday through Friday business. Depending on the city, you might even get more favorable rents.
  • Disadvantages – less local traffic because of light residential component. Serious drops in traditional dinner business and on weekends, vacation periods, holidays etc.

2. Urban Mixed Use / “Uptown” – Greater residential component. Mixed residential, commercial and sometimes offices. Smaller businesses and local shops may be the only demand generators.

  • Advantages – stronger dinner business and late night business with ability to build regular clientele. High concentration of urban apartment dwellers.
  • Disadvantages – less commercial / corporate office traffic. Lunch can be extremely tough in these areas.

3. Central Business District (CBD) / Retail Corridor – most often in a suburban setting. This is where everyone in town comes to shop and recreate. Think of this area as the “Town Center”.

  • Advantages – Often has strong local traffic. Area filled with demand generators. A true destination for residents of surrounding real estate. Usually a center for retail, entertainment and other restaurants. Clusters of restaurants provide shared exposure to market and offer diners variety and increased frequency in the area.
  • Disadvantages – Traditional retail is experiencing heavy challenges with decreasing traffic and competition for internet retailers. Heavy restaurant competition might not be advantageous if too many similar concepts compete for limited dollars. These locations are subject to community business fluxes such as school vacations, holidays, bad weather etc. Lunches will very often be soft and the vast majority of sales will be derived on weekends. Also, very often the cost of real estate may be artificially high due to limited availability of space and restrictive zoning.

4. Regional Mall – Most often a recognized stand-alone – a broad market region that attracts customers from a wide radius and offers heavy variety of retail, entertainment and restaurant options.

  • Advantages – Originally these locations offered high foot traffic and concentration of customers seeking to spend considerable time at the location. The traditional retail environment is changing and compressing and they no longer attract the same traffic as in years past. Today the primary drivers of traffic to regional malls are very often the restaurants and entertainment venues like movie theaters. Clusters of restaurants provide shared exposure to market and offer diners variety and increased frequency in the area. Competition is usually restricted (ie. Only one Italian restaurant or steakhouse permitted). Plenty of parking.
  • Disadvantages – Dying traditional retail traffic. High cost for rent, common area charges and build out continue despite recent developments in retail contraction. Independent restaurants are forced to compete against well-financed national chains. These locations are subject to community business fluxes such as school vacations, holidays, bad weather etc. Typically the majority of sales will be derived on weekends. Operators are subject to strict mall operating rules governing hours of operation etc.

5. Big Box Retail / Freestanding Pads – Big draw retailers and discount houses like Costco and Walmart that attract regional car traffic but very little foot traffic. Freestanding pads in front of these locations are primarily the domain of national restaurant chains and high volume independent regional chains / operators.

  • Advantages – Big foot print. High exposure to highways and vehicle traffic. Big boxes are demand generators that give visual exposure to restaurant. A cluster of restaurants on pads offers greater traction. A true destination for residents of surrounding real estate. Competition is usually restricted. Plenty of parking
  • Disadvantages – Often have a high cost for build out and rent, common area charges. Deals for pad sites are typically for land leases requiring the operator to pay for the build out of the facility as many landlords have eliminated or reduced their contribution to tenant improvements even for highly qualified operators. If the developer / owner of the complex agrees to pay for build out with cost recovered through future rent payments, escalations can crush the long-term viability of the restaurant. High demand for these locations from well organized national chains and franchises make it difficult for some independents to compete.

6. Strip Center Retail – These smaller clusters of retail stores, restaurants and service providers like banks, supermarkets and Post Offices are built in line to address the needs of local communities.

  • Advantages – If tenant mix is good it draws people to the location for multiple reasons. Offers higher visibility as a destination for residents of surrounding area. Competition is usually restricted. Parking is usually positive. Rents are generally competitive.
  • Disadvantages – Most favorable location in many strip centers are the “end caps” otherwise visibility and logistics might be compromised. Tenant mix is vital to generating foot traffic. Poor mix results in negative perception of center with negative spillover on the restaurant. Parking may be at a premium with restaurant competing with other businesses for parking spaces.

7. Non Traditional Outlets / “Hermit Crabs” – these are anything from concession stands in food courts to snack shops in gas stations, to rest stop eateries on highways, to corporate dining rooms, or lunch rooms in office complexes.

  • Advantages – Captive audience. Limited hours of operation. Often little or no rent as an amenity to the building. Facilities often managed and maintained by sponsor / landlord.
  • Disadvantages – Little outside exposure to customers except in the case of rest stops etc. Limited hours compress your flexibility to build additional day parts for business.

8. Seasonal Operations – these can be anything from restaurants that operate at ski resorts to waterside with outside dining. These restaurants can experience radical business fluxes and are totally dependent on seasonality.

  • Advantages – High traffic in season. Local demand generators build solid market base. An operator can earn a solid return for the year within a few months of operation.
  • Disadvantages – Limited prime trade time presents considerable risk particularly if area is weather dependent i.e. if there is no snow at a ski resort one winter, or it rains every weekend at an ocean side resort town in summer. Operator very often must pay rent all year even if operating for only a few months a year. Building a new staff every year is difficult and expensive. Consistency is often in jeopardy from year to year.

9. Specialty /Ambience Driven / Charm Locations – unique restaurants that offer ambience as a primary motivation for customers. Quaint country inns, roof top restaurants with dramatic views, restaurants on cruise boats etc.

  • Advantages – Traffic is driven by the location / atmosphere making execution important. Very often the special occasion restaurant of choice. High recognition as supported by the unique character of the restaurant.
  • Disadvantages – Usually not the “everyday” restaurant, therefore has limited market. Most often a special occasion or recreational restaurant. Physical character of restaurant may not be strong enough to sustain interest of customers. Might be out of the way and if it isn’t supported by additional demand generators, it may not be viable.

Check out even more on how to improve your restaurant with “11 Best Ways a Restaurant Can Go Digital.” [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

WD

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How Do Small Business Administration (SBA) Loans Work?

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How SBA Loans Work

Next up in the “How It Works” series let’s take a look at how  SBA loans work

Every business is unique.

What works for one may not work for another. With a range of choices, each with its own unique requirements and mechanisms, how do you identify which type of financing is best for your business and your needs at this time? You should start with the basics with a full understanding of your situation.  You need to be clear about what you want/need versus what your business can take on. Whether you want capital immediately, or sometime later in a lump sum, or phased over time, take stock of your situation and needs first and then consider your financing options.

Let’s take a look at one of the most frequently used business financing options available to small businesses:

How SBA Loans Work – Small Business Loans through SBA

Government-backed Small Business Administration (SBA) extends aid to all small businesses via loans that help them to not just start up a business but to also sustain and grow that business. While the agency itself does not provide financing, it makes affordable loans available through SBA approved lenders like banks. These loans are designed to meet very specific business purposes, so it is important to understand each of these options before applying for an SBA loan. Though cheaper, you may find it difficult to qualify for these loans. Many individuals are disqualified due to  insufficient collateral, low credit scores or falling within an unqualified category.

SBA loan programs are designed to meet major financial requirements of varied small businesses. These include microloans, real estate loans, equipment loans, and basic loans under the 7(a) program. You can use the loans provided through the 7(a) program for a variety of purposes – setting up a new business, acquiring a business, purchasing equipment and machinery, or as an influx in working capital, among others

How SBA Loans Work – Eligibility

The general small business loans from the 7(a) program are the most popular among all SBA loans. Since these loans are guaranteed by federal agencies, lenders can offer businesses very lucrative and flexible terms for these loans. It is no secret that the 7(a) loans through the SBA are by far the best way for any small business to get financing if they are able to qualify.

To be eligible for 7(a) loans a business must be for-profit; operate within the United States; show a business need for the funds, and – most importantly – show proof that you’ve exhausted all other avenues and financial resources before applying. This means, you will need to have used your own personal assets, reached out to family and friends, and be able to show that you applied for and had been declined by a traditional lender. It’s no wonder, then, that most small businesses find these loans out of their reach. In fact, a 2016 Forbes report points out that, “The head of the U.S. Small Business Administration has cited industry estimates that 80 percent of small business loan applications are rejected.”

How SBA Loans Work – What you should know 

  • Lowest cost option for small businesses looking for financing to start up or grow a business.
  • Offered by traditional and alternative lenders and backed by government guarantee.
  • Multiple types of loans and grants depending on business type and need.
  • Businesses applying for a loan must first use other resources including personal assets.
  • Personal guarantee required by business owners or top management of the company.
  • Long application and funding process compared to alternate financing options.

SBA loans may be a good option when:

  • Working capital is needed to expand the business over the next few years.
  • Consolidating loans from multiple lenders.
  • Hiring new employees or opening a new location.
  • Recovering from declared disasters.
  • Your business is impacted by NAFTA.

SBA loans may not be an option when:

  • Working capital is needed immediately for a very short term.
  • Consolidating loans will require the company to take a loss.
  • Business owner cannot provide a personal guarantee.

Besides the general 7(a) loans, the SBA provides 7(a) loans to cover special situations like companies conducting business in underserved communities and companies looking to expand export activities. There are also microloans up to $50,000, and special programs to help businesses recover from declared disasters. To learn more about SBA loans visit their website right here. Many traditional and alternative lenders also help businesses navigate through the process of applying for these loans.

Want to learn more about your options? Here are the pros and cons of the revenue-based financing.

Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

WD

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How It Works: Revenue Based Financing

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How It Works Revenue Based Financing

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Revenue-based financing provides small businesses with quick access to capital. But, it is not a loan. Instead is a purchase of your future sales.
  • With quicker approval times and lower credit score requirements, revenue-based financing can be a great financing option. But, it will directly impact daily cash flow as a percentage of your daily or weekly sales are deducted as repayment.
  •  This form of financing is ideal for businesses with an immediate need for funding, those without adequate collateral, or those not meeting the criteria for traditional loans.

Are you looking for small business loan and alternative financing options?

This is by far the most frequently used option for small business financing. Revenue-based financing allows small businesses to take financing against their continued business success. The oldest form of revenue-based financing is the popular Merchant Cash Advance (MCA). This option truly aligns the interests of both parties. That’s because the financing partner only gets paid if the small business continues to be viable and successful.

It is no wonder then that merchant cash advances continue to see a healthy increase

A 2016 report on Merchant Cash Advance/Small Business Financing Industry byBryant Park Capitalnotes that, “the volume of merchant cash advances provided to U.S. SMEs has steadily increased over the last couple years, projected to reach $15.3 billion in 2017, up from an estimated $8.6 billion in 2014.”

Not surprising, considering quick upfront capital can make a huge difference to any small business. Typically, revenue-based financing provides a lump sum of cash to a small business. This is with the understanding that it will dip into a fixed percentage of the future sales. It’s a great option for any small business owner who is looking at short-term financing (between 6-18 months), cash flow and working capital.

A few years back, merchant cash advances were limited to those businesses that received customer payments via credit or debit cards – like bars, nail salons, restaurants, retailers, and other forms of B2C companies. But now, with advancements in the system, merchant cash advances can work for almost any type of small business.

While merchant cash advances give your business that financial backup, it’s also important to know that it directly impacts your daily/weekly cash flow. Good lenders ensure that the funds they advance to merchants ensure healthy growth in the business even when daily/weekly remittances are being taken from the business’s revenue stream. Uninformed merchants can easily fall prey to unscrupulous lenders who can overburden a business’s cash flow. Therefore, small businesses applying for a merchant cash advance should first make an objective analysis of whether this service is best suited for their business.

What you should know about revenue-based financing

  • Quick access and faster approval of the application.
  • Much lower credit score requirement compared to a traditional loan.
  • Qualification does not require secure assets.
  • A fraction of the company’s daily/weekly sales goes toward its outstanding financing amount.
  • Supports payments to be processed against both credit card and cash payments (ACH).
  • Instead of fixed monthly payments regardless of the business performance, the remittances are tied to the success of the business.
  • Flexibility of daily/weekly payments with the ability to true-up payments against the actual performance of your business provides peace of mind and extra cushion when times are lean.
  • There is an immediate impact on your business cash flow.

Revenue-based financing may be a good option when:

  • The small business will not meet SBA loan requirements.
  • There is an immediate need for funding.
  • The company does not have enough collateral for traditional long-term loans.

Revenue-based financing may not be an option when:

  • The funds will provide only temporary reprieve but cause irreparable harm to cash flow.
  • The business already has a number of outstanding loans or advances.
  • Your credit score is below 550. In this case, alternate options like Factoring may be more appropriate.

It’s important to remember that unlike other traditional loan options, which are usually backed by a collateral or federal guarantee, this financing type presents a great risk to the alternative lender. That is why it is a more expensive financing option compared to traditional loans. Businesses should therefore thoughtfully consider when this option makes sense for them and carefully vet the alternative lender.

Bernadette Abel

Bernadette Abel

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Is Equipment Financing an Option For You?

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Is Equipment Financing an Option for You.

Every small business owner will agree that running a business is very exciting and challenging. From managing an office filled with computers and printers, break rooms and vending machines to purchasing on-the-ground supplies for transportation services or construction businesses, every piece of equipment matters. That is why equipment financing can be exceptionally beneficial in easing some of the burden associated with these tasks.

To keep your business operating seamlessly, everything must be planned. However new opportunities seldom present themselves with a clean plan. Business owners may often find themselves in need of purchasing new equipment to make the most of a new lucrative opportunity.

Equipment financing eases these worries and bolsters your growth by catering to the needs of your business without any down-payment. Equipment financing is ideal for small businesses who have vehicle fleets, towing companies, construction contractors, medical practices, and those that have a large warehouse.

5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT EQUIPMENT FINANCING

1. It’s a great way to get a leg up on your competition

With equipment financing, you can have the most advanced equipment in your sector without adversely impacting the financial health of your small business.

2. Do your homework

Ensuring the right quality of equipment financing is a top priority for any small business owner. Carefully consider some basic parameters before entering into an agreement for equipment financing, including the amount of cash required, fees and alternate equipment upgrade options.

3. Questions to consider before pursuing new equipment

How will the new equipment add revenue or reduce costs for your business? How essential is it to supplement the growth of your business, cash flow, and profits? Then choose a lender whose terms suit your requirements.

4. Balance your cost and cash flow

While the approval process for equipment financing is fast and hassle-free, things can get quite tricky if you don’t balance your cost and cash flow. For example, the cash flow is impacted if you repay over a short term. If you select a long-term repayment, then you end up paying a lot of money on the lure of low payments. Therefore, choose a repayment term that is in sync with your cash flow and what you can do easily on a monthly basis.

5. Be aware of associated costs

These costs can include insurance and maintenance. Many businesses forget to factor in these costs when looking for equipment financing. Don’t let yourself be one of them!

Should I Use Equipment Financing for My Next Purchase?

Equipment financing may be a good option when:

  • The cost of purchasing the equipment is too high to sustain on current cash flow.
  • You want to maintain the option of changing the equipment in some time to keep up with the latest technology.
  • The new equipment will give you an edge on the competition.
  • The new equipment will open up a new market or new line of business.

Equipment financing may not be an option when:

  • The total cost of ownership of the equipment, along with the associated fees, maintenance and insurance costs will introduce too much risk in the business.
  • There are cheaper options for used / re-traded equipment that would provide the same benefit to the business.

Planned equipment financing not only saves money but also helps small businesses to pursue other business goals. Used wisely, it is a great way to fuel growth in the business.

Get Your Complete Guide

This guide will cover even more than just equipment financing, but the many other options you may have!

Here’s whats covered:

  • Top 5 Fundamentals of Small Business Financing
  • The Most Popular Business Financing Options
  • Tips for Maintaining Strong Financial Health
  • How to Choose the Right Business Loan for You
Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

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4 Smart Strategies for Restaurant Partnerships

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How do you create a restaurant partnership?

People like to be social — and they like food even more. Consider the local buzz created around the opening of a new restaurant: features in the local paper, social media chatter and word-of- mouth from excited customers who all like to be the first to try the latest and greatest.

This type of buzz provides maximum impact during the launch of a business, but the local community can also sustain a business through its growth stages and attract enthusiastic investors. All it takes is establishing the right local partnerships.

For hospitality businesses, partnering with local suppliers yields huge benefits. The results of any marketing effect can be exponential because businesses can cross-promote. Also, a successful business that is deeply embedded in the local community is one that is sustainable.

With partners from local farmers to local banks, a well-established business is a beacon for investors. Here are some examples of partnerships in local communities that produce a win-win for all involved.

1. Team Up With Local Food Suppliers

Increasingly, eateries are partnering with local farms to promote the popular “Buy fresh, buy local” trend. For example, a restaurant might use grass-fed beef or locally raised chicken from farmers in the area, and they make sure to promote the supplier on the menu. In turn, the farmer promotes the local restaurants it supplies. All partners benefit from cross-marketing and increased visibility on partners’ websites and in local media.

Take Barrel 21, for example. This popular Pennsylvania distillery and restaurant features local suppliers on its website. The eatery relies on grass-fed beef, milk and corn from local farmers; bread from a local baker; and chocolate from a local chocolate maker. In fact, even “Dan the Fish Man” who line-catches the restaurant’s Alaskan and smoked salmon gets a mention on the site.

2. Partner With Craft Beer Brewers

Many restaurants boost brand visibility by teaming up with local craft beer brewers. There is great demand for new and unique products, and with creative names such as Dogfish Head Romantic Chemistry and Hoppy Ending Pale Ale, you may attract potential investors from around the country.

Often, a one-off beer gets pushed into the main restaurant so that customers can sample a new beer on a regular or rotational basis. Craft beer drinkers tend to spend more and become loyal customers who visit more frequently.

3. Collaborate With Food Cooperatives

In addition to local farms, local agricultural cooperatives can offer valuable relationships in terms of cost benefits and marketing opportunities. Fueled in part by the local food movement, cooperatives are on the rise.

These types of organizations host educational events, informal farm tours, annual meetings and social events for all members and the public. Partnering with a cooperative can also give a restaurant statewide reach that extends to supply chain stakeholders, not just patrons of local restaurants.

4. Get Involved in Community Events

Sponsoring popular local festivities such as holiday festivals, sporting events and cuisine- or culture-oriented markets can be ideal opportunities to increase visibility and goodwill towards and among the public and local businesses.

Restaurants can serve a sampling of their fare, sell products and have their name printed on merchandise for a more permanent reminder of their contribution to the social good. Consumers are demanding more responsibility by businesses, and Millennials in particular gravitate toward businesses that practice corporate social responsibility by giving back to the local community.

Food for Thought

The opportunities for partnerships go much deeper than simply promoting a beer or touting local grass-fed beef. In fact, the possibilities for partnership activities are limited only by the imagination.

Outreach to local communities and businesses is a smart growth strategy with a great deal of potential. Investors know that the restaurant business is a competitive industry with narrow margins. Pursuing ROI from local partnerships can benefit everyone involved.

Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

WD

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Have the USPS Clean Up Your Mailing List

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Before you send out your next direct mail pieces, make sure your mailing lists are 100% accurate. It’s awful to have to pay for postage, only to find out later that you had incorrect addresses or duplicates in your list. Going through a 1,000+ contact list can be tedious and time consuming. However, there are ways to make this process easier.

The USPS actually offers and suggests various verified tools to clean up your list before it gets mailed out. You can submit a printout to the postal service and they will make note of any required changes. While there is a fee associated with this service, the money you save clearing out incorrect addresses in advance can cover that cost and then some. There are also other USPS verified sources that you can use to check and maintain your mailing lists, such as NCOALink. This licensed vendor will run your mailing list through their software and will update the addresses of people who filed a change of address through USPS.

 

Consistently utilize these services and you’ll never waste money on an undeliverable mail piece again.

Bernadette Abel

Bernadette Abel

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How One Woman Bucked the Publishing Trend and Built a New Media Brand in Just 6 Years

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Like many veteran journalists, Laura Rich found herself blindsided by the 2008 financial crisis. Many publications began cutting staff and instituting severe cost-saving measures. But rather than move into public relations or to another corporate job, she took a gamble and grew a publication from scratch. Now after six years, she just sold the business and is staying on with the company to help grow it further.

In 2008 Rich was working at Conde Nast‘s ill-fated business magazine, Portfolio. It was the latest in a slew of high-profile publications that she worked at including Inc., Fast Company, The Industry Standard, and AdWeek. But early in 2009, like so many other people, she was out on her own after Portfolio folded. Media chiefs around the world watched in horror as advertising revenues dropped precipitously.

Along with two other women, she launched RecessionWire in December 2008. It was a website aimed at helping people deal with the new economic reality of mass unemployment and reduced access to credit. “We saw there was a whole group of people who needed to understand what was going on,” says Rich. Given that recessions, even bad ones, don’t last forever the website was always going to have a limited shelf life. The site shuttered in 2010.

Planting a new seed

Around that time, with her newly acquired knowledge of running an independent website, Rich saw a new potential opportunity. It was one she thought might have some legs.

“In early 2010 I started noticing that Foursquare, Groupon, and other similar companies were disrupting hyperlocal marketing, and that industry had no name and no center,” she says. “I thought it was interesting and a great opportunity.”

Specifically, such companies were disrupting the way local businesses were interacting with local consumers. The past ways of using local newspapers and the Yellow Pages were now being supplanted.

So with $50,000 raised from family and friends, she launched Street Fight in February 2011 with her as CEO and publisher. The content in Street Fight was about best practices for hyperlocal marketing; and their conference-style events brought this community of people together to meet each other and share stories and ideas. “Street Fight was the place that brought that all together,” Rich says.

The hardest thing?

She says the most difficult part was finding the right people. In Street Fight’s case that would mean employees would need to be comfortable working in remote locations as part of a tiny workforce. It was quite different from the world of glossy magazines where she had worked for so long.

“Many of the people who worked in my past offices would not have survived,” she says, pointing out that her partner in the business worked in Providence while she was located in Boulder. She says, initially, there were some problems in finding the people to fit into the team culture, but eventually it worked out. “We have five people who have been with us since the start,” she says. Such employees were able to work independently without constant supervision.

Moving on and up

In 2016, she had a thought: “We’ve been doing this five years and we need to take it to the next level,” she says. “We needed to juice it, so we went looking for a buyer who would understand our business.”

She had previously developed materials to help raise capital when the company first started.

“So we updated our deck with our current financials and made a list of companies we wanted to approach,” she says, and details that there was a “dream list” of acquirers, a “middle list” and a “if nothing works out list.”

“Then we started going through our contact list and told them we wanted a buyer and a home for Street Fight,” she says. The result was a lot of meetings.

Brandify, a digital marketing company, was not on on the list because the main idea was to find a media company rather than a marketing one. But because the process was under way we mentioned it to them.

“They came back to us and said why don’t you talk to us,” says Rich. The rest is history. Brandify bought Street Fight. The deal closed on February 9, 2017. She won’t disclose the amount but says she’s staying on to help build the brand further.

Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

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How to Book More Tables Online

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Book More Tables at Your Restaurant

To give customers what they want, traditional brick and mortar retail is rapidly morphing into e-tailing, or electronic retailing. Providing customers a seamless omni-channel experience across multiple platforms requires technology to manage everything from online ads to checkout and payments.  But how do restaurants book more tables?

Many restaurant owners haven’t made the leap to e-tailing, either because they don’t see the benefits, or because they find it a challenge to adapt; however, effective tools for online booking with up-sell capabilities can turn a restaurant’s website into a robust online marketplace.

Online Booking Systems

Different than reservation systems, online booking systems manage venue rentals for events, accommodations and tours. Most booking systems use software that seamlessly integrates into your existing website using modules or plug-ins, unlike a third-party reservations sites like OpenTable. These systems feature calendar management, photo galleries, payment management, contract execution, and cancellation processes.

Additionally, these systems give you the ability to create alternative revenue streams.

Up-Sell Using Add-Ons

Seek a booking software provider that includes the “add-on” feature. It’s an extension that allows for the customization of add-ons during the online checkout stage. An add-on is the inclusion of additional products or services. This unique up-sell tool is a great way to maximize revenue generated through space rentals and special events.

Why stop at holiday parties when you can host year-around events? For instance, what about booking professional networking events, social mixers, wine classes, cooking classes, or selling online gift certificates? Bar owners might offer advanced seats when broadcasting sporting events.

Cost-Efficiency

Depending on your web platform, you may be able to use a free or a low-cost cloud-based service provider. Check out providers like Event Compass, Skeeda, Zozi Advance, or Checkfront.

And don’t panic if you’re not tech savvy. Most website management systems permit module and plug-in installs using “one-click install” from website control panels. If yours doesn’t, most providers offer tech support and easy to follow guides to get you up and running.

Read Attracting Holiday Business This Year for tips on booking more parties and creative add-on ideas to book more tables.

 

Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

WD

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The Next Wave of Medicine: When Transactional Medicine Becomes Personal

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After spending over 20 years in traditional fee-for-service medicine, Dr. Alex Lickerman knew there had to be a better way. During that time, he worked with patients and in healthcare administration equally, providing him with a unique perspective. He saw our health care system from both the patient and the profit side.

Physicians usually spend around 20 minutes per patient and profits could only increase if a physician saw more patients. This snowballed into overworked physicians and underserved patients, prompting him to seek ways to practice medicine while putting the patient at the forefront of care — as a true partner in their lives, in both health and wellness. “I was curious about how I could engage the patient and understand his or her values,” says Lickerman. “How a patient’s disease impacts his or her life is much more interesting to me than the disease alone.”

In 2015, Dr. Lickerman left the hospital system and went into private practice. He was committed to creating a practice that profited both patient and physician.  ImagineMD was born as a direct primary care model, often referred to as concierge medicine. His patients pay a simple fee of $135 per month. This covers all of a patient’s office visits, no matter the number each month. It also covers access to same-day and next-day appointments, visits that last an hour or more, and 24/7 access every day of the year directly to Dr. Lickerman himself — even after hours. Since making this move, his practice has grown. He credits his growth to simplifying the patient experience while also improving the quality of care he’s able to provide.

Q: Why did you decide to establish your practice as direct primary care instead of the traditional fee-for-service model?

Lickerman: After spending 20 years in both patient care and administration, I’d gotten a strong grip on what patient frustrations were with our current fee-for-service healthcare system. I didn’t want to see more patients to earn a living practicing medicine. That would mean I’d have less time to spend with each of those patients. Direct primary care allows me to build my practice on a simple fee model and get money out of the way of building a relationship between my patients and the care I can provide.

Q: How has your current business model allowed your practice to grow financially?

L: Well, there are a few answers to this. They all work together to create the growth in my practice.

First, I don’t accept insurance. In traditional fee-for-service practices, I’d estimate that approximately 30% of both time and revenue go towards the complicated process of insurance billing. Involving insurance makes a project much more complicated. There’s intricate software and the staff you have to hire to manage billing. It’s also complicated to track where and when all of your revenue is coming in when it’s divided up between a myriad of insurance companies.

By taking insurance billing out of the equation, my direct primary care model allows me to operate with a very lean, patient-centric staff. I also don’t have to spend time on physician-to-insurer conversations. It takes up a fair amount of time in a fee-for-service model. This frees me up to spend more time with my patients.

Secondly, I have less administrative weight on each visit I have with a patient. In a fee-for-service model, I had to make sure that chart notes for each patient’s diagnosis were “insurance-ready.” I had to prioritize documenting their medical issues over their care. My current model, since insurance isn’t involved, means my notes are for the benefit of myself, the patient, and any future physician we might have to interact with for their care. Again, it translates to less administration and more time to spend on patient-centric activities.

Finally, because I am able to increase both the time and care that I am able to give to all of my patients, they’re incredibly happy with their relationship with my practice. The majority of our new patients come by referral from existing patients. When we keep our patients well taken care of, they send us more people who want that level of service.

Q: Did patient satisfaction increase with your direct primary care model?

L:When you’re a physician seeing 20 patients a day for 20 minutes maximum each, the patient feels that. There’s a disincentive to see a doctor when you’re not feeling well. This is because of time spent, an impersonal experience, and the co-pay. My practice model and flat fee structure lets patients access me when they need me without worrying about the cost.

This means my patients see me more frequently and reach out to me as a partner in their health. I have the time to spend answering their questions — in the office, via email, or via phone. I can build relationships instead of receivables, yet still operate a profitable business that grows each month. Most importantly, the patients are happy with the kind of care they receive and the level of interest I take in their overall health and lifestyles. It’s an attractive feature for patients to feel they can reach out or go see their doctor whenever they have to.

 

Strategic Funding provides needed operating funds to small businesses. Strategic Funding has helped business in hundreds of industries.  Industries served include: restaurants, personal services, construction, medical, manufacturing, agriculture, retail stores, automotive, and food stores.

Wil Rivera

Wil Rivera

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