ABOUT ME
- Do you know the operational costs of each section of your business?
- How many revenue streams do you have for your business?
- Are you always too busy, leaving little time to create?
- Can you easily identify which products prepared in house have the highest Gross Margin?
- Do you have a grasp of the true wastage cost inside your operation?
- Is every day uninspiring, where it is hard work and not enjoyable?
- Would you like a fresh perspective to everyday foodservice problems?
Keep reading, and don’t let your dream become your nightmare
Who am I, and where did it all begin
Hey there, my name is Wayne, but you can call me Wayno. I was introduced to the Food Service industry at the young age of 12. It all started when I helped out in my parents Restaurant, after school and in the weekends. That small start, little did I know, would expand into another 31 years of Hospitality experience.
From Restaurants to Bars, Small Business outlets to Hotel chains. Each with its own unique style, and operational strengths. Perhaps the most common theme amongst them all was the lack of documenting detail in their systems and procedures. This is the basis to making things flow efficiently in business.
The seed is planted the growing begins
The areas where I gained the majority of my skills was, in large International Hotel chains, like “Ramada”, “Travelodge”, and “Angsana”, commencing in the early 1990’s. I started out as a Greeting Host for a large restaurant, and slowly worked my way around all Food and Beverage operations. Some of my roles were as Food Runner, Dish Washer, Waiter, Restaurant Supervisor, Barman, Bar Manager, Conferencing, Stage Person, Stores, Inventory Clerk, and Purchasing Manager.
By the late 90’s I was Managing the Procurement Dept for an Accor Hotel Brand. Only a couple of years later was transferred within Accor to Purchasing Manager for a large Hotel/Casino. In this role I was overseeing numerous cost centers, and outlets, reporting on product/sales statistics, and outlet consumption and profitability. Within 18 months at this Hotel I was offered an additional role as Regional Procurement Coordinator, negotiating supply agreements for our remote regional location.
The knowledge extends to opportunities
This was an enjoyable and challenging gig. I was always looking at ways to streamline things and work towards efficiency within the Hotel operations. I saw opportunities to do things more productively compared to what they were currently doing. There were untapped efficiencies to be made, systems and procedures to be reviewed, and the logistics involved to streamline. I conducted an audit of the operations and found myself compelled to make changes that would benefit everyone including me.
Here is a list of a few things I challenged myself to put into effect;
- Implemented Just in Time Purchasing
- Set up Desktop Ordering for Managers
- Established integration link between Point-of-Sale system, and Inventory System
- Linked Stock and Sale item Decrementation, for accurate end of month COG’s reports
- Real time Recipe creation and costings
- Negotiate rebate payable supply contracts
- Advised Managers on their top sales items and slow movers
- Planned and initiated stock supply, for promotions, and Special Events entertaining groups up to 5,000 people
- Accurate forecasting of stock requirements for negotiating contract supply
I spent a lot of time helping others, and resolving their problems. Listening to there problems and submitting suggestions and proposals, to uncomplicate things. Ultimately making their jobs easier so that they could spend more time managing their departments effectively. This gave me a sense of achievement to know that by helping people get what they want, they in turn made my job fundamentally so much easier. A win – win situation.
Taking my knowledge to Small Business
During the 6 years in this role, I had learnt so much from the outlet managers, and the various Departments that make up such a large International Hotel chain. Working with them and listening to their problems we worked together, to make their association with my department streamlined as best as possible. The resulting outcome – they did not have to worry about supply and costings as we provided everything they required.
By now I felt confident in taking this knowledge and putting it to practice in my first cafe venture.
Around 2008 I helped my wife, Rachel to buy a café, and I assisted by managing the bookwork for her, and spent a good part of my weekends taking the reins and understanding the business model. In the evenings after my work day, I allocated time ensuring that the business remained profitable, and that the costings and forecasting were inline, something I was good at.
After 12 months the cafe was getting busier so I gave away my 60-hour week job, and helped my wife run her small, but growing business. We were trading throughout the Global Financial Crisis, whilst growing the business year on year, and sold it 5 years later. At the time of sale, the business was returning a 29.7% Net Profit, not too bad for a food business operating during a bleak period in history.
Sometimes things challenge us more
After a 12-month break, we bought another café that had been closed for 6 months. With no goodwill, we opened up with with a fresh concept for our target corporate customers and renewed enthusiasm. This venture grew and developed at a slower than anticipated pace. We had to build this business with a new template, as the clientele were totally different to those of our previous venture.
Unable to commit to a 7-day week operation, we only traded Monday to Friday. We faced challenges with corporate businesses (a good chunk of our customers) closing around us. Other small retail businesses within our vicinity that had high traffic flow clientele were relocating. Other cafes were opening a few doors down, and were diluting an already small customer base by trading on pricing and volume.
The “Business Strip” landscape around us was constantly changing. Our biggest downfall was our location, and our inability to reach beyond our immediate area. We lacked knowledge in Internet Marketing, Website Design, and understanding marketing on all the socials which was then becoming the new business norm. Although we had a loyal following of customers around us, we could not grow beyond a certain point and after giving it our best efforts, sold in 2017.
This venture when I reflect back, has taught me so many additional things about the food business from new competition and and growing your customers, to marketing and promotion. It also highlighted how important it is to plan and operate efficiently within a small trading window. Having a cue of customers extending outside during lunch is not necessarily a good thing. In summary, Hospitality is an ever evolving business where you need to constantly adapt and grow. In my posts I want to share my successes and failures with you.
What’s in it for you
I am at a stage now, where I want to share my knowledge and experiences, to you and many other food business operators. I have had the fun and excitement of owning a Cafe, and dealt with the pressures of almost losing it all. It is now time to give back to an industry that has provided so much enjoyment, heartache, fun, sleepless nights, and learnings.
In today’s business arena we can no longer be average. I believe that with all things in life, you need to grasp the Fundamentals before you can tackle the technical aspects. You need to work smarter and not harder. It is my aspiration, to get you to question things about your business, understand where you need to concentrate your efforts, and to set up systems and procedures, so you do not need to be in your business for as long as you are every day.
At the end of the day, understanding café business matters, needs to be explored, and interpreted in order for a business to grow and develop.
If you are a business owner, you know what I mean. So, I invite you to follow my story and learn about “Cafe Business Matters”.
If you have a question or would like me to help solve a current problem, then reach out…I will do my best to help you grow because I know you can.
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