Your 60 Seconds

Can you tell me what you do and how I can benefit from it in 60 seconds or less?  If not, you might not hold my attention.

My friend, Jess Wood has a great way of explaining how most business owners are tired from the marching band of salespeople and their constant badgering for new promotions that can increase sales, lower costs, etc.  At most, the tired business owner will give you 60 seconds to make your pitch.  Can you do it?  Can you prove your worth in that time?

We, as business owners, should have the same pitch for ourselves.  How am I going to go out and gain business if I can’t explain myself succinctly and informatively on a moment’s notice.  Nobody want’s to hear me fumble for words when I explain what I do.

Here’s my 60 second sales pitch for WildWood Catering:

“My name is Jonathan Kaufman and I own WildWood Catering.  WildWood is a boutique full-service catering company headquartered in South County who uses the freshest seasonal ingredients to make simply delicious food, highlighting the natural flavors of what grows and is cultivated all around us and in our backyards.

Our services include weddings, large parties, cocktail parties, plattered and individually wrapped lunch deliveries, dinner parties, private dinners, and of course custom events.  We specialize in all things farm to table.

We’re a scratch kitchen who sources all our ingredients as local as we can.  We strive to be the innovative leader in Rhode Island catering to deliver a creative twist on your everyday favorites, while remaining true to the natural ingredients we use.

We travel the entire state of Rhode Island as well as Eastern Connecticut and South Eastern Massachusetts.  We have a reputation of ‘wowing’ our clients and their guests.  Let Wildwood Catering wow you and your guests at your next event.”

Building Your Sphere

Everyone should have a close network of professionals in his or her group of friends whom you can refer people to.  They should be industry specific and good at what they do.  They should be related to your industry, but do something that you don’t.  Someone in my networking group this morning called it his “sphere”.  The larger our sphere the better.

A contractor should know an electrician, a plumber, a mason, etc.  A realtor should know a mortgage broker, a real estate lawyer, a building inspector.

As a caterer, I’ve made relationships with cake decorators, florists, bartenders, rental companies, photographers, a distillery, and a handful of venues among other related professionals.

Don’t dilute your sphere with those who don’t deserve being a member.  Make sure they’re willing to pay it forward.  They should appreciate the business you give them and be willing to reciprocate.

Most importantly, make yourself a powerful resource for the members of your sphere.  The more you do for them and their clients, the more your sphere and its clients will do for you.

And the larger your sphere is, the more business opportunity you can have.

Goals and Personal Growth

Dude, setting goals is seriously important.  It sets benchmarks and something to strive for.  But be prudent!  It’s important to think about these goals.  Don’t let yourself set random “New Year’s Resolutions”.

Goals must be realistic, attainable, and make you work to achieve.  Set a plan to achieve them.  Dave Ramsey is right when he says, “A goal without a plan is just a dream.”  How do you expect to reach a goal if you have no plans on how to do it?  Even a simple plan is fine.  It doesn’t need to be too complex, as long as it’s thought out and logical.  And make sure to revisit your goals regularly.  I revisit mine every month and adjust them if I need to.

Push your friends, family, and colleagues to set goals too.  Sharing them with each other will help push you to succeed.  I want to succeed in the eyes of my peers.  And I want to see my peers succeed too.  I’m going to push them and hold them accountable for their goals as I hope they will for me.

As a company, we set goals for ourselves, both personal and professional.  We’re completely open about them share them so we can be held accountable.

My 2013 personal goals are:
Start saving $$ this year
Back to a healthy diet
Lift 3-4 times/week
Be able to run 4 miles without stopping all year round
Read 4 cookbooks
Read 2 leadership books
Read 2 novels
Visit Seattle
Blog 2x/week
Revisit goals monthly

My 2013 professional goals are:
Open up a second store
Find a potential spot for UMelt in Providence
Expand Wildwood Catering
Work more on the line in the kitchen
Volunteer regularly at a non profit
Revisit goals monthly


What are your 2013 goals?

Staff Meetings

They’re expensive.
They’re time consuming.
They’re boring.
They’re never-ending.
They’re painfully early.

Right?

Well, not necessarily...

My staff meetings are short, sweet, to the point, and they’re engaging.  I’m not interested in standing up at a podium and bellowing at my staff like peons.  We’re all here to openly discuss our current standings, praise our accomplishments, acknowledge our failures, and make any necessary adjustments to continually improve ourselves, our product, our customer service, and our brand.

We always have and have always had open communication with the entire staff.  They’re encouraged to give input and in turn we’re able to address key issues promptly and implement quick and swift changes.

Everyone including the owners are given weekly “To Do’s” and held accountable for them.  Anything from painting stairs or a cleaning project to more Facebook posts and new product and uniform ideas.

But it ain't free.  Bringing in our team every Friday for a couple of hours costs money.  So it’s important to use this time wisely and productively.  It has the potential to be one of the most productive times during your week.  You know the Power of One Hour.

Keeping everyone in the loop makes everyone feel involved and gives a sense of pride over the store.  I want that.  I want my staff to have a sense of ownership.  Therefore every member of the team has a personal stake in our continued improvement.

If everyone had a sense of ownership at his or her jobs, businesses would be more successful.  And we want to be the most successful of them all.

Closed For You

Sometimes you can break the rules to get by.  Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission as “they” say.

But I don’t mess around with food.  I play it safe.  It’s not worth making someone sick.  I take pride in my establishment and its reputation.  And I take pride in myself and my own reputation.  

If we can’t open the store, we don’t open the store.  If the food may be bad, we throw it out.  As my friend Ben coined, “When in doubt, throw it out!”

The Customer is Always Right

Always.  Period.

Sure there are exceptions to every rule.  But our approach to customer service shouldn’t be to determine the validity of the customer.  Our approach, and our goal should be to make this customer want to come back.  Being right and saving your $8.99 purchase isn’t worth losing a customer.  Seth Godin writes in his most recent blog post:

The customer who seeks out your help isn't often looking to deplete your bank account. He is usually seeking validation, support and a path to feeling the way he felt before you let him down.

Who cares if she actually asked to hold the mayo or not.  If she says she did, she deserves my support as a patron to my business.  What’s that statistic about telling bad experiences vs. good ones?  It doesn’t even matter because if one person leaves my establishment unhappy, I'm not doing my job right.

Signatures

Today I signed my first paychecks.  Putting my own signature down on on everyone's paycheck gave me a real sense of ownership.  It felt amazing.

...and then I saw the total!