Restaurant Operators: Someone is stealing from you and it's not who you think...

My first year in business, a fellow restaurant owner advised me of the following:

"Trust no one in this business. The minute you think no one is stealing from you, will be the minute someone is stealing from you."

Coming from the corporate world, I thought he was overly cynical of the industry. Until I caught my first thief. It turned my stomach inside out. I never would have thought that someone could do that.

I had too much trust and one punk took that innocence away from me. Over the years, I have come to realize that those initial words of advice were more accurate than I thought.

Employee theft, customer theft, supplier theft and partner theft. It's everywhere. It seems like everyone is looking for a piece of the pie. Whether they feel entitled to it or not.

I wrote a book about employee theft. It's called "The Art of Restaurant Theft". You can download it for free at:  http://helpmeinc.ca

There's a bigger, deeper type of theft.
It isn't illegal, but it is highway robbery.
It is disguised by nice, smiling people, while they rip your bank account of all its cash.
It isn't a scam.
But it is wrong, nonetheless.

I recently analyzed two restaurants in similar markets. One restaurant had their food costs go up by 5% in 2 years. At first glance, it appeared that an employee might have been the culprit, either through theft, over portioning or waste.

The problem wasn't with an employee.
It was the food distributor.
In one year, food prices increased by more than 7%. Although the restaurant was raising prices to keep up with inflation, the food service supplier went well above inflation.
While the operator was asleep at the switch accepting the invoices without analysis.
When it was brought to the attention of the restauranteur, I was told that the folks at the distributor were like family. They would never do that to him.

A quick analysis showed that the operator was OVERBILLED by $50,000 a year for more than 4 years.
The food distributor legally STOLE $200,000 from this operator because he never thought to compare prices.

Relationships have value but not to that extent.
The distributor plays games. If they know you're watching the price of one item, they will be the cheapest in the market, while they inflate the prices of other items that are not being watched.

In the another case, the food distributor disguised prices by offering free vacations, rebate dollars and a free case of french fries from time to time. The second restaurant had a higher volume. In my analysis, they were overbilled for the same products by about $70,000 in the first year. With supplier rebates, the number was closer to $100,000 difference.

Over four years, the second restaurant operator lost $400,000 to the distributor. When they discovered what was going on, they were livid and refused to pay the remainder of their account of $30,000.

Their shiny, happy friends at the distributor took out their false smiles and revealed pearly white fangs as they slapped on high interest rates, threats of collection agencies and legal actions.

The food distributor used to be my supplier, until I found out they were constantly changing the prices of garbage bags to make up for the losses they were incurring on the protein I was buying. While I was watching the price of protein, my garbage bag prices were almost three times as much as anywhere else.

I felt lied to.
They cheated me.
I forgot about their silly games until I met with the above operators.

The two operators I met were both in trouble financially.
They both worked hard, every day trying to make a living.
As these jerks skimmed off their earnings.

This foolishness needs to stop.
I'm making it my personal mission to help restaurant operators from being taken advantage of by greedy suppliers.

Please share with everyone you know.
I will do a free analysis for any restaurant operator who is using one of these dirtbag suppliers.

Contact me at ricknicholson369@gmail.com.

You are capable of anything and nothing

Words can hurt.

Words that do the biggest damage are the ones we say to ourselves.
We are our biggest critics.
We tell ourselves the story of who we are frequently enough that we cannot see our lives any other way, except in a dream.

Lost opportunity is sad.
Lost potential in someone is scary.

If you cannot believe in yourself, neither will anyone else.

I've come to HATE the word, "Can't".

It's a word that doesn't belong in our world.
Even though I've used it.

It doesn't stop me from HATING it.

You tell someone or yourself you CAN'T do something.
Are you being honest with yourself?
Or is there a bigger problem?

Using the word, CAN'T, is an excuse.
It's an easy way out.
No need to explain ourselves.
We just CAN'T do it.
Discussion is closed.

Whereas the real reason we CAN'T do something is somewhere between,
We DON'T WANT to,
And we DON'T KNOW HOW to,
And we're not COMMITTED to learning how to do it.

Not wanting to do something can be viewed as laziness.
Not knowing how to do something says we're stupid.

Using the word CAN'T is a copout for ourselves.
We protect ourselves from being seen as lazy or stupid.

Or that's what we subconsciously tell ourselves before we go to bed at night.
And as long as we lie to ourselves by not admitting our weaknesses,
We can hold on to the perception that we are strong.
When in fact by telling ourselves we CAN'T, we make ourselves weak.

There is no CAN'T.
Figure it out.
There's a way.

I can hear my wise friend Michel whispering that I am wrong on this one. He has told me that I CAN'T be the president of the United States because the current laws won't allow it.

To Michel, I say, "CAN'T is not the problem. I don't want to be the President. Plus if I did, I don't know how to change the laws nor am I committed to face the challenges that would surely face me.

Can you or CAN'T you?
It's a choice that only you can make.
Pay attention to what you tell yourself,
You'll end up getting exactly what you said,

Whether you're committed and willing to work for it.
Or if you do nothing.

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right --- Henry Ford.

Conspiracy to tell a story

Conspiracy theories amuse me.
It is easy to look at a series of historical events to identify patterns, whether real or fictious.

Did JFK get assassinated by a lone gunman or was Oswald a patsy?
Did planes really cause the Twin Towers to fall or were they rigged with explosives.
Did the Gulf of Tonken actually happen?
And what about the Superbowl? Did the New England Patriots fairly win this year's Superbowl.

It is easy to associate patterns with a group people who benefit from the actual outcome.

Have you noticed the Superbowl in recent years?
There's always an amazing catch toward the END of the game to decide the winner.
David Tyree catches a pass off his forehead to force the last drive to continue and ultimately helping the New Giants to win the Superbowl,
Hines Ward tip toes at the very back of the end zone to win the game in the final moments for the Steelers,
Malcolm Butler intercepts a goal line pass to end the seemingly unstoppable Seattle Seahawks.

Almost every year, there are a new set of heroics, almost like the "best-ever" has to be outdone. It's highly improbable that best ever can get topped every year, but somehow it continues to happen.

This years Superbowl has the biggest comeback in championship history.

It was the greatest game ever.

My gut thinks it was too great to be true.

The only thing this year's Superbowl didn't have was Hulk Hogan lifting his finger in defiance of defeat.

There was a time when the Superbowl was referred to as the Superbore.  Games were decided in the first quarter because of the huge mismatch. Mysteriously enough, the game has evolved. The points have gotten closer. The game mostly gets decided in the fourth quarter.

Is it possible that million dollar advertisers felt ripped off when people starting changing the channels when the game got out of reach?
Is it possible that the game had to be closer to make more money for the league?

There is a difference between sport and business.
My high school football team played a sport.

The NFL, as well as any professional sport, is a business.
Business is money, customers and entertainment.

Entertain someone and they'll give you their attention while they open up their wallets.

Because of the business aspect of professional sports, we are seeing the emergence of storyline. Business is about stories. Stories entertain. They keep us coming back for more.  Brands are stories embedded in the mind of the market.

The story mezmorizes us into thinking that everything is real, when it's not.

The New England Patriots value has increased from $571 million in 2002 to a staggering $3.4 billion in 2016. They won 5 championships in that time but it's still a growth of 595% in 14 years.

The average differential in points at the Superbowl has gone from 18 points in the 1980's to 8.28 points in the 2010's (excluding the 2014 game, which was the only blowout in 12 years).

Too many Superbowls have gone by with too many "best catches" ever. It can't always be better than the year before.

Can it?

I'm seeing the same thing in other professional sports. NFL is the worst offender, but the NBA, MLB and NHL are all teetering on the improbable forcing the final series closer to 7 games year after year.  The NBA in the 2010's averages 6.14 games in the final series. The NHL boasts 6 games in the finals whereas they used to average 5 games in the 1980's and 90's.

As long as fans believe it to be true, then it shall be.

I think about the ancient gladiators fighting in the Colosseum. Was this about sport or were the combatants fighting against a stacked deck?

I believe we are living in a time where the professional athletes of today are playing against that same stacked deck, in the spirit of wealth generating storylines.

I'm probably wrong, but the theory is interesting none the less.

By the way, I'm a huge New England Patriots fan so please no hate mail about the Tom Brady heroics. It's just an observation that gets reinforced every year.

What do you believe?

I work with entrepreneurs who want to grow their business.
Most entrepreneurs don't see the actual problem.

They struggle and call me to help them with marketing support.

We sit and discuss over coffee everything about their business.
I ask them questions not related to their business, more of a personal nature.
They look at me confused.

The real problem, in their blindspot, is what is holding them back.
In discovering their personality, the real problem is hiding in a dark corner, where no one wants to go.

Identifying the problem, I can help with a real solution.

But there's a catch.
When I find the real problem, I can't tell the potential client what it is.

Do you know why?
They won't BELIEVE me.
They are so close to their business, they aren't willing to see it, can't see it, don't understand how the rest of the world perceives them.

They are inside a bottle and can't read the label as Roy Williams, from Wizard of Ads, would say.

Although I can see the issue, I have to let them see the issue for themselves.

And sometimes it's hard.
They won't open up and make themselves vulnerable.
They are afraid the world will discover they are "winging" it and be found out as a fraud.
They are unsure of how this can help.
They don't trust me.

I ask for a set of "BELIEF" statements, which are really core value statements. They usually end up looking like something like this:

I believe in honesty.
I believe in treating people fair and just.
I believe in integrity.
I believe our products are the best in the industry.
I believe in reliability.
I believe the customer is the most important person in the organization.
I believe the employee is the most important person in the organization.
I believe actions speak louder than words.

Then I ask for non-cliche statements, which gets me an odd look.

Each business is different. Each person is different. Talk like you would with your friends about what you believe in. All these statements, although valid, don't say anything about you. They say more about what you think is important or what you've read in a book.

If the person opens up and starts writing from the heart, the beliefs come out.

Within those heart felt beliefs, we find a core value.
Using the core value, we create a message that describes the company to the core of the entrepreneur.

Most advertising fails because of the following:
1. Poorly crafted message ignored.
2. Well crafted message without TIME to work.
3. Well crafted message not aligned with the customer experience.

As the Wizard, Roy Williams, also states, good advertising speeds up the inevitable.

So if you want advertising to work, you need a well crafted message that aligns with the customer experience and is given enough time to take root with the audience.

The right message isn't a clever ad. It's one that comes from the heart. It's one that speaks to existence of your organization.

It starts with a belief.

Once I get to the heart of the beliefs, I can use examples from the business and show the client how the beliefs and the actions aren't lining up (the real problem). It's easier to sell the problem to someone when you use their words to help them BELIEVE you.

What are your business beliefs?
Don't use cliche sentences.
Use your everyday language.

Look for things that make you different.

Its hard to do.
It's a skill the Wizard teaches his clients and partners.
I'm so happy he taught it to me.
It makes my work so much easier.

Identify them and you'll discover your unique message, campaign, and advertising strategy.
And because you believe in the message, you won't switch the message too early because the cash register isn't ringing.

You won't change what you fundamentally BELIEVE.
That makes my job easier...

Rick Nicholson is a Wizard of Ads partner. You can reach him at ricknicholson@wizardofads.com to discuss development of your marketing strategy.

How do you motivate employees

How do you motivate a minimum wage employee today?

They barely show up to work. They're lazy. And when they do show up, they spend half the day on their phones. 

I'm tired of today's kids. We're in trouble as a society.

You either have a problem with your hiring process or your management process. 

There's never been a time in history where kids were respected. 

They are always going to do things differently from their parents and because of it, they will be seen as wrongly done.

You either hired a poor fit for your company or you treated the right person poorly and demotivated them.

You don't understand. Kids will quit on the spot. They don't care. They will leave you for 25 cents more somewhere else.

Let's do the math. 25 cents over a year is roughly $500 before taxes, if the job is fulltime. After taxes, the pay raise is closer to $350. Understanding the fear of the unknown, very few people make a change to an unknown company for very little increase in pay.

They leave for some other reason. They don't like the management style. There's someone in the organization who's pushed them to leave. They don't like the hours. They don't like the job.

They may leave for a better paying job if they don't feel fairly paid. But it won't be for 25 cents. 

Back to my question. How do you motivate them?

It starts with belief. You can't motivate someone who doesn't want to be motivated. You have to find people who believe in the same things the organization believes in. When you get a group of people believing in the same things, greatness can be achieved. Groups working on a common goal, in the same direction will motivate themselves. 

Worry less about motivating your employees. Worry more about identifying what your company believes in. Worry more about finding people who believe in those same values. Worry more about holding everyone accountable to those beliefs. And worry more about celebrating achievements according to those beliefs.

Never lose sight of the values of the organization. Putting them up on a wall and forgetting about them creates nothing. 

Motivation comes from leadership. Are you leading your team from your values position or are you expecting everyone to just do their jobs?

When you don't live and breathe your corporate values, an underlying assumption gets created. That assumption becomes default. 

Each individual's values supersede that of the group.

What are your limits?

Do you know what you are capable of doing.
     - if you're child was stuck under a car?
     - if a simple choice was the difference between life and death for you?
     - if you no longer had a paycheque and had to figure out how to survive?
   
You probably don't know.
You are an extremely capable person. But as long as those limits never get tested, you live in a cloud of security and limited growth.

You're potential is limitless.

I've seen a mother go from complaining about her life to a superwoman taking control of it.
I've witnessed a drug addict bum become an entrepreneur worth millions.
I've been a victim in my own life to become a hero, and back to a victim and back to hero again.

I believe opportunity is everywhere.
I believe your future is limited by your own thoughts.
I believe the future generation is going to be better than ok. I think they are going to do awesome things.

I'm tired of hearing about millennials and how they need everything done for them.
Millennials are too connected to technology.
I'm tired of listening to my peer groups lament about the kids of today.

Every generation complains about the generation coming behind them.
Every generation thinks the next one is messed up.
Every generation, as it comes of age, thinks kids are worse than when when they were growing up.

Here's what I know to be true.

-The 1970's was the decade of peace, sex and drugs. It also saw television sets installed in almost every home by the end of the decade. Too much television was going to ruin all kids. (My parent's generation).

-The 1990's was the decade that we were all going to die from AIDS. Hip hop music became mainstream and the Internet exploded with computer sales going exponential. (My generation).

-The 2010's is the decade where sexual promiscuity, synthetic drugs and smart phones are the rage. The Internet is portable. Sexual partners are multiple and drugs are getting freakier. This generation jokes about "Netflix and chill", snap chatting naked pictures, and being in a connected world without understanding the true art of conversation.

Is this generation any more messed up than the others? I don't think so. Their potential is still unlimited. They will take their place amongst the old foggies as they mature, while they complain about the next generation of kids.

The world our grandparents grew up in died with the invention of television.
Our parent's world died with the Internet.
Ours died with Smart phones.

The future generations will make the new world whatever it will be. We are along for a ride. Hoping not to get kicked off too soon.

But if we realize that our potential is still limitless, we can still accomplish great things knowing that Instagram, SnapChat, Facebook, Twitter is just this generation's version of Internet, Television and Radio and Electricity.

Get off the fence...

When I lived with my parents, our farming neighbour had a barbed wire fence bordering around my dad's property to keep his cows in the field and off our lawn. 

My sister and I used to sit on the fence posts. This is a story about fence sitting...

We all have ideas.

Some of them are bad.

Others are good.

There are a rare few that are really good. Maybe even borderline great.  

I like all ideas for whatever it's worth.

I'm a idea guy.

They get my blood flowing, and my brain working.

I look at an idea with my own interpretation.

My thoughts are not always the same as would be entrepreneurs. 

There are no right answers.

That's the thing with ideas. They come from the right brain, where creativity lives.

Right and wrong belong in the left brain.

I get into trouble when I interpret an idea to be greater than the idea generator.

It's not my idea.

So I won't be doing anything with it.

I'm asked for my thoughts.

And I get excited about the potential,

without having to worry about the consequences.

It's hard for me to not get caught up in a good idea.

But there are few reasons why the best ideas won't get done.

  1. The person is afraid to dive with both feet into the opportunity.

  2. The person doesn't see the real opportunity.

  3. The person will take too much time and will self demotivate.

When I hear a good idea, I push with the following statement.

"Let me know when you decide not to do this. I'm going to do it".

I have no intention of taking the idea.

I am busy enough.

By pushing the idea generator, it creates urgency. 

Recently, the person asking me for my advice, told me to take the idea.

Within one hour, she was ready to abandon her baby.

And gave it to me, free and clear.

Her level of commitment to the idea was worthless.

And she wasted my time.

I can't help someone like that.

The idea was really good.

Here's what she didn't know. 

I would have supported her financially and operationally if she had showed more passion for the idea.

If you don't act on your idea, and if it's a good one, someone else will definitely do it.

So don't waste time.

Get off the fence.

Ideas are not rare.

They are easy to develop.

It's the execution that is the hard part.

But for would be entrepreneurs.

The first step of taking an idea and moving it along is the hardest.

So I push them.

"Get off the fence. Either do it or don't. Just make a choice and be happy with your decision regardless of the consequences."

Stop thinking about it. Just do it. Or don't.

I believe the decision to NOT do something is more important than the decision to DO it because there more things we choose to not do.