The Loneliness of Running your Business

I was asked the other day what i did for a job?,  i would normally without thinking rattle off my normal riposte, Business Development Specialist blah blah, but after just coming out of a rather heartfelt  meeting with a new client my emotions were in a different place and replied "I help people succeed, and make their lives better".

There was an eerie silence on the other end of the phone, I continued,"Well it's like this, running your own
establishment can be a very lonely place, lonely to the point that it can make you emotionally ill, and the last thing you want to do is allow it to affect your relationship with family and friends, so you bottle it up and take the strain.

One thing i have learnt when dealing with especially, sole proprietors is in the initial contact stage allow that person  to try and express themselves, tell me their business issues and frustrations  which from a personal pride perspective can be hard to do especially if there are personal and financial difficulties.

I guess its a kind of counselling session, or as my role as The Pub Doctor similar to visiting  your local GP, which can be a darn site easier, ["doc my legs hurting again", " here's a repeat prescription"]  than telling a complete stranger about an accumalation of issues and business problems which may have accrued over a long period.

When people are not thinking straight they can take misguided or evasive action , The financial climate over the past three to four years has only exacerbated this and Ive seen many cases of "sweep it under the carpet hope the problem goes away" culture.. but it never does.

The fact is with the right amount of business support, coaching and mentoring most situations are retrievable, it just needs and arm round the shoulder, a dose of confidence ,positive mind, and a clear business strategy to get back on track.

At the end of the day the hospitality sector should be a prescription  for hard work, fun and prosperity, i just wish some of the big organisations that have created many corpses of disaster would realise the financial, emotional and human strain some proprietors are under and make a better effort in doing something about it.

                              Its not just about business and sales-  its also about a happy life

                                                                Lester Pyatt
                                                            Hospitality Blogger
                                                              The Pub Doctor
                                                     and your friend 07931 238211

50% increase in turnover-what are you prepared to do?

OK....... these are the sort of amounts your business could be making.......
the issue is.... what extremes are you prepared to go  ..to achieve this type of figure?...

Too many think its not possible..there must be a trick involved.......
if you want some phone numbers of landlords who have achieved
these sums in the past three months  ill give them to you...no problems.

During this economic climate....the tactics are

1 Work harder than your competitor
2 Be prepared to have a mixture of retail prices
3 Give perceived value for money
4 Give presents to your customers
5 Promote directly at your target market.
6 Give exceptional Customer service.
7 Monitor all your promotion activity.... it has a wealth of information for you to learn from.
8 Make sure your marketing activity is profitable..

Shortly we will be putting together some affordable packages to tell you exactly how to achieve this

Regards
Lester Pyatt
The Pub Doctor

Forget Hard sell- build your own sales economy during 2012

                                                   Just a few thoughts...on sales

1. We all need new custom- but start selling trust between you and your existing client base.
2  Make you sales conversations more human - and don't over do the up selling
3  Get a "Know" and "Like" relationship between you and the customer.
4  Stop thinking during economic downturns that all customer are price sensitive they are not
    they are risk averse.
5  Be interested in what your customer has to say.
6. Have interesting conversations- don't tittle tattle about the weather- they will see right through
    trivial banter..
7  Be generous with your time with customers- if your organised you can do this.
8  I keep on about this one- Connect and keep connected with your customer at all times..

                                        See its not all just about the HARD sell

                                                            Lester Pyatt 

         P.s would be grateful if you left a comment on my posts in the box provided....thanks

A Time To Reflect- WhatTo Do for 2012

 2012 is going to be a great year for those of you who take some time out to reflect what you have got to do and how you are going to do it...add in a large dose of  a  mentality to change.... and watch how opportunities and sales increases in your business un fold.

1.  Smile at your customers more often

2   Be more organised

3   Don't be afraid to fail

4   Spend time thinking outside the box..psst your competitors are not doing this

5   Get an attention to detail mentality about every part of your business

6   Have a better control on your finances

7   Take criticism and respond in a positive manner

8   Turn "can't do" into a "can do" culture

9   Get friends to visit your establishment more often and ask them to be critical

10  Have an arsenal of advertising and promotion tactics and do more of the ones that

     work

11  Have a team approach ethic- tell your staff what your thinking

12  A problem shared..... you can't do it all by yourself

13  Give more presents to your customers

14  If your not moving forward ..your losing

15  Enjoy life ,family and friends were only her once

                                                  Have a fantastic 2012

                                                         Lester Pyatt

Increase business by over 40% in October-November-what the other's are not doing

I read an article recently that really captured the ingredients of my customer’s success. The fact of the matter is there is no real rocket science other than what I call “working outside the box”, unfortunately 95% of people are happy with average, un spectacular, not prepared to take risks, not prepared to fail, too many think “can’t do” instead of “can do” cultures.

·         Others aren’t willing to keep learning

·         Others aren’t willing to look foolish

·         Others aren’t willing to think bigger

·         Others aren’t willing to give more

·         Others aren’t willing to get up earlier

·         Others aren’t willing to ask for help

·         Others aren’t willing to test and track

·         Others aren’t willing to invest in their energy

·         Others aren’t willing to embrace change

·         Others aren’t willing to learn from mistakes

·         Others aren’t willing to build relationships

·         Others aren’t willing to say no to things

·         Others aren’t willing to use technology

·         Others aren’t willing to practice

If you are prepared to have this mentality to your business maybe you can have increases of over +40% in October and November-when all around you the world talks about gloom and doom.

Regards 

Lester Pyatt

The Publican's pub doctor

+ 50- 70% increase in footfall and turnover Oct Nov

During these shoulder months leading up to Christmas trade can be somewhat quieter, here is a bullet point list on how to achieve the above figures which were recently implemented by my landlord and hotelier customers over the past 6-7 weeks.

• Point your promotions directly at your target market
• Have a plan on how you are going to promote to your prospect
• Have an attention to detail attitude - measure all that you do
• Make sure you know that you have connected with your potential customer
• Make sure the promotion has a " perceived value for money attraction.
• Re -advertise the promotions and create  repetition in the customers mind.
• Upsell around the main body of the promotion.
• Work your suppliers hard for promotional stock to maintain your cash margins
• Make sure that your customer service is impeccable - creating good customer referrals
• Get feedback from new customer's - It will assist you with valuable information for future advertising and promotion efforts

          Want to find out more? contact me direct on 07931 238211

       Lester Pyatt

       The Publican's Pub Doctor

Your Pub-Dont follow the x factor model

Hmmm, think the adage goes if it isn't broke, which i would certainly advocate for, but also think you should take calculated risks that you can measure and if they succeed do more of them.

The fact of the matter is that as human beings we really do not like change, we tend to do our grocery shopping at the same outlet and 90% of the time buy the same things, a bit like when you find a local pub that you like, it does a decent pint, staff are sociable, and decent food to boot.

So where has x factor gone wrong?...in a bid to keep it fresh and maintain ratings they have thrown the kitchen sink at change, but forgetting the principle that the good old British public like continuity...[enter strictly come dancing]..

It all started with head chef  Simon Cowell deciding to jump ship,and then taking his sous and pastry chef with him...meaning a new team at the helm...like all good kitchens it takes time to bed down...meaning observation and comments are more guarded...and the presentation and quality of the food going out the kitchen is mediocre at best.

We then find the menu which has been so successful gets torn apart..enter ...Tulisa ...mmm don't like the content of the menu....[mentoring the groups]....i like you two from that group and you two from that group..I'm going to call this dish " The Risk" and when one of the ingredients of the dish decides" Ive had enough" ill take a component from an already booted out group to make up the new group  "The Risk 2"..

Meanwhile Kelly another new member of the kitchen staff...has a heart ruling head moment..she personally likes two options on the menu so much, [even though their not selling]..she forgets about the bigger picture, and what the customer really wants .."No ill go with those two stunning voices with mediocre personality.".and boot out the second favourite..Amelia Lily....with .rock week just round the corner..a bit like putting salt and vinegar on your rump steak..

Mean while Head chef Gary is  remonstrating in the restaurant with complaining customers, that Frankie can sing and he deserves to be in the competition [sorry, if you don't like the way I've cooked it you can sod off!!!]

So my tip to you is  take some calculated risks but always try and think of the customer first,and how they would interpret  the change...and if you can also create the wow factor for your customers your halfway there, if your ego gets in the way  you've got trouble because the customer will always find somewhere else to spend their hard earned pound.

So the ratings get a kicking...Frankie says hes not good enough and does a runner...Amelia Lily gets reinstated... and does a stormer...

Looks like were back to the original menu !!!

Amelia to win..wink wink