Average start of cost?

[janie1963]

Chelle, funny you mentioned the billboard-the guy who owns the land (more than 6 acre) has two BB's at the end of the property that he leases. Maybe he'll give me a good deal on one. And our location is unique (around here anyway) we can get big trucks or RVs in easily when no one else can offer that...it was great to have those RVs pull in over Labor Day weekend!

Spiderman actually brought in a lot of new customers yesterday. And Friday , which has been our slowest day of the week was our best sales day thus far. The local school called in a 9 drink delivery order and we had steady traffic all day.

If we could just increase our daily customer numbers a bit we'd be fine...the average sale per car is running around $6.00 and that is more than I estimated it would be.

I don't want to jump the gun yet, but I think perhaps we're turning the corner-getting people to notice us. I'm going to work on a mass mailer for the local area...there isn't another espresso place for 5 miles in either direction. And as far as customer service goes, we've got all others beat by far.

Coffee Guy-tomorrow I am meeting with a young lady...shes starting college and is available after 11am and weekends, which fits perfectly for what I need. She doesn't have coffee experience ( another plus) and looks good on paper, but we all know anyone can make themselves look good on paper. Any advice on what to ask her...things I may not have thought of? I'd really like tomake sure shes going to stick with me and be reliable.

I am currently making new inventory sheets-even though I keep a close eye on things, we are missing one bottle of syrup that I just bought and some garbage bags. I knew there would be situations that would arise that I could not have anticipated before hand...between the employees and the customers new things happen each day that I have to make adjustments for. After the first day I was adding new policies to my "personnel guidelines" and continue to do so.

Any hints, tips warnings are greatly appreciated.

 

[Chelle]

We were just working on the "operations" section of the ridiculously long, and seemingly unending and detailed business plan....for a simple little drive thru coffee business...sigh...
Anyway, the good employee problem is just that...I was thinking of doing a lot of marketing in and around a local junior college. Not only do they drink alot of coffee, there are now apartments on campus, so they need jobs, and its a great resource for things like, perhaps designing a bill board, if they have a graphic arts, or advertising/marketing dept.

I guess I'm just saying utilize the educational facilities near you. They may have more than potential cutomers.

janie, I would love to chat about more specifics...pm me if you want

 

[topher]

where are you opening again?

 

[Coffee Guy]

Hey Janie1963...I don't know what questions you may not have asked, but here's a couple questions you might what to throw at prospective interviewees. 1--Is there anything that may prevent you from arriving to work on time? 2--Have you ever worked with a Telecheck or credit card machine? 3--Do you feel that you are an honest person, why? 4--What type of environment do you work best in? 5--During slow times here at work, what would you do with the down time? 6--How often do you call in sick? 7--If we hired you and you currently have another job, how would you plan your schedule in order to work here for us?

Those are just a few questions we ask our applicants during our interview process. As for inventory control, sometimes it's hard to keep track in the first month or so because you are trying to track useage in the beginning, but not to worry, you'll catch on as time passes. What I might suggest if you can fit into your budget is to get yourself a camera system. That way you can watch what the employees are doing not to mention it's a great security feature for the business.

Just a couple of thoughts you might chew on :wink:

 

[janie1963]

Thanks CG, those are great questions because they are sort of open ended-not just "yes or no" responses. I saw the girl today, but couldn't talk much because the employee who is leaving showed up for her last shift early. I told her she could come back tomorrow and observe. BUT a got a call from a young lady who went to school with my oldest daughter, so I've known her and her family for 12 years. She works at a daycare until 3:30, but has weekends off and thats what she's looking to fill and that works pretty well for me. I'd feel very good about her working for me-shes honest, outgoing and intelligent.

 

[Chelle]

The heart of America, Topher, which is why we only have one other drive thru in 3 counties...we're the last to get everything...ugh

Coffee Guy- you left out, "Who is your hero and why?, and Tell me about a time when..." JK :wink: