Q. How do you prioritize
growth goals?
You have to have short-term goals. But then there’s
the long-term planning of
how are we going to get
the departments honed in
for the long haul.
We’ve been on a three-year
plan for our new location. What
we’re doing is going department
by department, analyzing it,
tearing apart the numbers, tearing apart the work force. Really
what we call tweaking it, so
then at that point all you have to
do is maintenance.
Q. How do you recommend
monitoring and updating your
growth plan?
Work with the numbers. It’s
through the numbers that really
helps you sit down and hone in
on a department or an area that needs attention.
Acknowledge the company’s
strengths and see if there is more
room to expand on them. Then,
recognize areas of weakness
and set up a methodical plan to
address those weaknesses.
Get buy-in from your core
team and then, in turn, ultimately the entire staff — we tend to
go department by department,
utilizing the numbers created by
our accounting department:
gross profit, inventory control,
labor percentages.
Q. How do you encourage
taking risks?
I wouldn’t be in business if I didn’t take risks. You have to
have a little bit of faith in yourself. You have to have instincts
in some regards. Once you get
past that, you have to go in and,
then again, look at the numbers.
You have to do a plan to see if
it’s going to work out in your
favor or not.
In this day and age, you must
be very aware of the economy.
Are your ideas going to be well
received by your target customers?
Yet at the same time, you cannot let fear stop you from moving the business forward. If you
have confidence, undoubtedly,
everyone will be stepping in line
with the updated direction.
Always remember you are
responsible for the well-being
of a lot of families, and the
decisions you make affect lots
of folks.
Q. What one thing can bring
a company down or prevent
growth?
Improper staff, if you have a
staff that alienates the customers or doesn’t know the
product or doesn’t understand.
We have what we call Mustard
Seed Market 101. It’s an introductory to the business so that
they get the basics of how we
were founded, what are our
ideals, what are our food standards, how do we expect them
to treat the customers and each
other?
There’s all kinds of ways to
measure your staff. Put yourself
in the position of the customer.
Is this person fulfilling their role
as your liaison?
You have to look at, are they
meeting your numbers? Are
they able to control their labor?
And, are they happy?
HOW TO REACH: Mustard Seed Market & Café, (330) 666-7333 or www.mustardseedmarket.com
