Pizza Today - May 2018 - 74

Mike's Monthly Tip
MIKE BAUSCH

UNCOMFORTABLE TO UNBEARABLE
Making changes can be rough

I

get asked a lot what my biggest
regret is since starting my pizzeria
(Andolini's). I don't like living with
regrets, but I must be honest that there
are things I wish I would have done differently. Not the things that taught me a
lesson or led me to a larger revelation, but
rather the things I wish I could change
are the stupid things you gloss over when
you're on a mad dash to get open and stay
afloat. They're the things you think you
can just figure out later - problem is, it's
a lot easier to get some things right the
first time before they go from uncomfortable to unbearable.
Things that are uncomfortable to
change include: your food vendor; choice
of soda company; people you buy T-shirts
from; linen service; Web site design and
your sign. People are all relationships that
take time to cultivate. Pizza Expo is a
great place to evaluate that. For these situations, if you do decide to change a food
vendor, it can be annoying - but it's not
an impossible task to buy salt from someone else, just something you deal with for
a week or two.

7 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / M AY 2 0 1 8

you choose one provider, you'll need to
honor those cards forever. All gift card
companies have no cancellation fees
because they know they won't need them
since you want no part of having to
explain to customers why their birthday
gift doesn't work or why you have no idea
how much their card is valued at. Evaluate every company, not just who your
POS company prefers. Check rates, swipe
fees, card fees, bulk discounts and their
ease of reporting.
* POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEM. Yeah you can
always change out your system, but now
your reports will only go back so far and
you have to do a full staff retrain. Do your
research and get a company you can grow
with, not a POS you buy at the supermarket or one that can't handle growth not
designed specifically for pizza.
* HOW YOUR COMPANY IS STRUCTURED.

UNBEARABLE TO CHANGE:

Now the things that are unbearable to
deal with are those areas of your operation
that you set up once and tend to forget
about. Once they're set, they are extremely
hard and potentially damaging to change:
* PAYROLL SERVICE. Changing a payroll
service isn't super hard, but getting access
to old info once you've done it is
extremely difficult. Doing it mid-year
means two W-2's. My advice? Go with
a company built to grow, with a rep that
has a long history with the company. Get
with whoever the biggest independent
restaurant group is in your area and find
out who they use.
* CREDIT CARD PROCESSING. The same
goes for this one -- it can be changed
easily, but make sure you never believe
anything a rep says on paper since any
qualified to non-qualified transaction
can be manipulated to death to make any
new processor look cheaper. Go based on
multiple customer endorsements and not
who your friend four states away just a got
a job working for.
* GIFT CARDS. It should be death, taxes
and gift cards that you can't escape. Once

LLC, S-Corp, sub LLCs etc. etc. If you
want to be a six-unit location in 10 years,
structure yourself like that day one - it
won't be easy to do that later.
* OWNERSHIP. A bunch of guys go in
on a restaurant, what could go wrong?
A lot! Have your affairs in order and
know who owns what portion and who is
responsible for what from the first minute
your business is conceptualized. Don't let
experience beat lessons into your head if
you can avoid it.
* LOGO. Apple, Shell and Burger King
all had massive overhauls of their logo.
Not a little shine-up, but something completely different. For you this means new
Web site, uniform, menus, signage and all
new branding if you decide to upgrade.
My advice is to invest in a solid graphic
designer once to avoid all these charges
again. Go for a designer who gives you a
sign package in vector art you can use for
decades, not years. ■
MIKE BAUSCH is the owner of Andolini's
Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a
frequent speaker at the International Pizza
Expo family of tradeshows.

JOSH KEOWN
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - May 2018

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