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Restaurant Management

By Andreas J Breitfuss
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Expert Author Andreas J Breitfuss

Create a restaurant management plan

This in effect this is your business plan, make sure you cover all the bases to ensure success. Develop a plan that will cover all the require areas of a business plan such as restaurant market research, financial planning including funding and capital, cashflow forecast, human resource planning, competitors analysis and a marketing plan. Your restaurant management plan will be the roadway forward for your restaurant and will help you get back on track should you come off the rails.

Use restaurant management tools

I have seen too many restaurant managers and owners not use available tools, there are lots of tools available all over the internet that can help and make you life easier. Not only have these tools already been developed and tested before it more importantly will save you time should you need to develop a new restaurant management tool like a spreadsheet, form or template.

Market your restaurant

There is an old saying that a "rolling stone gathers no moss", this is true when it come to marketing your restaurant or café. The faster you can get your restaurant going the less stale it will become. So... when developing your restaurant management plan be sure to include a comprehensive marketing plan as this is the engine of your restaurant, so be sure to give it some fuel to keep going.

Conduct regular restaurant training

Training your staff would have to be one of the most under rated aspects of restaurant management, too many restaurant operators neglect this side of the business as they give too many excuses. These excuses like "I don't have time" or "my staff don't need training" are just crap. Training not only will provide you with better service to your customers but even more importantly will help you increase your sales.

Create a restaurant budget

Do you think the county sets a budget for the trillions of dollars they manage, you bet they do so it is no different for any restaurant whether small or large to set a budget of the income and expenses they think they will encounter during a full year. Not only will this help you understand your business better it will also allow you to forecast the cash flow in the business. A comprehensive restaurant management plan should include a cash flow statement so you know when or if you may need to borrow further cash to keep your restaurant going.

Incentivise your staff

Unless you are a one person restaurant, you have staff, and if you have staff that are on a incentive program not only will you see them more happier you will also see further cash in your cash register or POS. When implementing a staff incentive program into your restaurant management plan make sure you incentivise them though the sales they generate for the business.

Make procedures for everything

Procedures, procedures, procedures... This is the holy grail of restaurants as an owner to have the restaurant completely operate independently of you. It can be done if it is included as part of your restaurant management plan, start off with small chunks like cash register procedures and then advance to the more technical aspects of the restaurant like what the owners does. As part of a complete plan you could in effect complete the whole process in 9-12 months.

Ask for help when you need it

Last but not least... if you need help ask for it or go looking for it as I said earlier there are plenty of restaurant management tools and toolkits that can make your life a lot easier.



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How To Start A Restaurant Business

By Benjamin Chin
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Research shows that 89% of café and restaurant businesses fail within the first five years of opening, and yet the successful hospitality businesses are amongst some of the most lucrative businesses in the world! You can often find a heaving restaurant neighboring one that is completely empty; the location is the same, so how can this happen?

The successful restaurant is meeting expectations, whereas the unsuccessful one is not. In short, only one has done their homework! Extensive research and preparation is vital when you start a new restaurant business. It is the only way to lay the foundation for success; and a business management toolkit can be a useful way to avoid the early pitfalls to which many new restaurant businesses succumb.

Of course, as with any new business a suitable location needs to be found, investment and budgets prepared and the nature of provision needs to be determined. Beyond this however, the restaurant industry offers a very specific service. When you start a restaurant business, you need to take a wide range of industry related factors into consideration. This is where a restaurant management toolkit can prove invaluable.

The success of any restaurant business relies on its customers and so to start a new restaurant business you need to research the potential market. This will highlight what your client base will be and what they will expect. Once this is determined, you need to draw up an effective business plan that details your vision whilst incorporating all aspects required for you to start a restaurant business destined for success.

The design of the new restaurant needs to be practical, whilst reflecting the needs of the customers and creating an attractive environment. A restaurant management toolkit can assist with the smallest details, which can really make a difference to the success of a new restaurant. Once the design features are determined, the new restaurant business needs to be marketed efficiently and effectively. This will ensure that the client base are alerted and also drawn to your new restaurant, to begin its success.

Now you have your customers, you need to keep them. An integral part of any successful restaurant business is the restaurant staff. The staff chosen must be motivated, hardworking, meet service standards, and reflect the vision of the restaurant business. They represent the business and optimize sales opportunities. This means that as a restaurant manager, you have a commitment to your customers to be committed to your staff. A restaurant management toolkit can assist with information about staff incentives and training which will help you to secure a regular stream of customers.

Once your customer base is established, you need to make sure that you gain the optimum revenue possible to make your restaurant a permanent success. This means ensuring new restaurant policies and procedures meet industry standards, handling the budget efficiently and securing profit and sales. Any successful restaurant business knows how to make sure their customers continue to spend, and in increasing amounts. A restaurant management toolkit uses the experience and knowledge of experts to bring you tried and tested methods and documents, which can save you valuable time.

Armed with extensive research and expert guidance, with all preparatory requirements in place, you are ready to start a new restaurant business and set along your road to success.


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Creating Better Management in Restaurants

By Stephanie Hayes
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Opening a restaurant is an often overwhelming and stressful experience. It doesn't matter if you are simply the manager or the owner/manager, everyone needs training either themselves or to know how to train their employees so their restaurant can transform into a profitable business.

Often, this is the most difficult part of being a manager and without this training, your employees will not fill your needs and you may not have the profitable business that you desire. This dissatisfaction with your employees can lead to increased turnover and decreased efficiency. This is definitely not what you want.

Most management in restaurants has a very difficult time with training. This is simply due to the fact that they have worked their way up in the restaurant and many do not have any management experience before they are thrust into the role. With the Restaurant Training Manuals, you will have the tools that you need to train your employees to help increase your business and decrease the employee turnover. This will make your business more profitable and your job more satisfying when you watch your employees becoming more efficient.

To manage a restaurant successfully you need tools to train their employees. With all of the facets of our system, you can do just that. Whether you just want to learn how to be a better manager with the Restaurant Management Toolkit or want to learn how to better train your employees to do their job, you will find exactly what you need to do your job satisfactory. All of this information can allow you to be more comfortable in your job and it can make your restaurant more successful.

If you need help with your management style and abilities, our program can help you. From learning more about how to train and retain quality employees to learning how to grow your business to learning more about all of the details that go into having a profitable restaurant, you will find it in these programs for management in restaurants.


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Gaining Restaurant Marketing Knowledge

By Stephanie Hayes
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One of the most difficult things to learn is how to go about marketing restaurants. Your marketing plan is essential to your success, but it is often difficult to determine how to go about the process of marketing your restaurant. Whether your restaurant is new or has been in business for a while, the way that you market it will dictate the degree of success that you have and the profit that you make. With restaurant management tools or heaps of restaurant marketing ideas on hand, you will have all of the information you need at your fingertips to increase your business' profit margin.

In all my years of running a restaurant, I've yet to come across a resource as comprehensive as the 'Restaurant Management Toolkit'. This resource features a marketing module that I use to create a marketing plan for my restaurant. The tools in the module include marketing promotional templates, discount voucher templates, all different types of advertising templates, and many more materials to help restaurant managers and owners see to the operations better.

If you want to transform your restaurant business from barely making a profit to wildly profitable, you will want to learn more about marketing restaurants. With the Restaurant Marketing Ideas system, you will be able to create a marketing plan that will increase your sales and profits. Included with this system is all of the information that you will need to define your market, structure your marketing plan, analyze your competitors, and marketing templates to make a marketing plan that will give you a much better chance of success.

If your restaurant profits are not where you would like, you will want to determine how to go about marketing restaurants using another system. By implementing some of the marketing ideas that are found in the systems of more successful restaurateurs, you will soon see what good marketing can do for your business. Without a plan to market your restaurant, you will not be able to withstand the ups and downs of the business. Now, why am I sharing this information to you? Well, for one, it's too good to keep to myself. For another, I've a weak spot for restaurateurs like myself. In these troubled times, who better to help another restaurateur out than one who knows the business from the inside out?



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Top 5 'New Business' Mistakes To Avoid When Opening A New Restaurant

By Daniel Mitchell
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"Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37%chance of surviving four years (of business) and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years. Restaurants only have a 20% chance of surviving 2 years. Of these failed business, only 10% of them close involuntarily due to bankruptcy and the remaining 90% close because the business was not successful, did not provide the level of income desired, or was too much work for their efforts."

-excerpt taken from an article written by Rob Holland, 'Planning Against a Business Failure'

As a new restaurant owner (or soon to be), that quote must have sent chills up your spine. Everyday, people are pouring their entire life savings, betting their children's education funds, and risking their marriage to fulfill a life long dream of opening their own restaurant. No doubt, there are risks involved - lots of risks. It's important to not tumble into the traps that have already robbed the dreams of so many restaurateurs.

Making mistakes is a part of learning - as the old saying goes 'learn from your mistakes'. However, time and time again entrepreneurs continue to make mistakes and not learn from them. Just like people, organizations tend to make mistakes repeatedly; are adverse in setting up a guard against making mistakes; and tends to focus on the bad while overlooking the good. Business owners often forget to look on the bright side to see what they are doing right.

Mistake #1 (and the biggest one): Failure to Plan

I cannot place enough emphasis on the importance of planning. This critical success factor is often overlooked by current jobs, life styles, personal schedules, and other important details that go into opening a new restaurant. Business and market planning should be the first and foremost step to take when deciding to pursue a new venture. By doing your due diligence and taking the time to research the full potential of your products, service and customer base will give you a clear picture of whether or not your dream is destined for success or failure.

Business and market planning will also give you an insight into the barriers and obstacles you may encounter along the way. You get to know the players that exist in the industry and how to compete in the game. You will know what types of funding you need (because you will need funding!) - what government funds and bank loans will you require at start up? You need to formulate financial plans on how to effectively use your funds. You will have an idea of when you plan to break-even and how fast you plan to expand. A detailed business plan will also assist in obtaining investments. You need to confidently show that you conducted research and have planned strategies on how to reach repayment.

This is essentially the road map on how you will achieve success. Think about it: you see the big picture - your own restaurant running efficiently, making you profitable, and giving you the kind of life you've always imagined. Now, how are you going to achieve that big picture? What steps do you need to take to reach that end goal? Your plan should tell you (1) where you are now, (2) where you want to be, and (3) how you plan to get there. By completing your business plan, you will have reports on your business field, the industry, trends, risk analysis, marketing needs, target markets, competitors, and financial overview. Your plan will tell you how to make your restaurant successful- this is the roadmap of your future.

Mistake #2: Not taking preventative measures

It happens all the time - business owners get too caught up with the venture itself that taking preventative measures to avoid failure are often overlooked. Restaurateurs must ensure they are keeping up with changes that may affect the business. Costs must be periodically reviewed to ensure they are within budget. This goes for overhead as well. Owners/managers should prepare reports on sales projections, cash flow forecasts, labour reports, and benchmarking actual performance to the actual plan. Where was it off and how can business be improved? Regular progress meetings should be held in order to detect future risks and identifying the preventative measures to take to minimize potential losses.

Mistake #3: Refusing to accept changes

Embrace change! Easier said than done, right? But in the world of owning your own restaurant, this is no longer a choice - it is mandatory! The world of business is moving at a lightning speed and those who do not keep up will be left behind. Just when you've adapted to a new trend or adjusted to a new way of doing something, it is time to change again. There is no 'break time' in this playing field. Constant change is inevitable; whether or not you embrace it is a different story.

The mistake of not embracing change does not just affect new business owners - people who have been in business for 25+ years must continue to embrace change. There is always something new to learn - who your best customers are; changes in tastes and preferences; what marketing ads are most effective; are you staffing efficiently; and the list goes on. Businesses change and so do people. Your market can be changing on a daily basis. Failure to keep up with these changes will unquestionably lead to losses. Consider running a business as a constant learning process - never stop learning!

Mistake #4: Lack of knowledge, tools, and resources

Another cause of business failure is the lack of knowledge, tools, and resources that help restaurateurs succeed. Knowledge is powerful - it can give you priceless information that can assist in making informed decisions. Knowledge can come from your education in college/university, generating reports, monitoring trends, networking with others in your industry, and acting on the information that comes your way. Subscribing to informative magazines and visiting websites that are directly related to your area of business are also quite valuable. Attending tradeshows, seminars, and workshops will help you identify upcoming trends and obstacles in the restaurant industry.

An area where businesses fail on a daily basis is the failure to keep up with learning about new/potential customers. Even after all the business planning, developing marketing campaigns and promotions, and monitoring and increasing growth - failure to keep an updated record of your customers' key demographics and trends can result in you missing out on amazing opportunities. Trends change and the information you worked so hard to gather may be outdated before you know it.

You will need a 'business toolkit' to survive in this fast paced playing field. Tools refer to the accessibility to critical information that helps you run your business. It can range from advice counsel, specific documents (application forms, legal documents, and financial spreadsheet templates), employee management and training. In this day and age, technology is a must. Computers, data systems, and Point of Sale systems give you greater insight into your business allowing you to make better business decisions now and in the future. How can a restaurant succeed without all the necessary tools to make that organization work? A plumber would not be able to fix a clog without his handy toolkit... and you will not be able to run a restaurant (at least not successfully) without your business toolkit.

Your resources are the backbone of your business. Resources are any person or any organization that contribute to the success of your restaurant. This includes lawyers, accountants, staffing agencies, your networks, the Internet, tradeshows, and most importantly, your staff. These VIP (very important people) can make or break your restaurant. There is also an abundance of resources available to restaurateurs - some are free while others you have to pay for. For example, you can attend tradeshows that relate to the restaurant industry - this will give you knowledge. There, you will be able to learn about new technology advancements that can help you run your restaurant more efficiently - this can contribute to your business toolkit.

Mistake #5: Not realizing the time consumption involved

Although this mistake is rarely mentioned, it is one of the main culprits that cause restaurants to fail. Opening a new business is incredibly time-consuming, and not just at the beginning. It is an on-going responsibility for as long as you want to stay in business. It entails serious time commitment and requires you to make sacrifices on a weekly if not daily basis. Pressure from family and spouses are often the reasons that restaurants do not make it pass their first year of business. A successful restaurateur must be able to balance their family life and work life. That is why more often, those who do decide to pursue this type of venture or either single, divorced, or have a heck of a supportive family that will be there for them.

Failed owners were most likely unable to sacrifice missing another one of their kid's schools play, another birthday or anniversary, and pressure to spend more time with family. So before you hop onto the 'let's open a new restaurant' bandwagon, be 110% sure that you will be able to balance and devote time to both running your business and maintaining a healthy relationship with your family.



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Applying Change Management Strategy in Educational Settings

By Ellen Jackson
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Expert Author Ellen Jackson

Changing Our Thinking

Over the years the hierarchy of education has evolved into an unchanging leadership formula that has managed to survive without adopting change management strategies to meet the changing goals and needs of their customers. As more mandates have been passed to encourage schools and teachers to perform at a higher level, and expectations for student success have increased, we have not seen leadership evolve and grow to meet those demands. The result has been that school systems are attempting to reach 21st century goals using 19th century concepts. The passage of "No Child Left Behind" and the broad "highly qualified" teacher designation has simply highlighted the inability of most school leaders to adapt proactively by aligning their techniques and attitudes with successful business models.

Education is a business. At one time the failure of a school to reach goals was not published, made public or available to anyone with a computer. Now, before families move to a new area they check the numbers on the schools that their children may attend and choose their home based on the location of the school with the highest scores. Students, who must pass competency examinations at virtually every facet of their education in order to move through the system are falling further behind as they are caught between schools trying to increase their own scores and teachers trying to accommodate mandates presented them by leadership to increase school scores.

Once schools and educators in leadership positions realize that the success of any business, including their own, depends on their ability to adapt to the needs of their customers, they will find that numbers, both for schools and students will rise with each change that is successfully implemented.

Identifying Gaps

Leaders in the academic arena face many challenges. The foremost being that they usually do not have a business background and have been in education for their entire career. (Except for that stint they did at Pizza Hut while getting through college). These individuals are usually excellent educators who enter leadership in a school with great ideas for how to make the system better. Many of these individuals have some great ideas. But, as with all businesses, leaders are not only involved in operations, but also in budget and politics. This is true of any business, the difference though, is that business leaders are trained in operations, budget and politics. While, leaders in schools often go from teacher to vice-principal, to principal with little or no business training added to their toolkit for success. In addition, what may make a wonderful educator in one classroom, may not work in another, so the ability to motivate and give incentive to others must be accomplished as any other change management method. In most schools change management is a foreign concept, or something that was studied while getting the first of many degrees and certifications that are necessary to teach. Many times, in order to develop successful programs that meet the needs of our customers we must return to the library and learn an entirely new subject. Many books have been written on change management, how to build teams, how to motivate groups. It is vital in implementing change in your school that you have a true understanding of these concepts and methods.

Profitable Adaptability

Businesses make good customers and profit greatly by creating a proactive adaptability to change. Schools also profit by this same action. However, when identifying gaps, and establishing where to start your change management program it may be wise to look at how your students, community and staff are treated. Are they treated as customers or are they treated as people who just have to be there. If you went to a restaurant and the meat was undercooked, you would not hesitate to say "take it back, I want it well done." But, what happens when a teacher comes to you because her classroom is not adequately ventilated, or a student has a problem with a certain subject. If the auto-response is "that's the way it is," or, "that's the way it's always been," then this is a gap that a change management program can address. While businesses take great pains to assure that their vision and goals are clearly understood, spend countless hours assuring that their staff are well trained in conveying those visions and goals, and work very hard at exuding great customer service. Schools have reacted to mandates. This is a costly endeavor instead of a proactive approach, we start the "blame game." The gaps, when addressed proactively, are much easier to manage than to wait until the state or federal government pronounce on the Internet how bad your school is and you start losing students before families even move into the area.

School leaders, teachers, students and parents must become business partners for positive change to take place and be sustained. Proactive leaders utilize change management in every aspect of their enterprise. And, school is an enterprise. Unless a drastic assessment and change takes place in most schools, the money lost in terms of drop-outs, low scores, fines, take-overs, etc., will negatively impact not only the school, and students, but the community as well. So, let's discuss some steps for change management that leadership can use to start improving their standing in the educational community.

Collaboration Beyond the Classroom

Teacher training days are already built into the school year. Most of the teachers will attend these training days. Can you imagine what would happen in students homes if parents and teachers participated together in a teacher training day? Parents would suddenly find themselves part of the solution instead of being blamed for the problem. There would be an opportunity to teach communication skills and collaboration to a gymnasium of people who deal daily with the students. Imagine a student taking homework home and a parent actually understanding what the teacher is trying to do ahead of time. The reason that parents do not participate in parent-teacher nights and other activities at school is because most are working parents. They have neither the time or energy to go to a school on a Wednesday night after work and walk around a classroom. Teachers are tired, parents are tired, kids are hyped up because they've been getting ready for weeks. The result of parent-teacher night is that everyone is disappointed. Teachers, because most of the parents don't show up (which just proves they don't care), parents because they had to drive to school with screaming kids to basically stand around for fifteen minutes and pick up their students homework, and students because the subject they really do like was not discussed enough and they didn't have time to really be noticed in the commotion.

What if parent-teacher night were parent-teacher "day" on a Saturday afternoon. What if each class sat up booths on the playing field and it was actually a carnival like atmosphere where parents and teachers really could talk and students really could man booths and show their special projects. Would this cost more? No, Would it take more time to set up? No, Would more parents and students show up? You bet, there is nothing like a student with a place to go on a Saturday that is all about them and very few parents say no. In addition, for those students who have parents that don't participate, could still come because it's during the day and they could still feel that they were important and needed. Isn't that what we are really trying to instill in students in the first place, to be better members of our communities?

Final Thoughts - Where to start?

Start with a simple survey sent to teachers, parents and students. Make sure that they are totally non-threatening and ask for honest answers. If you school is on the low end of the scale a simple survey will give you all of the information you need to start raising those scores. And, you will be surprised to learn that the teachers, students and parents are pretty aligned on identifying gaps and giving ideas for filling those gaps.

In our next series of articles we will be discussing some of the possible gaps you may be facing and some cost-effective alternatives to making small changes that have a big impact.

Kay's Corner Office provides freelance writing services that include marketing, website content, and article writing. At our website you will find information on creating a work life balance when you have a home business, information, tips, and reviews.

Copyright Ellen Jackson, Kay's Corner Office

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Professors - Strategically Manage Your College Courses - Dealing With Disruptive Students

By Meggin McIntosh
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Expert Author Meggin McIntosh

In all areas of society - higher education included - many people have the sense that incivility has escalated in both degree and frequency. For those of us in the professoriate who have been here awhile, the change has been marked and it's been difficult to reconcile for ourselves and our colleagues.

Considering the fact that students arrive in your classroom with increasing amounts of baggage--and varying levels of instruction and modeling about 'civil' behavior--you cannot expect your teaching to be immune from disruptive incidents. Although there are no guarantees nor foolproof preventative methods, it's always wise to get to know your students and to let them get to know you. Developing positive relationships is a first step toward staving off inappropriate behavior or being able to curtail it, should it become an issue.

But let's just say that you have done everything you can to keep disruptive behavior from occurring - and yet it does anyway. Common misbehaviors include loud and excessive talking, profane or defamatory language, physical invasion of others' space, bringing in food containers and spreading them out as if sitting in a fast food restaurant, putting one's head down to sleep, and the like. In an increasingly accountability-minded and litigious society, you cannot fail to respond when students cross the line with you or with their fellow students. Not responding to unacceptable behavior from a student creates a hostile environment for other students, reduces the effectiveness of instruction, and detracts from your standing with students.

The following practices can become part of your toolkit for addressing such situations:

Maintain your most professional stance and refrain from being angry, sarcastic, or accusatory. If you sink to their level (or respond in a knee-jerk fashion to their inappropriate behavior, language, or attitudes, you end up making the situation far worse and the students may even support the student who is behaving badly rather than you. However, when you stay poised, yet firm, you are likely to rally support from the other students.
Confront students quietly outside of class. Whenever possible, address the students who are misbehaving outside the earshot of other students. In rare instances, you have to take a student to task in front of the whole class, but that should be avoided whenever possible. You can speak to students after class (asking them to stay), you can call students out of class, or you can ask students to stop by your office. First, give the students a chance to explain and/or save face.
Go the extra mile to preserve the dignity of all concerned. Assume the best until proven otherwise. Students are reasonably fragile and their inappropriate behavior may be due to not knowing any better (incredible, but true). Explain what the behavior is that you find unacceptable, give them the alternative that you'll expect to see (and why), and treat them respectfully.
Keep private issues private. Inexperienced professors, especially those who are younger and/or those who want the students to 'like' them will often be sucked into sharing concerns about one student with another. Be VERY wary of students who try to get you to talk about other students. No one is served by this. If you had a private conversation with a student about his/her behavior, keep it private.
Document actions and words immediately, and inform those who have responsibility for student affairs. Unfortunately, there are some situations that are far worse that clomping into the classroom late or using profane language in the heat of an argument with another student. Some students are dangers to themselves and others. Other times, there are behaviors that persist. Whether the problem is the severity or the frequency, begin to document what is happening so that you have it later. Just keep a note in your lecture notes or planner. It's not necessary to use specifics but it's wise to have the beginning of a record.
Refer students to campus support resources. Some situations are far beyond your ability to handle. Either refer out those students who need help that you can't provide and/or contact the campus support centers yourself to find out what might be an appropriate next step.
Let your department chair or other unit leader know about problems that are extreme or pervasive. I only had a handful of situations over my 15 years of being a faculty member that I felt the need to tell my department chair about - and I was always glad I had. One involved a student who was ultimately excluded from the program (as he had been from several other programs in other states). Another involved a "student" who had been released from an institution (apparently too soon) and wasn't even enrolled at the university. I felt I was in over my head with both students and was glad to have an administrator's support, especially as a young faculty member.

You and your students deserve open, positive, productive arenas for teaching and learning. Keeping the behavior within the acceptable range is one key step.

Strategic professors know that staying on top of all aspects of their course planning, preparation, and implementation is critical to success and peace of mind. Pay attention to the ideas in this article and others available from Meggin McIntosh. In addition, you can learn much more about teaching and reaching the many different types of students who are in today's college classroom by reading the book *Teaching College in an Age of Accountability* (Allyn & Bacon). The book was written by Richard Lyons & Meggin McIntosh (the author of this article).


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The Green Job Resource Toolkit - 10 Tips to Super Charge Your Green Job Search

By Isaac Curtiss
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Expert Author Isaac Curtiss

You would think with all the recent press that staring a green career would be a walk in the park. Guess again, the fact is that while green business is doing better than many other industries right now there is a much larger volume of folks like yourself who want that green job then there are fat cats "putting up the green" to start new green enterprises. But just because it isn't a walk in the park doesn't mean a bright, determined and motivated person (such as yourself) cant find that green dream job they have always wanted. Here are a few pointers and resources to help you do just that:

1. Identify the path to your green career: So you want to install solar panels do ya? are you NABCEP certified? have you ever been on a roof? While many of these certifications and degrees aren't required for their associated trade or profession, they certainly help to separate you from the eco-herd trying to find green work these days. With a clear idea of what is necessary to obtain your desired position you will save yourself much wasted effort.

2. Find what you do best and 'do it green': Starting your green career doesn't mean you have to reinvent the wheel. Are you a landscaper, become a native plant and water saving landscaper, are you an accountant? become an accountant for a green company. Waitress? there are many a vegan and organic restaurant. Now if you work out on an oil rig you might have to be a little more creative about reapplying your skills. Bio-fuel maybe? In essence just about everything done today is also being done in an environmentally friendly way, therefore it's really just a matter of finding a way to re-apply your skills.

3. Learn the lingo: Your green career of choice is just like any other in the sense that it probably has it's own jargon which describes concepts exclusively relevant to those in the field. LEARN THEM- you don't want your prospective boss to ask you about your carbon footprint just to have you start checking your shoe size.

4. Don't lay the green on too thick: There are plenty of folks out their just a 'green' or 'ecology' away from foaming at the mouth on a daily basis. While this is great for the environmental movement it may not be the bullet-proof selling point you imagined. Remember environmentally minded business's are just that...businesses. While your passion and dedication is important, it is not as important to them as your capacity to fulfill the requirements of your desired position, and thus contribute to the (triple) bottom line of the company. ( also find out what the "triple bottom line" is if you don't already know)

5. Let them know exactly what your looking for: This can be communicated through your resume, cover letter, and first impression. Here you accomplish two things, your implying "I want to work for you because this is a great company" instead of "I've applied at every solar panel installer in town and your my last chance" and it also communicates that this a specific interest of yours- not just something you want to run with for a couple of months to catch up on your bills. The "I'll do anything" approach only serves to communicate desperation and a mistrust for your long term intentions.

6. Match you image to your desired position: Recycled product company executive? That resume better be on recycled paper, solar installation? a tuxedo is a little much. Organic clothing designer- wear a popular organic clothing brand. These small steps combined with nuances in your behavior (say your interviewer offers you a can of soda- make sure you inquire about recycling the can.) go much farther in projecting your image as a serious steward of our environment then tooting your own green horn at the interview.

7. Volunteer for a non-profit: Working with a non-profit in your desired field not only gives you a little experience but also helps to communicates your commitment to the environment through actions and not just words. Aim for the ones that work within or beside your field of interest. (see networking below)

8. Build Your Green Network: The benefits of this step are obvious for in the job world it is very much who you know. The Internet is a great place to begin this process. Once you have made positive contact with your companies of choice however your going to want to take this a step further by hitting the streets. If you volunteer for a non-profit that is a great way to begin making personal contact with people in the industry. So is attending green job fairs and environmental social events. All the while don't hesitate to drop by and start shaking some hands at your company of choice. You don't need to come on too hard at first, get some names, make a good impression and then follow up every so often until you are able to connect with the decision maker. (once a month or so) This may run contrary to some theories that everything's about the Internet- but let's face it there is no substitute for face to face contact.

9. Develop Your knowledge and skills: Their are workshops, certifications, books, training courses intern and apprenticeships available for nearly any career you can imagine. A degree is nice and is required for some careers but you can generally enhance your portfolio and knowledge greatly with little more then a months training, or a couple of courses. Workshops and courses will not only give you extra training but extra credibility as well. And remember your dream green job doesn't have to be your first green job. If you run into serious roadblocks such as lack of education or high competition within the field you can always start is a position that has access and exposure to the position you really want and then either move into it when the opportunity presents itself or apply six months later for the same position somewhere else. Then you will have the added familiarity and hopefully some relevant references to back you up.

10. Read up on the history of your profession: The benefits of doing this may not be entirely apparent at first so hear me out. So you want to manage a vegetarian restaurant. Learning a little background on vegetarianism will allow you to more intelligently converse with those who are already in the field- namely your interviewer. It will give you greater confidence in your knowledge of the subject and present opportunities in networking contexts as well. Notice how any expert in anything always seems to know those weird little facts about it that no one else cares about such as who invented the first veggie burger (Gregory Sams 1982.)

By following the tips above and combining them with persistence and maybe a little creativity your bound to find your green career in no time. Maybe this should have been number 11 but remember companies that need help don't always realize it yet. Sometimes all it takes is a well made (and well timed) offer or suggestion, pointing out how you could help their organization. The unidentified companies are naturally going to be the ones with the least competition, and often times they won't be listed in the help wanted section or have a sign on their window. Keep a focused eye on what you want and an open mind on how to attain it - and you should have no problem.


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8 Ways to Gain the Loyalty of Your Pub, Bar Or Club Customers

By P H Smyth
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Most POS or point of sale systems incorporate a loyalty toolkit and customer database. Management systems in their own right, venue owners can leverage powerful POS tools to manage and track reward schemes.

Not all loyalty programs need to offer a discount or 'hard' monetary rewards to bring customers back. Some programs can focus on 'soft' rewards like recognizing guests on arrival, guaranteed reservations, and preferred seating. These soft rewards draw on the POS customer database, cost nothing but carry a high value for customers.

Traditional point and loyalty card schemes can prove to be cumbersome to run and hard to exit from. It's also hard for small venues to compete for customer wallet space with big brand loyalty cards.

Customer vouchers have been around a long time. Recent innovations in point of sale technologies allow barcoded reward vouchers to be printed instantly at the pos terminal.

Vouchers offer a low risk way to trial rewards and impulse promotions on a small scale first. Ideal for pubs, bars and clubs, rewards can be triggered by purchase behaviors, promotional plans and memberships.

Venues can boost the impact of multi buy offers, supplier promotions and specials as well as encourage repeat purchase. They also help create a point of difference vs. competitors.

8 examples of reward voucher use:

1. Multi buy promotion - sell 2 bottles of specified wine and get $10 off. The POS system can amortize the discount over the two products and takes $5.00 off each bottle.

2. 2 For 1 progressive spend reward - every time a member spends $200 on food or beverage, a bar-coded voucher can be issued offering a second main course for free at the next visit. The voucher can be restricted to be redeemed only on a Mon & Tues only.

3. Beer discount - when a specific beer is purchased, the first one is sold at normal price and a bar-coded voucher is printed offering the next beer at 20% discount.

4. Free golf and beer incentive - when 18 holes of golf are paid at the Pro-Shop, a voucher is issued offering the player a free beer at the bar at the completion of the round. This voucher is valid on day of issue only.

5. Gift certificates - an open value or a fixed value gift certificate can be issued by specifying the amount of Dollars. The gift voucher can be redeemed anywhere in the venue on food or beverage.

6. Event or Show Cross promotion - A bar-coded voucher with an image of the event can be issued when drink or food is show. This can offer a reminder of the show or a discount when a show ticket is purchased.

7. Nightly prize draw - A voucher can be printed out at point of sale for entry into a prize draw each night.

8. 3 Course Dinner Voucher - when a 3 course meal is purchased a voucher can be issued with a stored value of included drinks as a part of the package. The drink voucher can be presented and redeemed at the bar.

If this voucher scheme is incorporate into the POS system it should be totally trackable. A barcode or voucher number can be included on each voucher along with an optional expiry date. Redemption is simply by scanning the barcode or by entering the voucher number. Printing is via the POS printer. The POS system keeps track of all vouchers and also reports used and unused vouchers.

Vouchers are an extension of the loyalty toolkit bundled into a POS system offered by Vectron. Venues can also leverage the loyalty module to offer soft rewards like recognition, best seats etc as well as traditional point, card and discount schemes.

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