Wal-Mart has joined the fight against global warming! Welcome, WAL-MART! About time!
I went to the Mart on Market late last night. I typically bring my big Schnuck's canvas bag with me for my groceries because it fits so much, it does the work of about 10 plastic bags and I can carry it a lot easier than the 50 plastic bags they give me. I usually get a little eye rolling in line when I show it to the cashier (all other stores just nod and move on, but at the Mart there is confusion and eye rolling...Im just sayin). And then I noticed the small display of rather nice looking black bags with a small WMart logo and a slogan that reads, 'Paper or Plastic? Neither." I asked the cashier what they ran (most canvas bags range from $3.50 to $7-making them rather undesirable) and he scanned one for $1! SOLD!
Im so excited to see that Wal-Mart has finally caught up with so many other retailers by providing canvas bags for the most reasonable amount Ive seen. I hope WMART continues to carry the canvas bags (located in the checkout line), because I really do find them to fit more and they are just so much nicer to use! Please encourage this activity in your daily life. While it is a hard habit to form, I have found it to eliminate a LOT of clutter in my home.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Redbird Delivery
My friend Melissa told me about a local service called Redbird Delivery. From what I understand they will deliver anything for a small fee. I like the general concept, but after looking over the website and trying to contact them to inquire about a business opportunity, Im starting to believe that this place is too go to be true.
Upon first look at the site, the overall message is quite vague. A list of eight restaurants are tagged on the left and a poor description is posted in the middle. While I agree that this business would thrive in this community-Im convinced that those who started it never worked in a restaurant.
So Im offering my free advice to those in charge, in hopes that they may make a few changes-so that their business may thrive and I may find them to be a necessity, not a silly, extravagant expense.
In the service industry (note-I didnt say restaurant) people want e-a-s-y. If they have to dig for the info-they move on. You have 30 seconds to make your impression face-to-face and when they go online-15 seconds. If you dont like it-find another gig. Thats life.
We are in a world of people who have been trained to skim the headlines and NOT read the fine print. At first glance on the website-there is too much introduction, unclear navigation and if I want to order something that isnt on your list of eight places-an $8 charge!!! Outrageous! No thank you.
So here are my recommendations;
1) Put your hours back to cater to the late night crowd. Then, understand if you want your business to thrive-you have to work crappy hours in the beginning. Plus, changing your hours immediately says that business isn't good. And while you are growing its extremely necessary to stay consistent.
2) When people email you about business opportunities-you may want to return an email to them promptly. Many people see that as a sign of an inefficient business person, especially when you are an online business.
3) Put every restaurant, fast food, mom n pop menu on your site. They survive without you, not the other way. When they see that you are serious-then they may consider throwing you 20% of their profit. But you need to understand-20% is all that some restaurants make off of their food. Their overhead isn't your bargaining chip.
4) My solution: charge the consumer-you are anyway. Have a $3 charge for the first $15-20 and $1 for each additional $5 spent. If they spend $25 at KFC, you charge an additional $4-5. It may not sound like a lot, but it will encourage business. Whats better? One $8 delivery charge or five $4?. Plus, the customer will be more inclined to add an additional tip for a $4 delivery, they may be a little less inclined after paying $8. Also, I would have a $10 minimum order.
5)Cheap or free advertising is the best way to market your business. People are excited about this idea-they will do all the work for you! Thats how I found out! You dont have to do much to get the word out! Contact ISU and get a little flier stuck in every welcome packet they hand out. Contact McLean County Chamber of Commerce and do the same thing. Tell the Convention and Visitors Bureau what you're doing. Paper State Farm and Country Companies!!! You will be shocked at the response!
I do want to clarify a few things I did like. First of all, I do like that you offer soda on your own. I think that is smart decision. I like how you have structured the online order pad. Also, I think offering an advance order option is wise and will really help the behind-the-scenes organization.
I truly hope that Redbird Delivery does thrive in this community. I order delivery quite often, but am very exhausted with Chinese and pizza. Also, there is restaurant support-the few owners I have talked to are pleased with the idea and really do hope for the success of Redbird Delivery.
Upon first look at the site, the overall message is quite vague. A list of eight restaurants are tagged on the left and a poor description is posted in the middle. While I agree that this business would thrive in this community-Im convinced that those who started it never worked in a restaurant.
So Im offering my free advice to those in charge, in hopes that they may make a few changes-so that their business may thrive and I may find them to be a necessity, not a silly, extravagant expense.
In the service industry (note-I didnt say restaurant) people want e-a-s-y. If they have to dig for the info-they move on. You have 30 seconds to make your impression face-to-face and when they go online-15 seconds. If you dont like it-find another gig. Thats life.
We are in a world of people who have been trained to skim the headlines and NOT read the fine print. At first glance on the website-there is too much introduction, unclear navigation and if I want to order something that isnt on your list of eight places-an $8 charge!!! Outrageous! No thank you.
So here are my recommendations;
1) Put your hours back to cater to the late night crowd. Then, understand if you want your business to thrive-you have to work crappy hours in the beginning. Plus, changing your hours immediately says that business isn't good. And while you are growing its extremely necessary to stay consistent.
2) When people email you about business opportunities-you may want to return an email to them promptly. Many people see that as a sign of an inefficient business person, especially when you are an online business.
3) Put every restaurant, fast food, mom n pop menu on your site. They survive without you, not the other way. When they see that you are serious-then they may consider throwing you 20% of their profit. But you need to understand-20% is all that some restaurants make off of their food. Their overhead isn't your bargaining chip.
4) My solution: charge the consumer-you are anyway. Have a $3 charge for the first $15-20 and $1 for each additional $5 spent. If they spend $25 at KFC, you charge an additional $4-5. It may not sound like a lot, but it will encourage business. Whats better? One $8 delivery charge or five $4?. Plus, the customer will be more inclined to add an additional tip for a $4 delivery, they may be a little less inclined after paying $8. Also, I would have a $10 minimum order.
5)Cheap or free advertising is the best way to market your business. People are excited about this idea-they will do all the work for you! Thats how I found out! You dont have to do much to get the word out! Contact ISU and get a little flier stuck in every welcome packet they hand out. Contact McLean County Chamber of Commerce and do the same thing. Tell the Convention and Visitors Bureau what you're doing. Paper State Farm and Country Companies!!! You will be shocked at the response!
I do want to clarify a few things I did like. First of all, I do like that you offer soda on your own. I think that is smart decision. I like how you have structured the online order pad. Also, I think offering an advance order option is wise and will really help the behind-the-scenes organization.
I truly hope that Redbird Delivery does thrive in this community. I order delivery quite often, but am very exhausted with Chinese and pizza. Also, there is restaurant support-the few owners I have talked to are pleased with the idea and really do hope for the success of Redbird Delivery.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Word around the watercooler
When restaurants open, the scene the first few months are chaos. No matter how prepared or not.
I hesitantly attended a few 'soft openings*' in my day and I'm not sure I ever returned. I know you're not supposed to harshly judge a place in that time, but it cant be helped. I know that salmon takes 13 minutes to properly cook through and when I wait 2 hours (Yes, 2 HOURS and this was during lunch) I have a tendency to not include them in my future list of dining options.
I prefer to wait at least 3 months to a year before dining at any new business. Many factors are included in the list of reasons, but mostly-I don't want to experience two things: 1. bad food and 2. the corporate trainers.
So, imagine my surprise to hear that a particular restaurant in my neck of the woods, didn't even make it through my first trial period before closing!
I'm my line of work I get some juicy gossip about different business, but from what I understand-this business brought a closed restaurant's drama to the new store and it killed it.
Folks, this situation is a textbook case of mismanagement! Any restaurant you walk into as an employee, the first rule they say is, 'whatever happens outside of these doors, stays there.' If the managers let the dirt in, harbor the dirt, love the dirt (in any way imaginable) the dirt will win.
The restaurant did do what every store (with half a brain) does. They didn't tell the staff of the closing and posted a sign. I cant believe people are surprised they do that. The owners do that for the following reasons, 1)they just lost around a million dollars setting up a store to have it fail. They are going to try to sell everything in the restaurant (down to the toilet paper) to try and get their money back. 2) The owners just lost a million dollars, if they tell the customers they are closing-they probably will stop coming in and thus they wont make any money to put towards the debt. 3) The staff will drink, steal and rip the place off. I don't care how loyal a staff-they will.
You may have a favorite place to dine, where its quiet and not a lot of people patron and thats fine, but if you are the only people there at 6pm on a Friday thats bad. If the restaurant has been around for awhile and it is generally empty, they probably have a back room that isn't as family friendly as the front. Otherwise, you may want to start thinking about your next regular spot, because you are going to have to get your coconut shrimp somewhere else.
*A soft opening is where a restaurant invites friends, family and associates to the restaurant to be the first diners, but there are a few catches. First of all, while the meal is free the entire staff is brand new to the food and general flow of the restaurant. They are essentially, practicing on you. The service is typically unorganized, the food generally takes a long time and you get to see the store at its (hopefully) worst. They are hoping that you will enjoy your free meal, tip the server and tell your friends.
I hesitantly attended a few 'soft openings*' in my day and I'm not sure I ever returned. I know you're not supposed to harshly judge a place in that time, but it cant be helped. I know that salmon takes 13 minutes to properly cook through and when I wait 2 hours (Yes, 2 HOURS and this was during lunch) I have a tendency to not include them in my future list of dining options.
I prefer to wait at least 3 months to a year before dining at any new business. Many factors are included in the list of reasons, but mostly-I don't want to experience two things: 1. bad food and 2. the corporate trainers.
So, imagine my surprise to hear that a particular restaurant in my neck of the woods, didn't even make it through my first trial period before closing!
I'm my line of work I get some juicy gossip about different business, but from what I understand-this business brought a closed restaurant's drama to the new store and it killed it.
Folks, this situation is a textbook case of mismanagement! Any restaurant you walk into as an employee, the first rule they say is, 'whatever happens outside of these doors, stays there.' If the managers let the dirt in, harbor the dirt, love the dirt (in any way imaginable) the dirt will win.
The restaurant did do what every store (with half a brain) does. They didn't tell the staff of the closing and posted a sign. I cant believe people are surprised they do that. The owners do that for the following reasons, 1)they just lost around a million dollars setting up a store to have it fail. They are going to try to sell everything in the restaurant (down to the toilet paper) to try and get their money back. 2) The owners just lost a million dollars, if they tell the customers they are closing-they probably will stop coming in and thus they wont make any money to put towards the debt. 3) The staff will drink, steal and rip the place off. I don't care how loyal a staff-they will.
You may have a favorite place to dine, where its quiet and not a lot of people patron and thats fine, but if you are the only people there at 6pm on a Friday thats bad. If the restaurant has been around for awhile and it is generally empty, they probably have a back room that isn't as family friendly as the front. Otherwise, you may want to start thinking about your next regular spot, because you are going to have to get your coconut shrimp somewhere else.
*A soft opening is where a restaurant invites friends, family and associates to the restaurant to be the first diners, but there are a few catches. First of all, while the meal is free the entire staff is brand new to the food and general flow of the restaurant. They are essentially, practicing on you. The service is typically unorganized, the food generally takes a long time and you get to see the store at its (hopefully) worst. They are hoping that you will enjoy your free meal, tip the server and tell your friends.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Greetings and Salutations!
After taking on some extra work, I have noticed the dust accumulating on my coffee table and the laundry overflowing. God bless having a sister in high school who is more than happy to take care of it all for $25! It also hit me that Thanksgiving is this week. My goal was to have all my holiday shopping done by November (I started in September) and boy am I a long way from done!!! I recently discovered a few online stores that Im going to take advantage of . I know they will save me the headache that Im bound to get.
I think I may take advantage of a new site my friends have been talking about, http://www.totallychristmas.com. Its an upscale online store that is privately owned. They design everything in house-so it will be unique and they ship it to you. I wonder if the delivery guy will set it up for $25??? or maybe I'll just have to call Chelsea-B again.
I think I may take advantage of a new site my friends have been talking about, http://www.totallychristmas.com. Its an upscale online store that is privately owned. They design everything in house-so it will be unique and they ship it to you. I wonder if the delivery guy will set it up for $25??? or maybe I'll just have to call Chelsea-B again.
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