Food Franchise

Posts Tagged ‘Quot’

When starting a business, how do you put all the pieces together when you don’t know what the pieces are?

I’ve attempted to build a few businesses in the past but I failed miserably before I even started because I was never told what I needed to know in order to be successful.

This time around I decided that I had to take responsibility for my own business. My sponsor, although a good man, can’t possibly be held responsible for my business. Regardless of promises made prior to signing up. Afterall he has his own team to build. The very first piece of the puzzle is to take responsibility for your own business.

The next piece is to know the company and it’s policies and procedures inside and out. You must know every aspect of your business and this includes the P&P. In the policy and procedures document that every company has you will learn what you need to know in order to stay compliant with the company. Read this document entirely. Write down any questions that come up and then consult the company’s website FAQs. Any questions you may have left should be directed to your sponsor. Any questions that your sponsor cannot answer need to be submitted to the legal or compliance departments.

It’s important for you to give at least two weeks for these departments to respond to your question. You are not the only person asking questions and they respond in order of receipt. This also means that if the way you build your business will be impacted by the answer then you need to wait for the answer and move forward in your business with the things that you already know are in compliance.

Now it’s very easy to get the attitude of, “It’s my business and I’ll do what I want!” but please understand this attitude may cost you your business. Even major fast food restaurant franchisees have to comply with the corporate office’s regulations. It’s only to protect both the company and your business.

Another piece of the puzzle is marketing/advertising. Please understand that this one piece contains lots of smaller pieces. When you put all or most of these pieces together you will find that your business starts to grow with little help from you. You must first check to see what marketing/advertising materials are already available so you don’t re-invent the wheel. Then you must submit your own materials to the right department for approval before using them. Besides submitting your marketing/advertising material to the parent company may result in your material being used company wide..

As I said earlier there are a lot of smaller pieces to the marketing/advertising piece. Here are a few of them:

* Email blasting with autoresponder
* Leads for cold calling
* Lead capture pages (aka landing or splash pages)
* Ezine ads
* Newspaper / classified ads
* Free For All link sites
* Search Engine submission / optimization
* Personal Website
* Blogs
* Articles
* Joint Ventures
* Viral Marketing

The list goes on but the above are most used. Now when you start looking into all of these it’s easy to get confused. I mean which company offers the best service for the price? How do you know the leads you’re purchasing aren’t just recycled lists that everyone else has gone through also? The questions can gone forever.

The short answer is this….your sponsor should be sharing with you everything he/she is using that has worked for them complete with costs involved. This should be part of the team training process. Let’s face it – you can’t sign up for a business and expect to have people knocking down your door while you continue to do nothing. We also need to understand that the entire reason that Network Marketing works is because when someone in our team experiences growth, so do we.

Why aren’t sponsors sharing their marketing/advertising strategies with you? Great question, I’m glad you asked…

I think this is a very good question. Why aren’t sponsors starting the training/learning process by introducing you to what works — or at least what’s worked for them? Simple….

Some sponsors have built their business the old fashioned way — warm market followed by cold calls and building relationships with total strangers in an effort to increase their business numbers. Actually, I shouldn’t say “some” but most have done it the old fashioned way.

Now I’m not saying that you need to sit at your computer all day and deal with people only through email — I hate that just as much as the other guy. What I am saying is that more and more people are staying home and getting everything they need from the internet. We can now order everything — including pizza — by logging into the internet and searching for it. Why does everyone prefer the internet over leaving the house?

Easy — search engines can find you whatever you’re looking for — all you have to do is ask for it. They don’t give you a hard time and ask why you want to know.

Can you do that at the mall? I mean really — can you go into any store in the mall, ask a question and get the best possible answer without a hassle? Heavens NO! You’ll be lucky if the store employee can direct you to the nearest restroom….

We all must move to marketing online or our businesses will die a slow, painful death….okay perhaps a little too dramatic but you get my point.

The problem? Your sponsor may not know where to begin either BUT…you could learn together. Make sure that you keep track of everything. Track your URLs (there are a few free sites for this) so you know which advertising campaigns are working and which ones aren’t. Learn how to write effective emails – search online for free courses. And discover where to buy the best double opt-in leads for your company. Unfortunately the best to figure this out is to purchase a small list, run your ad and watch how well it does. Only then will you know if it was worth your money.

Keep a WORD file of every site you’re using, the ad copy you used, when you posted, when you have to renew the ad, etc. Remember to keep track of the costs as well. The ads no good if it’s costing more than it’s bringing into your business.

Then….

Share the information with your team AND your sponsor. Perhaps if we would remember we’re in this together we’d all be doing better.

Remember what we all love most about Network Marketing….everyone has the ability to win at the game of financial independence. This includes YOU.

It’s also important to remember that you must keep it all going at the same time. If you stop doing one thing just so you can do another then you’re not going to get anywhere. You need to do as many of the things mentioned earlier as possible.

How do you do that without going nuts or spending all of your time on marketing/advertising?

Schedule time everyday just for marketing/advertising and give your business a marketing/advertising budget. Stay within that budget – no matter what.

Getting started will take the longest. I’d recommend creating your ads and emails first — even before you know where you’re going to post them or who you’re going to send them to. That way once you know what sources you’re going to use all you have to do is copy and paste from your file then make notes about each campaign.

Keep it as simple as possible and learn how to automate it so you can get back some of your free time. For now though, remember that you’ll have to give up some of your free time in order to get this set up and working for you. Get serious, stay serious and hit the ground running. We’re starting a new year make this one count…

I have tried several different brands of coffee, both at fast food chains and in the form of bagged or canned grounds. Here are my ratings and reviews of each coffee brand…

GROUND COFFEE REVIEWS

New England Coffee Breakfast Blend: I have found both the decaffeinated and regular versions of this brand to be rather good. It’s reasonably priced as well. 8/10

Dunkin’ Donuts: This bagged, ground coffee is of high quality, but relatively expensive. It is sold in one pound bags of regular or decaffeinated. 8/10

Sam’s Choice (Caffeinated): Although it’s good that this brand is Fair Trade Certified, I found its taste mediocre and my stomach didn’t respond well to it. 2/10

Tim Horton’s “Fine Grind”: This comes in a can, which makes it easier to spoon out and reseal than bagged grounds. I tried the caffeinated type and found it almost as good as the first two brands above. 7.5/10

For tips on how to keep your grounds fresh and choose the right brand, check out How To Care For Coffee. Also, consider buying reusable filters.

FAST FOOD BRAND RATINGS

As indicated by the following reviews and ratings, I have found fast food chain coffees to vary in quality more than the different ground brands…

Burger King (Caffeinated): This coffee is consistently good, relatively inexpensive (small: $1.09 + tax), and comes in a well-designed cup. Be sure to ask for the number of creamer and sugar packets you want. 9/10

McDonald’s (Newman’s Own): The taste of this brand seems to change from one time or franchise to another, ranging from poor to fair. It sometimes has grounds at the bottom or isn’t hot enough. 3.5/10

Dunkin’ Donuts: Usually of good quality (with an occasional exception), this coffee now costs nearly $2 (after tax) for a medium cup. The small size cup is thin and poorly designed. 6/10

The above-mentioned numeric ratings take into account taste, price, and packaging.

When you are being interviewed for a restaurant job, the questions you will be asked will relate mainly to your experience, customer service skills and time flexibility. Here are a few questions that you will likely be asked.

Q. Why do you want to work for this particular restaurant?

A. Your answer will vary depending on your actual reason for wanting the job, but you might say something like this.

“I am an experienced cook and I need part time employment to help carry me through college.” (this shows that you have integrity) “I have enjoyed many meals at this restaurant so I’m aware of the quality of the food and the standards of its service, and I’d be honoured to be part of your staff.”

Q. Are you familiar with the restaurant history and what we serve here?

A. You would answer yes because as a responsible job seeker, you would have learned the history, mandate and product of the restaurant prior to the interview, so you would be prepared for this question.

You might say something like, “Yes, I know that this particular franchise has been here twelve years and that’s it’s the fifteenth one to be established in this state. I understand it’s listed in the top five of fast food restaurants because of the quality of the products served and the efficient service. And I’m familiar with the menu because I’ve been a faithful customer for years.”

You may even go into more detail such as the founder’s name and business projection if you want because like people, businesses like to listen to good reports about themselves.

Q. Have you ever worked in a fast food restaurant before?

A. If your answer is no, you want to keep a positive focus on what you can do rather than on what you haven’t done, so you might say, “I haven’t worked directly in a fast food restaurant but I am familiar with it’s fast pace and long hours. I’ve been a volunteer for several years at the school book store and that has given me first hand experience with dealing with people in a fast paced environment where customer service skills are essential”.

If your answer is yes, you would answer yes and then say where you worked and at what capacity. Ie: “Yes, I was employed by such and such part-time for three years in high school.”

Q. Why did you quit?

A. You would not say that you didn’t get along with the supervisor or that you were tired of the shifts. What you would say is something positive like, “I needed to focus all my attention on my studies

When it comes to Filipinos, there is only one kind of fast food chain that can provide just the right kind of taste that Filipinos are looking for, and that is the Jollibee Philippine. Jollibee Philippine is the top fast food chain in the Philippines to date, serving their unique menu from their delectable choices of Yumburger to their joyous Chickenjoys for Filipinos all over the world to enjoy.

Jollibee Philippine has been serving us with their delectable collection of fast food such as the Chickenjoy and Yumburger, but have you ever asked where and when and how the Jollibee Philippine has started?

As far as we can remember, the Jollibee Philippine provides us with the most delectable fast-food foods, but did you know that the Jollibee Philippine did not start on selling hamburgers or chickens, it started as an ice cream parlor at Cubao in 1975 with Jolibe as the original name.

But after sometime, they decided on getting the services of a management consultant in the person of Manuel C. Lumba. Lumba suggested that to shift their business of ice cream parlor to hamburgers after his studies showed that a much larger market was waiting to get tapped.

And sure enough, their hamburgers became a hit for a lot of Filipinos. After this success, Lumba next reformed the name Jolibe to Jolly Bee and made the two words form a single name Jollibee. Then Lumba next created the product name "Yumburger" as well as the name "Chickenjoy".

The stores were re-designed, the service transformed into a full self-service, fast food operation with drive thrus. Not long after, Tony Tan and Manny Lumba went on an observation tour in the United States, attended food service and equipment conventions. Tony Tan put Manny Lumba on center stage by putting him in charge of franchise development.

The Jollibee Philippine have gotten so big that they have decided on incorporating some expansions and acquisitions on other fast-food restaurants. On 2000, the Jollibee Philippine acquired Chowking, allowing Jollibee to be part of the oriental quick service restaurant segment.

Similarly, Jollibee Philippine also acquired Red Ribbon Bakeshop on 2005, another popular fast-food restaurant in the Philippines. In 2006, Jollibee Philippine acquired the Délifrance which further expanded its penetration in the food service industry particularly in the French cafe-bakery, a growing segment of the Philippine food market.

Now, the Jollibee Philippine has become the biggest fast-food chains in the world with an overall count of 1,466 stores in the Philippines namely Jollibee (627), Chowking (377), Greenwich Pizza (236), Red Ribbon Bakeshop (194), Délifrance (28) and Mang Pepe (4). It had 191 stores overseas.

That’s all about the history and present state of Jollibee Philippine. But if you are ever wondering about sending some Jollibee food products your loved ones back home with the stress of going through all that calling and waiting, then visit Express Regalo at www.expressregalo.com to learn how.