Topics
Employee Management
The Driver’s Paycheck
With 130 Domino’s Pizza outlets under his charge, Glenn Mueller signs plenty of checks for delivery drivers. The head of Gulfport, Mississippi- based RPM Pizza, Mueller, a 30-year veteran of the pizza world, has watched competitors throughout the r...
Topics
Employee Management
Hiring a Manager
In 1993, Tony DiSilvestro and his wife, Cynthia, opened Ynot Pizza and Italian Cuisine in Virginia Beach. “We were 24 years old and doing it all,” DiSilvestro recalls, operating a store with little more than hope, previous experience and used equ...
Topics
Employee Management
Employee Stock Ownership Plan: Keeping Your Dream Alive
In the midst of the bustle of running your restaurant, perhaps you sometimes pause to remember when you first opened your doors. Do you think about that future day when you’ll make your exit? Barbara Gabel and Zach Zachowski, who are self-described...
Topics
Employee Management
Social media image sizing how-to
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc can all be a bit daunting if you’re handling social media on your own. It can be even more frustrating when you upload a dynamite photo only to find that the image has lost its luster online or you have to crop awa...
Topics
Employee Management
Bet the Bank
Business banking: It’s all about relationships No one needs to convince Jeff Janik, owner of the two-store Milton’s Pizza & Pasta enterprise in Raleigh, North Carolina, about the importance of banking relationships. From his store managers’...
Topics
Employee Management
Ask Big Dave: Understanding Expenses on a Financial Statement
Q: How and where are expenses shown on a financial statement? – Kenny Reid, Boston, Massachusetts A: Your financial statement really is your periodic snapshot and should be treated as your business’s report card. The function of business is to ma...
Topics
Employee Management
Driver Safety
Sometimes, things happen to delivery drivers. From assaults to auto accidents, delivery related injuries are an unfortunate fact of pizza life. Here are some things you can do to keep your drivers safe while they’re on the road: • Make sure routi...
Topics
Employee Management
Reputation Management
“Your pizza sucks,” signed an ambiguous online customer reviewer. Most operators can relate to receiving a similar review on one of the many user-generated customer review Web sites. It’s just sitting out there for the world to see when someone...
Topics
Employee Management
All Hands on Deck
Quality seasonal workers make the summer rush a lot easier Keeping an even staff level throughout the year is a great thing. You know your employees, they know their roles and staff turnover is steady and predictable. But for some pizzerias, that’s...
Topics
Employee Management
Working while distracted
Operators enforce employee cell phone policies Cell phones have created some challenges for operators who want staff members to stay focused. In fact, employees were sneaking calls, not to mention texting, posting on Facebook and playing Candy...
Topics
Employee Management
Pricing Beverages
If you’re uncertain about your beverage pricing you’re not alone. Confusion over this aspect of operations is common and widespread, says Aaron Allen, global restaurant consultant with Orlando-based The Allen Group of Hospitality Companies. It’...
Topics
Employee Management
Online, mobile, tablet visibility critical to success
Can your pizzeria be found? Sometimes customers have trouble finding Coal Fire Pizza, located near Baltimore. “They’ll say, ‘We tried Google Maps and MapQuest and the directions were wrong,” says Dennis Sharoky, president of the five-unit com...