The White Papers - Security.

The Scenario

Running a store is more a labour of love than a profit making machine. It is arguably one of the most complicated businesses to run as owners must tout a superb product while dealing with a plethora of issues like generating sales, managing labour and controlling inventory just to survive. This series of white papers is dedicated to those passionate store owners that want to help change the world by introducing a new product or concept while being forced to deal with the business of making it successful. This section outlines the scenarios that will effect one facet of the business and provide some insight into the ramifications of not dealing with it.

Metrix 

There are seven main facets to a managing a successful store – security, sales, labour, inventory, puchases, expenses and profit. Every one of these are critical and require defined metrix (our term referring to a unique blend of metrics and tricks) to hit in order to reach a storefront’s goals. This section will clearly identify the metrix we deem necessary to deal with the challenge outlined in the white paper.

Solutions

Okay, the challenges have been summarized and the goals set – the next big question is how to achieve them. This section will outline ways a business can tackle the challenges and work to hit the metrix outlined. The insights come from actual Higgins data in the field as well as decades of experience in consulting and problem solving some of the service industries toughest challenges using a mixture of process and technology.

Higgins POS is the World’s First Register for Everyone. Order, Sell and Pay for Anything, Anywhere. Free

Security - The Voids Game

The Scenario.

It doesn’t take much to figure out – a server sends a few orders to the kitchen, bar or barista and then - once the customers pays for the bill – they void a few items to reduce the bill total then close it, pocketing the change. This can have a massive impact on the profitability of a business.
 

Metrix.

Sometimes servers need to void when a client doesn’t accept the product or makes a big mistake – that being said, this should not happen often as it costs owners money to prepare a product for a client only to get it wasted. To that end, when reviewing your Higgins e-mails or report app, verify that voids should be lower than 1 to 2% - if they are around 3 to 5%, some training is required. Anything above 6% generally involves theft – we have seen numbers go as high at 11% and then get reduced to 1% by diligent owners using Higgins.

Solutions.

The key is that you can’t steal what you can’t see. Higgins limits the information that managers and servers see to only the sales. Void data is absent from the POS system that staff use and can only be found in the owner report app or the daily sales emails that Higgins sends every morning. In this way, owners can view the voids – even down to the detail of which items were voided and by whom.

Servers and managers have no idea how much is voided – this prohibits them from easily gaming the system as they have to memorize the voids they made to pocket the money.

Any discrepancy in the amount they take from the cash may be found when the float is counted. This gets them scared to play around with the system. This system has found amazing success in a wide spectrum of businesses - some of the data is shown above - voids were recorded in the initial time period that Higgins was implemented and then calculated a few months or more after use of the POS system.

Owners see the void details via e-mail every day or real-time using the report app and react instantly to make sure the voids are minimized. It's this unprecedented visibility for the owners coupled with staff and managers having access to only the data they need to cash-out without any access to critical business information that makes this strategy an effective one-two punch to drastically reduce voids and theft. This is one way that technology and process can help owners get the last laugh - all the way to the bank.

Higgins POS is the World’s First Register for Everyone. Order, Sell and Pay for Anything, Anywhere. Free

Make your clients fall in love with your product

It’s the day cupid gets to shoot arrows and as a business owner are you ready? According to Shorstack, 1.6 billion adult Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day. Which means, adapting your business to appeal to your customers on this day, could be a goldmine for profits? 

As a result, it is essential to take the right steps towards making your business and Valentine offerings stand out from the rest so you get noticed even though you do not sell something conventional like chocolates or flowers. 

Some of the ways you can do so include;

Give them a chance to know your product

Shooting out a love note to your customers a week or on the day of Valentine’s Day, is the perfect opportunity for you to connect and build loyalty. Let your customers know how much you care by drafting a heartfelt message with great and enticing copy and while you are at it, include a coupon as a way to thank them for their loyalty. 

Indulge them on digital

Investing time and money on your highest performing Social media channels, is a good way of converting last minute shoppers to customers for the day.  As 71% of shoppers believe they get better deals online than in store and 2/3 of in store shoppers will check their phones before making purchases. So using words like “the perfect gift”, “Feb 14 shipping”, “gift wrapping”, “special offers” is sure to be an attention grabber for last minute buyers. 

Make them fall in Love

Celebrating all forms of love is a sure way to get your Valentine’s Day offerings noticed. You do not only want to limit your Valentine’s Day offerings to couples. Celebrate friendship, being single, and the need for family, food lovers, and pet fiends. 

Love freely, give freely

Thinking beyond the Valentine craze by offering free trials or samples helps you attract new customers and convince them about the quality of your products since it is a period where people are willing to try new things. So go ahead and get them to try new products and just watch as sales increase. 

Sourced Link for Stats:
http://www.shortstack.com/how-to-get-your-customers-to-love-you-infographic/

5 P’s for Successful Entrepreneurs

Starting a business is one of the most fulfilling ventures for an entrepreneur and further making a return on your investment, makes the whole process of late night meetings an even more rewarding experience for you.

Contrary to popular beliefs, most successful entrepreneurs aren’t so different from you. They started small with a vision mapped out of how much they wanted the world to be impacted by their wisdom and innovation. They didn’t just stop there; they cultivated habits and routines that lead to greater dividends for them in the future.

These habits are easy to manage and adopting a few into your daily routine might just be the trigger needed to prevent stagnated growth in your business. 

Planning: Preparing a day or a night before helps re-prioritize responsibilities, making the next day more efficient and productive.  

Partner: Your business is a day-to-day partnership with your employees. Keep your meetings short and sweet to avoid long setups. This will give the employees enough time   to finish their projects on time.

Patience: It’s key to staying relaxed and feeling less overwhelmed about responding to each and every email or phone call. Link everything to your favorite gadget choice and set up notifications or reminders to complete your daily checklist. For emails, organize your inbox separating the urgent emails from the not so urgent ones. 

Passion: Take your drive to greater heights by connecting with like minds wherever you go. Expanding your reach creates a pool of community that can be helpful. 

Perseverance: Keep at it when it’s hard to get the creative juices flowing. Take a quiet time to meditate and re-evaluate everyday. This helps distress and clears the mind as it provides various perspectives to one problem. This will keep you fresh, energized and ready to take on the world.