Page 39 - foodservice news magazine Nov-Dec 2018
P. 39

MANAGEMENT
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“Our industry is being affected by the same economic forces that have led to the decline of the corner deli bar and the local butcher. Businesses below a certain size can’t compete with the larger operators anymore.”
own. When establishment costs get too high, we will see a rapid change in the nature of the industry as the big get rapidly bigger and less small operators can afford to get into business.
Compound this with the management skills required to run a larger business and you have a double edged sword – you’ll need a big bag of money to get started and you’ll be taking
a hell of a risk with that money unless you have the management skills to structure and run a larger business properly. To spell it out a different way, it will be very difficult for the ex-cook and waiter, to go into business for themselves in the future.
There are other community changes that are going to affect us, as well. Have a look at what is happening to the tobacco industry. Our regulators have woken up to the fact that we are better off tackling the cost of community health at the root cause, rather than at the hospital and medical end of
the chain of events. Tobacco products are being taxed out of existence, and there is an all-out assault on tobacco marketing. How long do you think it will be before the community and government turns on alcohol with the same intention? It’s only a matter of time.
An assault on alcohol means that our industry is going to have to gear itself to making less money from beverage
sales and more from food and entertainment. This will alter the basic structure of most businesses and will require
careful thought and planning. It won’t happen suddenly, though. The change will be slow and insidious and will catch many operators unaware. Take a leaf (no pun intended) from the embattled tobacco industry – they did their homework and diversified into other activities outside their core, shrinking business.
How long ahead are we talking? I’m telling my clients to work on five years. That’s not long, you know. The years seem to be passing like a picket fence at the moment. The important questions are: Are you planning ahead? Do you know where
you are going, long term? Are you driving your business or following it? The business world can and does change quite rapidly – contingency planning and flexibility are two of the key skills of a successful business owner or manager.


































































































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