Small Business Owners

[GAVol]

way to far for a pie


mmm lemon tart ,those are great

It's never too far for pie.

 

[governmentmule]

i will have to make one,I've only done it a couple of times,I need to work on the crust lol

that is a bit of a long ass haul from here

I think

 

[ButchPlz]

i will have to make one,I've only done it a couple of times,I need to work on the crust lol

that is a bit of a long ass haul from here

I think

Depends on where here is. If here is Knoxville we're about 4 hours up the interstate.

We don't make pies yet but they're on our product radar!

 

[hog88]

Roanoke VA

I’m from Riner.

 

[ButchPlz]

I’m from Riner.

Just down the road! If you're ever in town we are near Carilion and Fork in the Alley.

 

[JacketVol]

I had this sign in both of my sandwich shops and pointed to it a few times.
View attachment 162280

NO SOUP FOR YOU

Seriously, make a good product and charge a fair price and if you know you are doing your best to act with full integrity and do so then don't worry about anything else.

 

[Carl Pickens]

It's a bakery.

Bake a batch of marijuana cup cakes and disperse them at random in people's orders. Word will get out and you'll have tons of business

 

[1972 Grad]

I wouldn’t want to eat in a sandwich shop that looked like the inside of some guy’s garage.

But he has golf clubs, so that's a plus.

 

[Carl Pickens]

The logic and reason side of me gets it, the nastiness that's occasionally been directed at my wife makes the reason get lost.

We both know we're doing the right things, so I can keep leaning on that at least!

You should send your wife to job shadow with some Asian ladies.... they know how to work the client base

 

[1972 Grad]

I’m from Riner.

I once worked in Christiansburg, and I also bought greenhouse plants from a place in Riner sometime after that. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was down a steep, narrow, curvy gravel road, and I think it was near a river. I always wondered how they got tractor trailers down in there.

Edit: It was on the Little River just south of Riner. Riverbend Nursery is the name.

 

[OldandStillaVol]

Are you open Sunday mornings? There is a small bakery near us that only sells donuts and morning stuff then and the lines are out the door. I think they close at 1PM on Sunday.

 

[ButchPlz]

Are you open Sunday mornings? There is a small bakery near us that only sells donuts and morning stuff then and the lines are out the door. I think they close at 1PM on Sunday.

We've thought about it, but the foot traffic is low on Sundays here, for one, and the big reason is we want to go to church.

 

[hog88]

I once worked in Christiansburg, and I also bought greenhouse plants from a place in Riner sometime after that. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was down a steep, narrow, curvy gravel road, and I think it was near a river. I always wondered how they got tractor trailers down in there.

Edit: It was on the Little River just south of Riner. Riverbend Nursery is the name.

Describing a place as down a steep narrow curvy gravel road just narrows it down to 95% of places in Rainer.

I think I know the place.

 

[VolFaninFla]

I own a promotional products company. Had a customer that would spend time on the internet looking for rock bottom pricing and would then have me come in and demanded that I match all of the prices. She would then ask for my input on product and design which the internet companies either did not provide or charged additional $$$$. Of course she wanted that for free.
They were going to a trade show and she needed banners, table covers, business cards, imprinted pens, and other items with their logo. She spent so much time trying to beat me down on price that I finally told her that we were not a good business match as it was not a profitable account.
Sometimes you have to fire some of your customers.

My only advice is to continue to make the changes that you feel will make you profitable. At the same time, kill your customers with great food and exceptional service in a clean, welcoming store. You will create a new group of customers who will be willing to pay what it takes to keep you in business. I would not ever talk to anyone about the previous owners issues.
Wish you lots of success!!

 

[ButchPlz]

I own a promotional products company. Had a customer that would spend time on the internet looking for rock bottom pricing and would then have me come in and demanded that I match all of the prices. She would then ask for my input on product and design which the internet companies either did not provide or charged additional $$$$. Of course she wanted that for free.
They were going to a trade show and she needed banners, table covers, business cards, imprinted pens, and other items with their logo. She spent so much time trying to beat me down on price that I finally told her that we were not a good business match as it was not a profitable account.
Sometimes you have to fire some of your customers.

My only advice is to continue to make the changes that you feel will make you profitable. At the same time, kill your customers with great food and exceptional service in a clean, welcoming store. You will create a new group of customers who will be willing to pay what it takes to keep you in business. I would not ever talk to anyone about the previous owners issues.
Wish you lots of success!!

We deliberately do not talk about issues with the prior owners except for with our suppliers, our marketing/ads reps, and we've had to with some events we had booked (but that was only because the prior owners kept no details outside of contact info and dates- we don't even know what we're committed to).

I think we are running into some of what you talked about. People expect the brand she started to be a K-Mart, we want to be a little fancier than that and have made changes accordingly- especially since our target market isn't being catered to AT ALL right now in our area.

 

[Boca Vol]

I own a promotional products company. Had a customer that would spend time on the internet looking for rock bottom pricing and would then have me come in and demanded that I match all of the prices. She would then ask for my input on product and design which the internet companies either did not provide or charged additional $$$$. Of course she wanted that for free.
They were going to a trade show and she needed banners, table covers, business cards, imprinted pens, and other items with their logo. She spent so much time trying to beat me down on price that I finally told her that we were not a good business match as it was not a profitable account.
Sometimes you have to fire some of your customers.

My only advice is to continue to make the changes that you feel will make you profitable. At the same time, kill your customers with great food and exceptional service in a clean, welcoming store. You will create a new group of customers who will be willing to pay what it takes to keep you in business. I would not ever talk to anyone about the previous owners issues.
Wish you lots of success!!

It's tough to fire customers but I've found that once you make that decision and explain that it's not profitable to do business with them they often become good customers. But it's liberating to tell a PITA customer that it's time to part ways.

 

[Fullfillmer]

I am not exactly familiar with bakery customers although I buy a couple dozen cookies for my staff every week and of course am forced to partake of same. I am not sure how those guys stay in business - you get a great assortment for $9.00 a dozen. I think they must have low overhead. Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, birthday and wedding cakes..... Anyhow, Here would be my suggestion based on a trucking company analogy. Every customer that you have been given or has passed through from the previous owner could be a potentially great customer going forward or could be a customer you have to fire - it often is up to you, but first - who and what is your competition ? Where is their pricing, what are they offering, how competitive are they? Once you determine where your pricing needs to be based on completion and other factors, then you approach these historically loyal customers that were faithful to the prior owner. I know it sounds crazy, but you have to SELL them. I know .. who would have guessed. I would try to meet with all, or at least all that I could, thank them for their loyalty over the years and explain to them you and your wife's vision for your new store. We are grateful for your patronage, we are really trying to do some new and cool things here for the community, we have enhanced and improved the appearance of the interior and exterior, we are using a higher quality of ingredients in our products, and added other enhancements. Transportation and raw materials have gone up pretty dramatically in the past year ( surely this is the case for you ) so we are having to bump our prices a little - just to stay even with these rising costs. This is completely beyond our control - I am sure you understand. We have made up these business cards to distribute to our top tier customers and on the back we give a ____ discount off of our retail price -- because we value you and want to reward you for being so loyal. XXXXXXX did a great job with the shop, we are very grateful for all of her advice and assistance - but we want to take it to another level. Please let us know what you think and let us know if you have any suggestions for our shop or our product line or if there are any needs that we can help fulfill.

Yada, Yada, yada. With something like the above approach your conversion rate should be 80% or better I would bet. You didn't want the 10 - 20 percent you lose anyhow.

That would be my advice although a word of caution - i have never done any sales myself -so just my humble opinion and probably how I might attack some of your concerns.

We have had to fire customers -- but I like working with them for a win win solution much better. The ones you have to fire want a WIN - no win solution.

Good luck let us know how it goes.

 

[Orangeslice13]

I own a promotional products company. Had a customer that would spend time on the internet looking for rock bottom pricing and would then have me come in and demanded that I match all of the prices. She would then ask for my input on product and design which the internet companies either did not provide or charged additional $$$$. Of course she wanted that for free.
They were going to a trade show and she needed banners, table covers, business cards, imprinted pens, and other items with their logo. She spent so much time trying to beat me down on price that I finally told her that we were not a good business match as it was not a profitable account.
Sometimes you have to fire some of your customers.

My only advice is to continue to make the changes that you feel will make you profitable. At the same time, kill your customers with great food and exceptional service in a clean, welcoming store. You will create a new group of customers who will be willing to pay what it takes to keep you in business. I would not ever talk to anyone about the previous owners issues.
Wish you lots of success!!

The customer isn’t always right and you don’t need them all.

 

[ButchPlz]

So another update- we've had to turn away some pretty sizable sales lately. The prior owner was desperate for money so would bend over and take it on product price for customers literally 100 miles away. We had a client call to put in a big order today and she demanded the old owner's price along with no delivery fee (4 hour round trip to a neighboring state) which we politely declined.

This is the hard side people don't notice I think. We're having to rebrand our reputation and customer expectations as part of this, and it ain't easy.

 

[ButchPlz]

Hey everyone-

I remembered this thread and we've been reflecting back on things since we took over a little over a year ago.

We're in the midst of a total overhaul and rebrand, which was much needed and is going well. Our sales are up OVER 100% from when we took over and from what the old owner was doing before, which is exciting. We're paying my wife a decent salary and I get paid for my 15ish hours of work in the shop each week, as well- and we're much more profitable than before.

Our hard decisions and hard work are paying off. We're taking a near month-long trip to Japan this fall, since we're confident in our employees and the ability of our shop to run without us there all the time, and we're taking steps to expand into several new products and new markets.

I am so thankful for my beautiful wife, our customers, and most importantly the fact that God has blessed us personally and in our business. Here's to the next year of ups and downs!

 

[McDad]

Hey everyone-

I remembered this thread and we've been reflecting back on things since we took over a little over a year ago.

We're in the midst of a total overhaul and rebrand, which was much needed and is going well. Our sales are up OVER 100% from when we took over and from what the old owner was doing before, which is exciting. We're paying my wife a decent salary and I get paid for my 15ish hours of work in the shop each week, as well- and we're much more profitable than before.

Our hard decisions and hard work are paying off. We're taking a near month-long trip to Japan this fall, since we're confident in our employees and the ability of our shop to run without us there all the time, and we're taking steps to expand into several new products and new markets.

I am so thankful for my beautiful wife, our customers, and most importantly the fact that God has blessed us personally and in our business. Here's to the next year of ups and downs!

Wonderful news. Congrats to you both. Keep up the great work.

 

[tennvols77]

Hey everyone-

I remembered this thread and we've been reflecting back on things since we took over a little over a year ago.

We're in the midst of a total overhaul and rebrand, which was much needed and is going well. Our sales are up OVER 100% from when we took over and from what the old owner was doing before, which is exciting. We're paying my wife a decent salary and I get paid for my 15ish hours of work in the shop each week, as well- and we're much more profitable than before.

Our hard decisions and hard work are paying off. We're taking a near month-long trip to Japan this fall, since we're confident in our employees and the ability of our shop to run without us there all the time, and we're taking steps to expand into several new products and new markets.

I am so thankful for my beautiful wife, our customers, and most importantly the fact that God has blessed us personally and in our business. Here's to the next year of ups and downs!

Remember, shi*** people cause shi*** scenarios. Sounds like you are a decent man, and that goes along way.

I never got in here before, but, reding the thread inclined me to add my 2 cents.

These are the rules to success in business (with luck as well, always plays a part) plus many other aspects, but, the golden rules to success begin with easiest of simple humanity.

Growing up the son of extremely intelligent and successful parents (Nuclear Engineer/ Doctor) led to me being able to go to a very nice private school, where even an average student could write his ticket to any school, Ivy and Military Academies. So, for 3 years there I dated the eldest grand daughter of the second richest man in Cincinnati, who in 1990, was worth over a $billion then. Privately held company, he built from scratch.

I always wanted to be very successful from the youngest of ages. This man became a mentor to me, and I spent a lot of time, irritating to my girlfriend, but, a lot of time with him.

I'll never forget flying on one of his jets with him to one of his facilities (27 in America, and owned millions of acres across the world), drinking a beer, yes he was sooooo cool, but, I had known him for over 2 years, and I looked him in the eyes and asked:

What is the trick? what is the best advice simply put to get to where i want to go?

He said: (and he laughed as it is the eternal question....) and answered it is easier than you expect and simpler than any book of any kind could teach.

Treat people better than you expect to be treated.
Always be flat lined and amicable, and always be "cool". Treat the nastiest pos like your mother, until you know when it's time not to.

You pay, and take care of, your good employees more than they could ever make on the job market comparative to job and pay and industry averages. The return on your money can't be put into any metric.

Your word is your bond, even to the detriment of your bottom line. You might not realize it then, but, the payback is and will be greater than you could anticipate.


Now it seems simple, but, those simple rules have served me very well. And of course, it isn't that simple, but yet, it kind of is.

People want to do business with people they like, people they respect. Just being an honest and decent person can and will go along way. Add in drive and a dogged determination, a great work ethic, a willingness to sacrifice, and some intelligence, and as long as you are passionate and care about the work you do, you should be successful. Whatever level that is to you. Also, luck is important in terms of timing and place, but as is said, the harder you work the luckier you get.

Also, pertaining to number 2 advice from the old man, and my dad, and my experiences, your best employees get sh** on the most, meaning, because they are accountable and trust worthy and they get the job done, and they care about their performance and job, unfortunately, in times of need and crisis, they pay the heaviest toll, as you know the are responsible and will not fail, they get things dumped on them that aren't "fair", but, they pay off every time. You do what you have to do to keep these types compensated, they are irreplaceable, as you are probably finding out.

Keep working hard and best of all things for you and your company.

 

[Boca Vol]

Remember, shi*** people cause shi*** scenarios. Sounds like you are a decent man, and that goes along way.

I never got in here before, but, reding the thread inclined me to add my 2 cents.

These are the rules to success in business (with luck as well, always plays a part) plus many other aspects, but, the golden rules to success begin with easiest of simple humanity.

Growing up the son of extremely intelligent and successful parents (Nuclear Engineer/ Doctor) led to me being able to go to a very nice private school, where even an average student could write his ticket to any school, Ivy and Military Academies. So, for 3 years there I dated the eldest grand daughter of the second richest man in Cincinnati, who in 1990, was worth over a $billion then. Privately held company, he built from scratch.

I always wanted to be very successful from the youngest of ages. This man became a mentor to me, and I spent a lot of time, irritating to my girlfriend, but, a lot of time with him.

I'll never forget flying on one of his jets with him to one of his facilities (27 in America, and owned millions of acres across the world), drinking a beer, yes he was sooooo cool, but, I had known him for over 2 years, and I looked him in the eyes and asked:

What is the trick? what is the best advice simply put to get to where i want to go?

He said: (and he laughed as it is the eternal question....) and answered it is easier than you expect and simpler than any book of any kind could teach.

Treat people better than you expect to be treated.
Always be flat lined and amicable, and always be "cool". Treat the nastiest pos like your mother, until you know when it's time not to.

You pay, and take care of, your good employees more than they could ever make on the job market comparative to job and pay and industry averages. The return on your money can't be put into any metric.

Your word is your bond, even to the detriment of your bottom line. You might not realize it then, but, the payback is and will be greater than you could anticipate.


Now it seems simple, but, those simple rules have served me very well. And of course, it isn't that simple, but yet, it kind of is.

People want to do business with people they like, people they respect. Just being an honest and decent person can and will go along way. Add in drive and a dogged determination, a great work ethic, a willingness to sacrifice, and some intelligence, and as long as you are passionate and care about the work you do, you should be successful. Whatever level that is to you. Also, luck is important in terms of timing and place, but as is said, the harder you work the luckier you get.

Also, pertaining to number 2 advice from the old man, and my dad, and my experiences, your best employees get sh** on the most, meaning, because they are accountable and trust worthy and they get the job done, and they care about their performance and job, unfortunately, in times of need and crisis, they pay the heaviest toll, as you know the are responsible and will not fail, they get things dumped on them that aren't "fair", but, they pay off every time. You do what you have to do to keep these types compensated, they are irreplaceable, as you are probably finding out.

Keep working hard and best of all things for you and your company.

Well said!

I've never been a slogan or motto person but my take has always been...make it easy to do business with you.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

My retirement dream job is to open a junk/antique shop. This is making me want to just play golf.

 

[Fun coupon VOL]

It's never too far for pie.

Only if it is pecan pie.