groomer

Emily Porter has transformed so many matted dogs into beautiful gems. With a recent surge in gnarly dogs REALLY needing a makeover with The Hot Mess Express, Emily has been re-energized. She does so much amazing work and has so many great stories. Follow her on insta @emilygrooms dogs

Emily Porter has transformed so many matted dogs into beautiful gems. With a recent surge in gnarly dogs REALLY needing a makeover with The Hot Mess Express, Emily has been re-energized. She does so much amazing work and has so many great stories. Follow her on insta @emilygrooms dogs

Episode 19 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Today We Discuss: Q & A Friday:  Dealing with Problem Employees in Your Local Small Business

In today’s episode: We answer a question from one of you! Tom is having issues with his team and needs to replace them but has no one to hire. What should he do?

Shownotes:

Tom has been having issues with several members of his team. Their performances have been subpar. And since their hiring market is tough, he has put up with it longer than he probably should have. He would prefer to fire them but is afraid he would be force to hire more poor people just to have enough people. He is wanting some advice on how to handle this situation.

Tom, I can guarantee you that you are not alone in this challenge. You actually have two different challenges – The first is your poor performers and the second is not having a great hiring pool. The important thing to remember is, NEVER, EVER hold on to poor performers just because you don’t have folks to replace them with.

The longer you hold on to poor performers, the more potential cancer you allow to grow within your organization.  So it is critical that you address these performance issues quickly.  Now, please know, this doesn’t necessarily mean to fire them. It means, address the performance issues.

If you have been documenting their performance and you have been coaching and retraining and there is absolutely no confusion on where they stand on their performance then sure, terminating their employment is probably the right course of action.

However, if you haven’t documented anything and you haven’t been coaching and retraining them, then don’t you think you owe it to them? 

Now, it will also boil down to what the issue is. If it is not performing tasks right, that is fixable. A really crappy attitude, not so much.  However, either way you need to sit down and go over what your concerns are and then document that conversation. Make sure there is no doubt in the employee’s mind what needs to change and what both of your commitments are to make that happen.

Arrange a training plan, assign them a mentor, outline clear next steps and expectations.  Part of your challenge is going to be, they will not believe you. Especially when you get a final warning. Why would they? If you have a pattern of holding on to poor performers or those with poor attitudes, why would they think it would change now?

You must draw that line in the sand and share with your entire team on the expectations and consequences going forward. You good employees need to know just as much that you doing something about it. They too will not believe you. You need to make them believers again.  Their attitudes have been suffering as well from having to deal with these bad apples.

When the time comes to make that final decision, do it! You must show that your words are more than words. That you will do all you can to help them succeed but you will also cut bait when they don’t perform their end of the bargain. 

I’m a big fan of looking in the mirror first as a leader. Look to see if the poor employees are due to something you can help control. For example, maybe that employee with a poor attitude is someone who use to do a great job for you but they lost their fire when they worked side by side with folks who dragged them down. This is the cancer we don’t want to spread.

Ok, so that is the crash course on dealing with your poor performers, now let’s discuss the 2nd part of your problem. A poor hiring pool.

The first question is, is this poor hiring pool a community wide problem or just for your business? The reason I ask is, you have to ask yourself if you a known on the community as a great place to work? Maybe your lack of qualified people is due to not being a desired place to be hired?

Now, let’s assume that it is a community wide problem.  They key thing to remember In tough hiring areas is to ALWAYS BE RECRUITING. If a great candidate shows up, hire them! You may never get the shot again. Then performance manage those that need to go. Even if those folks get better you now have a win/win.

You can’t afford to let good folks slip through.

** For the full show notes click the link below!

HELPFUL LINKS

Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at Tammy@LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Episode Show Notes:  Episode 19 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners:  TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com

Starting a Local Small Business Website:  StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 19 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Today We Discuss: Q & A Friday:  Dealing with Problem Employees in Your Local Small Business

In today’s episode: We answer a question from one of you! Tom is having issues with his team and needs to replace them but has no one to hire. What should he do?

Shownotes:

Tom has been having issues with several members of his team. Their performances have been subpar. And since their hiring market is tough, he has put up with it longer than he probably should have. He would prefer to fire them but is afraid he would be force to hire more poor people just to have enough people. He is wanting some advice on how to handle this situation.

Tom, I can guarantee you that you are not alone in this challenge. You actually have two different challenges – The first is your poor performers and the second is not having a great hiring pool. The important thing to remember is, NEVER, EVER hold on to poor performers just because you don’t have folks to replace them with.

The longer you hold on to poor performers, the more potential cancer you allow to grow within your organization.  So it is critical that you address these performance issues quickly.  Now, please know, this doesn’t necessarily mean to fire them. It means, address the performance issues.

If you have been documenting their performance and you have been coaching and retraining and there is absolutely no confusion on where they stand on their performance then sure, terminating their employment is probably the right course of action.

However, if you haven’t documented anything and you haven’t been coaching and retraining them, then don’t you think you owe it to them? 

Now, it will also boil down to what the issue is. If it is not performing tasks right, that is fixable. A really crappy attitude, not so much.  However, either way you need to sit down and go over what your concerns are and then document that conversation. Make sure there is no doubt in the employee’s mind what needs to change and what both of your commitments are to make that happen.

Arrange a training plan, assign them a mentor, outline clear next steps and expectations.  Part of your challenge is going to be, they will not believe you. Especially when you get a final warning. Why would they? If you have a pattern of holding on to poor performers or those with poor attitudes, why would they think it would change now?

You must draw that line in the sand and share with your entire team on the expectations and consequences going forward. You good employees need to know just as much that you doing something about it. They too will not believe you. You need to make them believers again.  Their attitudes have been suffering as well from having to deal with these bad apples.

When the time comes to make that final decision, do it! You must show that your words are more than words. That you will do all you can to help them succeed but you will also cut bait when they don’t perform their end of the bargain. 

I’m a big fan of looking in the mirror first as a leader. Look to see if the poor employees are due to something you can help control. For example, maybe that employee with a poor attitude is someone who use to do a great job for you but they lost their fire when they worked side by side with folks who dragged them down. This is the cancer we don’t want to spread.

Ok, so that is the crash course on dealing with your poor performers, now let’s discuss the 2nd part of your problem. A poor hiring pool.

The first question is, is this poor hiring pool a community wide problem or just for your business? The reason I ask is, you have to ask yourself if you a known on the community as a great place to work? Maybe your lack of qualified people is due to not being a desired place to be hired?

Now, let’s assume that it is a community wide problem.  They key thing to remember In tough hiring areas is to ALWAYS BE RECRUITING. If a great candidate shows up, hire them! You may never get the shot again. Then performance manage those that need to go. Even if those folks get better you now have a win/win.

You can’t afford to let good folks slip through.

** For the full show notes click the link below!

HELPFUL LINKS

Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at Tammy@LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Episode Show Notes:  Episode 19 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners:  TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com

Starting a Local Small Business Website:  StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 18 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Today We Discuss: Why Your Small Business Needs a Sales Journal or Log

In today’s episode: We discuss how keeping a sales log / journal gives you powerful information to use increase your sales & profits each year by learning from the past.

Shownotes:

Now, let’s dive into today’s topic which is a huge game changer when implemented and used. With used being the key word. But, more on that shortly.

I am a big fan of having a daily sales log. Now, for those of you that aren’t familiar with a sales journal or log, it is basically about capturing key information that you can refer to in the future to better drive your profit and sales. It also can lead to better decisions on processes and people.

Since they hit all 4 of our key topics of profit, sales, process and people, it is a fantastic tool to have in your tool belt.

So, what types of information would be great for you to capture?

Sales – The most obvious thing you will want to capture is your sales. I recommend your daily sales and depending on your business, possibly even what items or services you sold.  This is last part is much easier on some brick and mortar businesses that have registers that capture sales by item.

Why is this important?  What better way to look back and know your sales pattern and your peaks and valleys? You gather information that shows trends by the day of the week as well as how your weeks and months play out. It is really fun to watch once you can stack each year on top of each other. I think you really see clear trends.

Which now leads into another great category to capture

Categories – For those of you that have certain services or categories that are critical to watch, tracking how these do can offer great insight into purchasing product and what you can expect in sales.  An example I’ll share from when I had my ice cream shop was the category of ice cream cakes. This was a big chunk of my business. It was very important for me to capture these sales so I knew what to plan for.

Which leads to another great thing to capture:

Unique situations – Since we are talking about this part of my business, one thing that I had to capture were any unique situations that happened. Now, unique can be something as basic as the impact of holidays or something that is important in your local community and it impacts your business, such as pioneer days, freedom days, graduations, chili cook offs, etc. We all have local events that could potentially have an impact on our business.

By the way, other things can impact or business but they don’t happen that often. But a year from now, you might not recall them happening. A great example of this might be repaving of your parking lot or a broken fire hydrant or road closures. 

Which leads to another common impact on our business.

Weather – Weather can have a huge impact on a lot of local small business owners. Think about what hurricanes, floods, etc. Now those are extremes, but any storm  - whether rain or snow will impact most folks business.  Especially if it wasn’t normal for the time of the year.  It could be a heat wave as well.

Holidays – Holidays will impact businesses differently. Some will flourish during these times and others will tank. You need to know by how much and see the trend. Here is why knowing you jump in sales in November just isn’t enough.

Let’s say you have tracked the last 2 years of sales for the Christmas season. Your business tends to jump 20% the past 2 years. Now, let’s assume you have been tweaking your business and now you are having your best year ever. You are actually up 20% in your business all year long.

Think about how much business could be missed if you didn’t plan on seeing a true 40% jump this coming holiday season? You have to plan for the 20% trend you already are on plus an additional 20% for your normal jump.  So if last year you did say $10,000 in business, you now much prepare for an additional $4,000 on top of that!  Having this information helps you be prepared for our next item

Better Hiring – Knowing what is coming allows you to not only plan for your inventory needs, it also allows you to prepare for your people needs. Do you need to hire more folks? Do you need to cut back your part time hours? If you see that last year your sales dipped for two weeks due to the street being repaired, then you know you probably don’t need to cut back your people needs during this same time this year.

Coupons & Ads – Finally, you want to capture the impact that any coupons or ads you run have on your business. What worked and what didn’t?

So as you can see, there are quite a few key things that impact your business and would be great to know the history. I can’t tell you how often I referred to my sales log to see how I could maximize my sales and profits.

** For the full show notes click the link below!

HELPFUL LINKS

Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at Tammy@LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Episode Show Notes:  Episode 18 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners:  TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com

Starting a Local Small Business Website:  StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 18 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Today We Discuss: Why Your Small Business Needs a Sales Journal or Log

In today’s episode: We discuss how keeping a sales log / journal gives you powerful information to use increase your sales & profits each year by learning from the past.

Shownotes:

Now, let’s dive into today’s topic which is a huge game changer when implemented and used. With used being the key word. But, more on that shortly.

I am a big fan of having a daily sales log. Now, for those of you that aren’t familiar with a sales journal or log, it is basically about capturing key information that you can refer to in the future to better drive your profit and sales. It also can lead to better decisions on processes and people.

Since they hit all 4 of our key topics of profit, sales, process and people, it is a fantastic tool to have in your tool belt.

So, what types of information would be great for you to capture?

Sales – The most obvious thing you will want to capture is your sales. I recommend your daily sales and depending on your business, possibly even what items or services you sold.  This is last part is much easier on some brick and mortar businesses that have registers that capture sales by item.

Why is this important?  What better way to look back and know your sales pattern and your peaks and valleys? You gather information that shows trends by the day of the week as well as how your weeks and months play out. It is really fun to watch once you can stack each year on top of each other. I think you really see clear trends.

Which now leads into another great category to capture

Categories – For those of you that have certain services or categories that are critical to watch, tracking how these do can offer great insight into purchasing product and what you can expect in sales.  An example I’ll share from when I had my ice cream shop was the category of ice cream cakes. This was a big chunk of my business. It was very important for me to capture these sales so I knew what to plan for.

Which leads to another great thing to capture:

Unique situations – Since we are talking about this part of my business, one thing that I had to capture were any unique situations that happened. Now, unique can be something as basic as the impact of holidays or something that is important in your local community and it impacts your business, such as pioneer days, freedom days, graduations, chili cook offs, etc. We all have local events that could potentially have an impact on our business.

By the way, other things can impact or business but they don’t happen that often. But a year from now, you might not recall them happening. A great example of this might be repaving of your parking lot or a broken fire hydrant or road closures. 

Which leads to another common impact on our business.

Weather – Weather can have a huge impact on a lot of local small business owners. Think about what hurricanes, floods, etc. Now those are extremes, but any storm  - whether rain or snow will impact most folks business.  Especially if it wasn’t normal for the time of the year.  It could be a heat wave as well.

Holidays – Holidays will impact businesses differently. Some will flourish during these times and others will tank. You need to know by how much and see the trend. Here is why knowing you jump in sales in November just isn’t enough.

Let’s say you have tracked the last 2 years of sales for the Christmas season. Your business tends to jump 20% the past 2 years. Now, let’s assume you have been tweaking your business and now you are having your best year ever. You are actually up 20% in your business all year long.

Think about how much business could be missed if you didn’t plan on seeing a true 40% jump this coming holiday season? You have to plan for the 20% trend you already are on plus an additional 20% for your normal jump.  So if last year you did say $10,000 in business, you now much prepare for an additional $4,000 on top of that!  Having this information helps you be prepared for our next item

Better Hiring – Knowing what is coming allows you to not only plan for your inventory needs, it also allows you to prepare for your people needs. Do you need to hire more folks? Do you need to cut back your part time hours? If you see that last year your sales dipped for two weeks due to the street being repaired, then you know you probably don’t need to cut back your people needs during this same time this year.

Coupons & Ads – Finally, you want to capture the impact that any coupons or ads you run have on your business. What worked and what didn’t?

So as you can see, there are quite a few key things that impact your business and would be great to know the history. I can’t tell you how often I referred to my sales log to see how I could maximize my sales and profits.

** For the full show notes click the link below!

HELPFUL LINKS

Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at Tammy@LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Episode Show Notes:  Episode 18 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners:  TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com

Starting a Local Small Business Website:  StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 17 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Today We Discuss: Walk Your Local Small Business Thru Your Customer's Eyes

In today’s episode: We discuss why it is critical that you walk your business through your customer’s eyes. You will be amazed at what you are telling your customers at any given moment.

Shownotes:

I was reminded of this critical step in the daily routine of any small business owner.  One that is often overlooked and it can be very damaging to your businesses sales and profits.  I knew at that moment that we needed to take some time to discuss it.

I decided to have lunch at a local fast food joint and when I got out of my truck, the first thing I saw was a trash can that was over flowing with old wrappers and soda cups. The ground littered with this trash.

At the front door was another trash can that was also overflowing and a stack of gross trays with ketchup oozing out the sides. Since I was planning on dining in, my first thought was, I sure hope the tables look better than the trash cans.  Later I would realize I was out of luck.

Tables were littered with trash, crumbs and drink stains. By the way, the tables weren’t alone, the chairs and floor looked like a bomb when off. Just like those confetti cannons. You’ve all experienced this before. You know, where you go table to table hoping one will be semi clean so you can sit down.

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Nothing screams I don’t care about you as a customer more than this. It tells your customers that I don’t care that you sit and eat in crud.

It tells them that if I don’t care about my lobby, I probably don’t care about keeping my back line clean either and odds are my food prep areas.  It screams, I don’t care about you the customer.

When I had my place, I was a fanatic about this. Even in busy times, I knew it was critical to send the right message to my customers that I cared about the environment they and their children ate in.

But, please know, this conversation isn’t just about dining room lobbys. It is much greater than that.

A business lesson I learned at an early age was to walk each 8 ft section of my business through the eyes of a customer.  What do they see? Is the product fresh? Is it signed well? Does it answer the questions someone might have? Is it faced and cleaned?  Or are there torn packages, an inch of dust, no signs and no rhyme or reason to the placement of the product? Are the shelves blocked by freight?  You get the idea. Basically, what is the customer experience?

I want you to think about when you go personally go shopping or when you visit businesses with your family.  Let’s assume there are no employees and the business had to stand on it’s own. What do you find that frustrates you?

** For the full show notes click the link below!

HELPFUL LINKS

Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at Tammy@LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Episode Show Notes:  Episode 17 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners:  TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com

Starting a Local Small Business Website:  StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 17 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Today We Discuss: Walk Your Local Small Business Thru Your Customer's Eyes

In today’s episode: We discuss why it is critical that you walk your business through your customer’s eyes. You will be amazed at what you are telling your customers at any given moment.

Shownotes:

I was reminded of this critical step in the daily routine of any small business owner.  One that is often overlooked and it can be very damaging to your businesses sales and profits.  I knew at that moment that we needed to take some time to discuss it.

I decided to have lunch at a local fast food joint and when I got out of my truck, the first thing I saw was a trash can that was over flowing with old wrappers and soda cups. The ground littered with this trash.

At the front door was another trash can that was also overflowing and a stack of gross trays with ketchup oozing out the sides. Since I was planning on dining in, my first thought was, I sure hope the tables look better than the trash cans.  Later I would realize I was out of luck.

Tables were littered with trash, crumbs and drink stains. By the way, the tables weren’t alone, the chairs and floor looked like a bomb when off. Just like those confetti cannons. You’ve all experienced this before. You know, where you go table to table hoping one will be semi clean so you can sit down.

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Nothing screams I don’t care about you as a customer more than this. It tells your customers that I don’t care that you sit and eat in crud.

It tells them that if I don’t care about my lobby, I probably don’t care about keeping my back line clean either and odds are my food prep areas.  It screams, I don’t care about you the customer.

When I had my place, I was a fanatic about this. Even in busy times, I knew it was critical to send the right message to my customers that I cared about the environment they and their children ate in.

But, please know, this conversation isn’t just about dining room lobbys. It is much greater than that.

A business lesson I learned at an early age was to walk each 8 ft section of my business through the eyes of a customer.  What do they see? Is the product fresh? Is it signed well? Does it answer the questions someone might have? Is it faced and cleaned?  Or are there torn packages, an inch of dust, no signs and no rhyme or reason to the placement of the product? Are the shelves blocked by freight?  You get the idea. Basically, what is the customer experience?

I want you to think about when you go personally go shopping or when you visit businesses with your family.  Let’s assume there are no employees and the business had to stand on it’s own. What do you find that frustrates you?

** For the full show notes click the link below!

HELPFUL LINKS

Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at Tammy@LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com

Episode Show Notes:  Episode 17 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners:  TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com

Starting a Local Small Business Website:  StartALocalSmallBusiness.com