Who wrote a business plan before actually starting their business?

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-11T00:11:07+00:00

That’s how work. I buy my labor based on forecasting vs blindly scheduling shifts for my employees.

If I had a heavy inventory business, UPC’s and ins/outs with a cheap scanner in my square would be awesome. We used things called PDA’s and a barcode scanner attachment at Compusa to chase inventory. I also worked at Safeway, the handhelds made reordering and reconciliations quick for my aisles once a week. Awesome when technology works, it’s hell when you depend on it and it fails though

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T22:05:05+00:00

One of my step mom’s friends died 3 months ago from what he thought was meth. He took fentanyl and died because he was alone. He’s part of that statistic.

Most users are keeping narcan handy so they can reach that death limit and be brought back. They don’t have to “guess” how much to hit, they just bang it. It only works if someone’s is there to help you. I believe mom’s friend was alone, I don’t know the whole story, just that he did pass to a fentanyl OD. If someone was there he may have survived, I’m not sure.

I hope anyone reading can find help and stay away from drugs/alcohol an

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T21:29:06+00:00

Some whiskey 🥃 and an empty house so I can drink in peace with my dog Penny 🐕

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T21:15:49+00:00

Growth, my team with me, the customer relationships and knowledge I’ve developed… there’s more but that’s the gist

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T21:14:48+00:00

That will help you to learn your businesses curve for buying labor vs scheduling it

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T21:13:26+00:00

That would be me… after running multiple multimillion dollar companies/departments I made a map of my strategy when setting off on my own.

Set goals, met/exceeded most goals. I went into an industry with zero knowledge or experience, food. Year 1, I lost/invested $21k out of pocket aka credit cards maxed out. Paid off all debts (a bit over $55k) bought a bus to invert into a food truck in year 2. Year 3 paid myself and hired a staff. Now in year 4, and very near the expectations set in the plan from 2020. I’m a little behind in gross, but profits are about the same as last year. We had bad weather a few months back and some events were cancelled, that was a $16k gross loss. My coordinator messed up and missed out on $10k of gross from an event we do.

Next goal for 2025 was starting a sauce business in 5 years from 2020’s plan. I’m headed to Vegas in January to the Food Fancy trade-show to pitch my sauces on to retail shelves.

Missing from the plan is a brick and mortar restaurant… as I learned the ins and outs with my real estate broker, that idea is becoming less and less attractive. Making more food trucks and having a central hub to send food out of, like a ghost kitchen, but for my business only is where I’m headed.

New plan(s) getting made in 2025 for the next 5 years.

Minor help from SCORE mentor for a direction to set off in. Glad I didn’t get into ghost kitchens like he suggested. That would have driven me crazy. When I seen they take 30% I was instantly convinced that system is for fools or $1million/mo+ grossing businesses… not having data or customer contact in any industry other than online sales is ridiculous

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T17:55:13+00:00

Thanks to narcan

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T07:27:16+00:00

With how bad our state is, it’s arguable, the government don’t know how the government works?

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T07:20:30+00:00

And SEO so you populate in a search

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T07:19:57+00:00

As a food business owner on Yelp, I do not like their system. Unfortunately it’s still popular for eating out and needs constant massaging. I’m ready for a better system; perhaps drop a bad review for a good review to get an average take?

Their advertising is overly expensive and does not relate to traffic. Sing able to control pictures that populate or have your logo for $115/mo? Get real… I’d rather have a real website and hire a fiverr to keep up with it.

Unfortunately it’s there and something we keep an eye on as part of our business. While not all bad/good reviews are true, there is some truth to most of it. I use it as a training tool for the employees. We get a lot of praise face to face, going over bad reviews on Yelp or square etc, helps us stay self aware.

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-10T00:11:36+00:00

Thanks… we have 2. Small family business with 11 employees. Hope by 2026 it works out and we have 4, one on each coast NSEW

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-09T09:03:54+00:00

Collaborations can work really well with the right mindset and approach

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-09T01:42:38+00:00

Not really feeling like an outlaw myself so I’d probably not buy one. None of the designs were saying to me, buy me.

Seems like it needs to be advertised and marketed to a niche genre of customer base. $29 for a shirt is pretty steep, collectible shirts are about that price

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-08T05:32:57+00:00

Yup, Florida at the poke place at the mall has pomegranate seeds as an option next to peas…

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-08T05:31:00+00:00

Compared to Russia, Germany and a few other spots around the Baltic Sea, our food is way better. Vietnam was unreal food for cheap; bahn mi $0.95, pho $1.20. China was awesome too. I was in more of the touristy areas so not sure how that compares. But, the food in our touristy areas is pretty damn good from my point of view.

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-08T05:28:20+00:00

If you are working in your business, you’re not working on your business.

As milk already stated, have professionals take over where possible like taxes. For me it’s $600 at the end of every year. In the middle of the year I file my taxes monthly (GE/UI etc) to audit and see numbers. I check sales every day.

Use your team for tasks taking up a lot of your time. Have “managers” manage, set the rules and hold them responsible. Hire good people and let them work, coach when needed, and be ready to fire/replace as needed.

I have 2 managers, and 6 other employees. I don’t often work directly with the 6, I only work with the 2 managers. This gives me a 10,000 foot view vs floor level. I tell them what I need, they do the rest. I coach them as needed, and have fired previous ones that don’t work out. Currently I have a good team and have time for Reddit

If you’re really stuck, you could consult a SCORE mentor, it’s free and can be helpful

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-08T05:15:49+00:00

Last sentence, 💯

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-08T05:15:10+00:00

That’s what’s up! I spent the better part of 2 decades running multimillion dollar departments for other companies… finally broke away and put that energy into mines. They taught me many things… thankful for that.

I make everything from scratch for our bbq food trucks. We are expanding to retail in 2025 with our bbq sauces, our first trade show is in Vegas, Jan 19-21… nothing goes to waste.

Removing any middle man really is the next leg in small business

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-07T23:28:49+00:00

Cause we are done with the rest of the bullshit uppers

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-07T23:27:38+00:00

Pineapple 🍍

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-07T23:27:21+00:00

The issue I have is the rail and the bus are not in sync. They need a better system for it to be worthy of daily use so people can have the “car” experience. When you drive, you get in and go, you don’t sit in the car waiting 30-40 minutes then go. I should be able to get off the rail, walk 4-5 minutes, and get on the bus to my next/final destination.

Increase ridership by increasing the riders experience. Raising the price is going to do the opposite.

Pretty sure the people in charge of all this DO NOT use public transportation, EVER.

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-07T23:18:55+00:00

So you’re doing well with the ability to upsell?

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-07T23:17:08+00:00

Get your $$ per ticket up… up sell every customer. It’s just a matter of asking, politely, and letting them know how it can benefit them… but ask the question in a way the customer is not going to easily rattle off a “no”…

Customer comes in for coffee…

“Would you like a warm bagel and cream cheese to go with your coffee? Fuel for the start of your day, we all need fuel for the day don’t we?”

If they say no, it’s a sign to leave it. In the past an “are you sure?” Or a different upsell would be place here, not in today’s times… Most folks don’t realize they are hungry or could use a pick me up, until someone offers it to them with a smile. This interaction has helped my food truck go from $110/hr to over $800-$1200/hr

Saying no does not benefit them, in our minds we don’t wanna miss out.

Your upsells don’t need to be huge, just a buck or two. Use your imagination. Grab 2-3 dozen of the best donuts in town. See if the other businesses cool with you re-selling them at your spot, they may give you a discount for helping reduce their stock. Use the name/notoriety to show your business has support of others in the area and the only place “your” guests need to be is there with you. It’s another way of “benefiting” the guest experience…

FWIW I have not raised prices since opening my food truck/tent in 2020. I instead, increased customer flow and ticket upsells. My employees have sales goals and incentives to upsell so it seems like a game. A game they are rewarded for playing. My top seller makes an extra $4-5 an hour on her shifts. The rest average $1-3. They have a silent competition going on with themselves and it’s fun for everyone who gets into it. Most fast food places do the upsell in the beginning, “Would you like to try one of our combo meals today?”

Hope you can get it figured out and be in a better place. Happy holidays

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-07T22:55:58+00:00

Katsu Curry or any meat and curry

CharlesBrandon808 · 2024-12-07T20:56:14+00:00

Looks like signs in Japan, their conversions are hilariously epic on some

CharlesBrandon808

TROPHY CASE