Pizza is recession proof--------isn't it?

LOL! Well, let's hope so anyway. Here is the truth about pizza, the recession and President Bush's bail out plan. I just wrote a lengthy email and sent it to the white house. In short this is what I said.

Hey Pres, forget the cash refund and just send out gift certificates for Pizza! You see I could use the cash and there are a lot of Pizzeria owners out there that can use it too! Not sure how far that is going to get us but its a try!

So how are you doing to do in these uncertain times? Ignore the 5% 10% 15% drop in your business or do something about it. This post may not speak to the long time pizzeria owners that have a great customer base and can ride out the dips in sales, but if you just opened or have only been in the business for a few years this is for YOU! Ok, let's get to some really basic stuff that will make a big difference in your bottom line.

One of the first ways to boost profits on flat sales is to look at the costs of business that are flexible. Your lease is not. PGE? Nope...Yellow Pages, uh uh, so what is flexible? LABOR and FOOD COST. Sorry...didn't mean to yell but you'd better listen.

Your employees are great aren't they? Young great people and they really need their hours, huh? Do you keep them busy when the sales are slow, or do you let them go for a few hours during the slow time? Can you cut your payroll back and keep everyone happy? Let me ask you this way: if you do not cut back, will you stay in business? Ya, thought so! It is that important so take a good look at the labor cost you will probably be able to cut back without harming your customer service at all.

Your food cost is another story and a much easier one because you really just have to look at your stock. How much cheese are you holding? How much perishable food are you storing..., fresh meat, veggies salads?

Here is what you need to do:

Don't over-order your cheese, Take a look at your past year's same month sales and see what you were ordering then, and make sure you are ordering only what you need each week. This could cut out as much as two-thirds of your normal ordering cost in your overall food order.

Veggies and meats are just as important so make sure you are only prepping what you are using on a three-day cycle, and you should save money on your orders. You may still be surprised at how much food and paper goods you have on your shelves. And while you may say: "But what if I get busy on Thursday night and don't have enough food for the weekend. Believe me, your distributor rep will make sure you get the food you need, and as soon as business picks up, you can stock up because you will have the extra cash.

This is just about good business. If you have to scale back and put in more hours yourself DO IT! It will do your store, employees, and you a great deal of good.

Making sure your food costs are in line is crucial to your success, and the real kicker here is not only will you carry less product and save money. Your customers will also reap the benefit from always enjoying the freshest ingredients and that alone is worth the work. Happy customers tell other customers and your reputation is what will really get you through the tough times.

I just went through my kitchen and I did save 2/3 of one week's food cost and not because my sales fell 2/3 it's because I had so much stock rotating each week. So I know what I am talking about, and I am not sitting in my million-dollar house writing a blog for profit, or trying to tell you what to do, as if I am not doing it myself -- I am . And by the way, I feel like I am in a ten million dollar house writing this blog, because the dog is sitting by the fire, the new kitty is scared to death of the dog, and my kiddos are all snoring away in bed!

Life's good !

Keep the questions coming this is really getting exciting for me to see how many people are reading this and are getting great ideas too, I will answer them all.

Send any Qs to chef@fregenes.com

Chef Glenn