Archive for Business Answers

September 18, 2012 by the Business Advisor | No Comments

How To Write The Perfect Menu For Your Restaurant

The design of your menu is an important consideration when starting a restaurant. This includes choosing dishes, describing your dishes and physically laying out the actual design of the menu. The use of descriptive phrases in your menu item descriptions can make your dishes even more appealing.

Use headings in bolded text to separate the different kinds of items you feature on your menu. This should include the following: entrees, appetizers, desserts and drinks. This makes it much easier for your customers to find what they want to order.
Choose dishes for each section of your menu. Consider prices and the vegetarian / non-vegetarian ratio of items on your menu. You want to make sure your items coordinate well together and balance each other.
To actually design the menu, you can hire a designer or do it yourself and use a word processing program like MS Word, which has templates available for printing a restaurant menu. Don’t forget to include your restaurant’s logo when putting together the design of your menu.
Include the item’s price next to each item. If fat/calorie information is required by your state, then also list these next to each entree. At the end of the menu, you should also list what payment options you accept.

Be descriptive when describing your dishes.

Try and let the customers know exactly what they are getting when they order a food item. This will save your wait staff from answering questions during when they take orders. Also use descriptive phrases when describing your dishes to help whet their appetite. These can include:

A blend of
A pinch of
Aged
Al dente
Appetizing
Assorted / Assortment
Balanced
Balsamic
Basket
Basted in / Bathed in
Battered
Bearnaise / Bolognese
Bite-size
Bitter
Blackened
Blanched
Blend / Blended
Boiled / Broiled
Bold
Boned / Boneless
Browned / Burnt
Buttered / Buttery
Caramelized
Charbroiled / Chargrilled
Chilled
Clarified
Coated in / Drenched in
Colorful
Complemented by
Concentrated / Condensed
Country style
Creamed / Creamy
Crisp / Crispy
Crusted with / Encrusted
Deep-fried
Dippable
Doughy
Drizzled
Ethnic
Farm fresh
Festive
Fire-grilled / Fire-roasted
Flaky
Flambe
Flame-broiled / Flame-grilled
Fragrant
Fresh from the Sea
Fresh-baked
Fresh-ground
Freshly
From scratch
Garden Fresh
Garlicky
Garnished with
Generous portion
Glazed
Hand-battered
Hand-tossed
Herbaceous
Homemade
Infused
Juicy
Julienne
Layered
Lemony
Marinated
Mashed
Meaty
Medley
Organic
Pan-seared
Parboiled
Pureed
Refreshing
Rich
Ripe
Satisfying
Sauteed
Savory
Scrumptious
Seared
Seasonal
Seasoned
Select
Shredded
Simmered
Slow-cooked
Smoked
Smothered
Steeped
Stewed
Sticky
Tangy
Tossed with
Traditional
Unseasoned
Unsweetened
Warm
Zesty

Another great technique is to include food and drinks that are named after geographic places as many of your diners will be familiar with these dishes. Choose from the following list and sprinkle them into your menu to help your customer’s feel more comfortable:

Aberdeen Angus
Afghan Biscuit
American Cheese
Anaheim Pepper
Anjou Pear
Appenzeller Cheese
Arbroath Smokie
Asiago Cheese
Baked Alaska
Bakewell Tart
Banbury Cake
Bath Bun
Bavarian Cream
Beaujolais
Beef Manhattan
Beef Wellington
Belgian Waffles
Berliner
Black Forest Cake
Black Forest Gateau
Blue Hawaii
Bologna Sausage
Bolognese sauce
Bombay Duck
Bonchester Cheese
Boston baked beans
Boston Bun
Boston Cream Pie
Brie Cheese
Brunswick Stew
Buffalo Wings
Buxton Blue Cheese
Caerphilly Cheese
California-style Pizza
Camembert Cheese
Canadian Bacon
Caprese Salad
Carrizo Sausage
Catalina Dressing
Cheshire Cheese
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
Chicken Kiev
Chinese Dumplings
Chorley Cake
Colby Cheese
Colorado Bulldog
Coney Island Hot Dog
Cuba Cheese
Cumberland Sausage
Danish Pastry
Denver Omelet
Derby Cheese
Dijon Mustard
Double Gloucester Cheese
Dover Sole
Dubliner Cheese
Dundee Cake
Eccles Cake
Edam Cheese
Eggs Florentine
Emmental Cheese
English Muffins
Florentine steak
Frankfurter
French Dressing
French Fries
French Onion Soup
French Toast
French Vanilla
Genovese Salami
German Chocolate Cake
Gorgonzola Cheese
Gouda Cheese
Greek Yogurt
Grimsby Smoked Fish
Gruyere Cheese
Hamburger
Hollandaise Sauce
Irish Breakfast tea
Irish cream
Irish soda bread
Irish stew
Jaffa Cakes
Jaffa Orange
Jalapeno
Jamaican Patty
Jarlsberg Cheese
Jerusalem Artichoke
Jordan Almonds
Kansas City Strip Steak
Kansas City-style Barbecue
Kendal Mint Cake
Key Lime Pie
Lancashire Hotpot
Lappi Cheese
Leicester Cheese
Lima Beans
Limburger Cheese
Limerick Ham
Lincolnshire Cheese
Liverpool Tart
London Broil
Long Island Iced Tea
Lynchburg Lemonade
Magdalena peppers
Manchego Cheese
Manchester Tart
Manhattan Clam Chowder
Mississippi Mud Pie
Mongolian Beef
Monterey Jack Cheese
Moon Pie
Morbier Cheese
Munster Cheese
Nablusi Cheese
Neapolitan Sauce
Neufchatel Cheese
New England Clam Chowder
New Haven-style Pizza
New York Strip Steak
New York-style bagel
New York-style cheesecake
New York-style pastrami
New York-style pizza
Newfoundland Screech
Nicoise Salad
Parma Ham
Parmesan Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Pasta Florentine
Pecorino Romano Cheese
Pecorino Sardo Cheese
Pecorino Toscano Cheese
Peking Duck
Philadelphia Cheesesteak
Philadelphia Cream Cheese
Pinconning Cheese
Polish Sausage
Pomfret Cakes
Roma Tomato
Romano Cheese
Roquefort Cheese
Salisbury Steak
Santa Maria Style Barbecue
Singapore Sling
Spanish Onions
Spanish Rice
St. Louis-style Barbecue
St. Louis-style Pizza
Stilton Cheese
Swaledale Cheese
Swedish Meatballs
Swedish Pancakes
Swiss Cheese
Sydney Rock Oyster
Texas Toast
Turkish Delight
Ulster Fry
Vienna Sausage
Virginia Ham
Welsh Rarebit
Wensleydale Cheese
Worcestershire Sauce
Yorkshire Pudding
Zealand Rock Oyster

September 11, 2012 by the Business Advisor | No Comments

Tips For Improving Employee Communication In A Company

When you start communicating well with your employees, he helped develop teamwork. This helps to establish shared goals between leadership and the employees who are charged with carrying out strategic goals of the company.&’Poor communication among employees is to be avoided at all costs. Poor employee communication leads to missed work, higher employee turnover, and a general lack of motivation to excel at work. Once employees feel valued and learn to communicate by following the lead of their bosses and managers, the entire morale of a company can be improved.

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Tips to improve employee communication.

Share all news, whether it&’s good or bad news. The worst thing that any boss can do is to withhold bad news from their employees. This type of boss ends up breeding uncertainty and feelings of distrust among people in the workplace.
You need to communicate exactly what needs to get done on the job, no matter how blunt this comes across. You have to trust that your employees will speak up if they think the path you&’ve set out is too hard, or is unrealistic given the time constraints. If you foster open communications, then employees won’t be afraid to speak out.
Learn to value different opinions and view points across your workplace. This could mean reconciling the viewpoints of older employees with younger employees. Each has a unique viewpoint, and each group has talents and experiences that other groups might not have.
If you can’t figure out the solution to a problem, open it up to everyone at your company. Let them know that you’re having a brainstorming session cross the entire organization. Let everyone know that their feedback is appreciated. Or if you prefer removing yourself, issue a challenge to the organization to come up with a solution.
Let them know that you are confident that the team will find a solution to the challenge. This creates among your team a thoughtful exchange of ideas towards solving the problem.
Always make sure that your employees feel appreciated and feel like their voice is heard.
Try to instill the fact that each employee is a high-value employee. High-value employees are more likely to be good ambassadors for your company and to speak highly of it. Employees who are motivated by their work deliver better customer service and help produce better products. Engaged employees will in turn engage their customers, so encourage enthusiasm among your workforce.

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Categories : Business Answers Tags : bad news, customer service, employee communication, employee turnover, human resources, job satisfaction, turnover (employment)

September 10, 2012 by the Business Advisor | No Comments

How To Create A Recession Proof Business

There’s nothing innovation and real change in a business. As times get tougher, businesses soon learn that they have to either adapt or get left behind. The new global economy is often alluded to and how all businesses have to start changing to adapt. But when businesses start noticing their sales slipping and market forces creeping into their own neighborhood, well, they then know it’s time to change. Better to recession-proof your business now while it’s still profitable.
To make a business recession-proof, business owners have to ask a few proactive questions that center around customer retention and expansion:

How can I better meet the needs of my existing customers?
How can I meet the needs of my customers faster while providing them with more value?
How can I expand my market so I get even more customers?

The good news is that if you are a small business, your small size allows you to be more responsive to your customers and larger businesses. A huge business like IBM has to go through lots of red tape just to green light a simple change in their protocol of how they deal with customers. A small business is more nimble and can adapt to their customer’s needs quicker. Always try to reevaluate and refine any products and services you have so that they are more aligned to the market demand of your customers.

Ask Yourself the Following Questions About Your Customers

Am I providing something unique and valuable to my customers? Do I provide them with a quality product or service?
Are my purchasing methods easy for my customers to understand?
Are my customer service interactions pleasant?
Do I have a system in place to fix customer problems?

Most of what we’ve talked about has been about customers, because they are the lifeblood of any company. Consider what it is a customer actually wants:

They want to buy a good quality product or service that they would be happy to use again and again, as well as to recommend to friends.
They want good customer service. They want easy and pleasant interaction with the employees of your company.
They want an easy checkout process. As one restaurant commercial put it: “Get in, get out, get on with your life.” If your customers have to wait in long lines to get your product, you’re giving them time in line to second-guess their purchase while being upset for having to wait for such a long time.

To these ends, make sure that your customer service is efficient and that there is no time wasted. You also want to make sure that you’re taking care of your customers and doing everything you can to maximize customer retention. You don’t want your customers to merely be satisfied, but also happy to do business with you. Since customers these days always have choices, you’ll need to give them a reason why they should come back to your company.

Categories : Business Answers Tags : business owners, customer management, customer retention, customer service, real change, small business

August 23, 2012 by the Business Advisor | No Comments

Creating Business Goals Just Like New Years Resolutions

The purpose of creating business goals is to help your business reach new heights. These could be new products and services that you’ve always wanted to release but haven’t gotten around to, or new customers demographics you want to expand into. Try to connect to what makes you excited about your business, as it will make it easier for you to brainstorm ways in which to expand your business into new territory.

Try writing down what you want to achieve in your business over the course of the next 12 months:

Figure out whether or not you will need to hire new personnel to complete the new obligations that your business requires for your new products and services. Some of your existing employees may not be well suited to perform the new functions that your new products or services require. If you end up putting the wrong people on the job, itÕs not going to help your business to expand.
Get clarity in how exactly you will measure your new business success. This could be increased profit, number of new products offered, more locations serviced or new customers acquired. You want a definite numerical goal, something you can post up in the office and see exactly how much you progress you are making towards it every month. You can post a vision board above your desk to help cue you in on these goals. You can use any white poster board for a vision board.
Try to think of new ways for your business to expand and attract new clients. You clients are lifeblood of any business. To increase revenue, you can either hit up your existing clients for more money or expand by targeting new clients and customers. For most businesses, it’s much more feasible to attract new customers. Some ways to attract new customers include advertising campaigns, business partnerships with related businesses and social marketing campaigns.

Questions to get you connected to “why” you’re in business.

Why did I get into this industry and start my business?
What is my main goal for this business this year?
What special talents and skills do I as an owner and as an employee bring to the business?
What do I do that is better than anyone else?
What is it about the work that I do that excites me?
What would be my perfect business day? How would it start, and who would I be talking to and dealing with throughout the day?
If I got a capital infusion of a million dollars, where in my business would I invest the money?
What is it about my company’s products that people love the most?

Categories : Business Answers Tags : business day, business goals, business partnerships, new year, small business, vision board

August 20, 2012 by the Business Advisor | No Comments

Obamacare and Small Business Health Insurance – Good or Bad?

Many small businesses have had to trim or even eliminate their health coverage for their employers due to the excessive cost of health insurance premiums. According to The Council for Economic Advisors, less than half of businesses with ten or less employees offer health insurance because of high insurance rates. Is Obama’s insurance plan for small business the fix that they are looking for? Let?s examine some facts and fictions about Obamacare and how it will impact small businesses.

Obamacare Favors Small Businesses

Obama?s health insurance plan is actually known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If the small business has fewer than 50 employees, then the business will not have to provide health insurance coverage for its workers. Any business with 50 or more full-time employees that doesn’t provide health insurance to them must pay a fine of $2000 for every employee after the first 30. One drawback is that businesses might be hesitant to expand beyond 49 employees, as they will incur the extra burden of having to ensure all of their workers after that point.
If a business with fewer than 50 employees still wants to provide health insurance for its workers, then the ACA will provide eligible businesses of a tax credit up to 35% of the total paid for insurance premiums. There are a few catches concerning receiving that 35% Obamacare tax credit:

The business must have 10 employees or fewer to receive the full amount of the tax credit. As the number of employees increases, the amount of tax credits that a business can get decreases. The tax credit disappears for any business with more than 25 employees.
You can’t pay your employees more than $25,000 annually.

Additionally, any business earning more than $250,000 a year will see their Medicare taxes increase from 2.9% to 3.8%.

Obama?s National Health Exchange (NHE)

Under ACA, small businesses would be allowed purchase insurance for their employees using an exchange, offering affordable insurance rates and more health insurance choices among competing insurance plans. It’s hoped that by having healthcare providers compete for customers in an open exchange, it will help drive down the price of premiums.

Categories : Business Answers Tags : affordable care act, barack obama, council for economic advisors, health care, health coverage, health insurance, health insurance premiums, insurance plan, insurance premiums, national health exchange, number of employees, patient protection and affordable care act, small business, tax credit