Seven tips for renegotiating your lease   While the recession is coming to an end, many operators are still struggling. The good news? Your landlord is feeling the squeeze, too. According to the National Association of Realtors, retail vacancy r...

You receive a notice in the mail that an ex-employee is filing for unemployment. But he quit the company and one doesn’t receive unemployment for that. He wasn’t fired; he wasn’t demoted and sulked off in dejection; he wasn’t harassed into su...

Tim Ridout, via Facebook Big Rounds Ravenna, Michigan Hey, Tim. Without exception, I can’t think of any ingredient that has gone down in price. Since cheese is the costliest ingredient on our pizzas, and we buy so much of it every week, it come...

Employees, like all humans, thrive on commendation and compensation for all that they do. What if our staff deserves a little more monetary recognition than we can dish out? Consider this thought from American Industrialist, Owen D. Young: “The wor...

P&L Report gives insight into health of business   At Proto’s Pizzeria Napoletana, the Profit and Loss report is more than a lengthy chart with boring numbers. The P&L is an important topic in quarterly meetings with general managers. ...

Investing in updated look can breathe new life into restaurant At a time when budgets are tight, investing in a remodel or upgrade may seem like a risky plan. Operators have to wonder if updating the look or equipment in their restaurant will bring i...

Q: Banks aren’t lending. Where do I go for growth money? Louis Phelps Kansas City, Missouri A: In the current economic freefall we’ve been destined to play out due to very bad decisions made by ‘too big to fail institutions,’ you are sufferin...

To begin to try and define what makes good pizza might take years of in-depth research, highly elevated arguments and countless caloric consumption. And after all is said and done, you would still be where you started. Pizza varies from region to reg...

When it comes to scheduling, it must seem as if the skills of a magician are called for, especially when it comes to waitstaff. In this case, there are numerous things to consider: how many tables to assign to servers; the number of people needed on ...

With three corporate pizza behemoths in her backyard — not to mention a dozen other independents, Jeannette Magaro, owner of Mia’s Nikoli’s Pizza in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, knows creative and strategic marketing is a must if her ei...

Dave, I need to trim costs considerably in just about every facet of my business. Where do I start? I can’t afford to cut quality of my product, I know, but I can’t afford not to make cuts everywhere else. Peter White San Diego, California  ...

Four years ago, I took a trip to Israel that changed my life. I didn’t have a profound religious experience as people sometimes do while visiting a place so rich in history, but I did begin to notice something that had never caught my eye befor...