Mixin’ at the Mixer!
“It was a great meeting!! Mahalo!”
It was both informative and fun for members and guests at the first event of 2012 for HRA. A trio of seminars preceded the mixer at Morton’s The Steakhouse at Ala Moana Center. Many thanks to Morton’s for the good food, service and venue. Alan Hoki coordinated the seminars, which was focused on maximizing your resources and business opportunities and minimizing costs for greater profit. Mahalo to Heartland, Payment Systems, Hawaii Energy and ACW LLC and HR Administrators of Hawaii for their presentations. As part of the evening ED Roger Morey was surprised with a birthday salute. Click here for pictures……………………>>>>> Read the rest of this entry
Don’t miss HRA Seminar & Mixer Jan. 17!
Door Prizes will be awarded and a Free Gift will be Given to all Attendees!
5 New Year’s Resolutions For Your Business
Susan Page / www.openforum.com
Even if you don’t believe that New Year’s resolutions work, having goals for 2012 might help you achieve them. Goals and resolutions are essentially the same thing. You want to get a fresh start on a new year, so set some goals and call them resolutions.
I make resolutions in both my personal and professional life. And, I make them achievable so that I can feel good about reaching them at the end of the year. (I don’t try to grow 2,000 percent in 12 months!)
I can’t expect goals to happen magically so I include action items to help me reach my goals. Here are some resolutions you can tailor to fit your own business goals, with suggested action items to help you achieve them.
1. Increase sales in 2012 by X percent
When you make resolutions, set concrete goals. If you simply say you want to increase sales, even a $5 increase over the year would qualify you as having achieved the goal. But you really want to increase sales, right? Set a number that’s feasible. Look at the last few years of sales and aim for just a bit more growth (The economy will likely allow for a little extra reach in your numbers this year).
2. Market my business better through social media and content
I suspect this should be on many business’ list this year. If you’ve seen a little success with social media and content marketing, it’s time to step it up.
3. Become known as the expert in my field
If you work on personal branding, people have to know your name for it to be successful. The more places you appear, the more people get to know you through your knowledge. Dedicate 2012 to becoming the expert in your industry.
4. Be more productive
You can tailor this one completely. Last year, I resolved to move to Google Docs. I did, and that has meant exponential productivity for me. Look at tools that help you share documents, monitor time spent on social sites and in general, operate more efficiently. Pick a few and resolve to fully implement them in 2012.
5. Delegate X percent of my work
If you’re like me, you have trouble delegating. Sometimes it just seems easier to do it yourself, right? I recently offloaded a large project onto the shoulders of a very competent employee. It has made a huge difference. If you’re bogged down in tasks rather than working on the bigger picture for your business, you’ll never achieve growth.
Create action items to achieve your goals. Aim to measure progress on a regular basis, and analyze why it’s working or not. Adjust as you go along: don’t wait until both shoes drop before you take action! Happy New Year!
Obtaining Accurate Recipe Costs
Mark Kelnhofer / www.runningrestaurants.com
A fairly accurate assessment of current restaurant operations today do not have accurate recipes costs. Recipe costs are the foundation of much more strategic functions such as the menu engineering process and theoretical benchmarking. Too frequently recipes are not written to determine accurate costs.
They are generally written in cookbook terms and not manufacturing terms. Thinking about a restaurant as a manufacturer is a unique concept and not typically applied. It is a concept that can bring about greater benefits such as improving profits and greater efficiencies. There are two primary concepts to assist in obtaining accurate costs. Read the rest of this entry
Summary of Food Safety Regs Summary
Here is a summary of how the upcoming changes in the Food Safety Regulations will affect us.
Food Safety Regs – Summary of changes
CHAPTER 50 – Major Changes
(Replaces current Chapter 12)
Higher Annual Renewal and Permit Fees – increase depends on establishment type and physical size (will allow hiring of more inspectors)
More Frequent Health Inspections – goal is avg. 3 X per year, depending on risk potential/ history
Web-Based Food Inspection System – will be available for public review
Placard System
* To be placed immediately following an inspection
* Clearly visible to the general public and patrons
* Green (pass)
* Yellow (Conditional Pass) – follow-up inspections within 2 days
* Red (Closure) – Health Dept. will work with you to reopen
New Definitions – too numerous to mention, pretty logical and self-explanatory
Permit Applicant – shall “Be an owner of the FOOD ESTABLISHMENT or an officer of the legal ownership”
Raw or Undercooked – needs consumer advisories
New Temperature Danger Zone – 41° – 135° (formerly 45° – 140°, may need updating or adjusting cold holding equipment)
TIMING
* Currently with Attorney General’s office, sign-off is expected soon.
* After sign-off by AG, a Public Hearing period will begin, probably around Feb – April
* Implementation to begin this Summer
2013 – “Demonstration of Knowledge” will be implemented
Requires Food Safety Training Certification as per 2009 FDA Model Food Code
For additional info or clarification contact: Tom Frigge
235-0797
