Strengthening Colorado Economy Calls For New Talking Points

The numbers reported today by the Colorado Business Journal's Mark Harden don't lie:

Colorado's unemployment rate fell sharply to 6.5 percent in November, the lowest level since 2008, and the state added 4,200 payroll jobs from the previous month, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported Friday.

The official Colorado jobless rate scored its biggest month-to-month drop — three-tenths of a percentage point from October's 6.8 percent reading — since before the Great Recession.

The latest unemployment rate stands 2.6 percentage points lower than its late-2010 peak of 9.1 percent, and 1.1 points below its level a year ago, according to adjusted data. Colorado in November had 32,000 fewer unemployed people than a year ago, for a total of 177,100, CDLE said.

Today's press release from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is clear that the drop in the official unemployment rate to pre-recession levels is due to both an increase in the number of jobs, as well as due to some workers leaving the workforce for a variety of reasons. Often attributed to "discouraged" unemployed workers deciding not to try to find work, there are also people returning home for domestic reasons and going back to school–both of which can actually be considered good signs for the economy. There's some glass-half-full to respond with anyway.

In customer service, it's said that for every bad experience, it takes a dozen good experiences to make a person feel good about you again. The state of the economy is one of the most important factors going into any election, even though it's also something over which politicians have indirect control at best. Disparaging the economy as an electioneering tool has been a great gift to Republicans since Barack Obama inherited a collapsing American economy–and in Colorado, at least since the 2005 epic ideological battle over Referendum C. There's a good argument that a political desire to foment economic dissatisfaction against the sitting President has prolonged the recent years of recession, and slowed recovery in the American economy. We believe historians will be arguing that point many years after Obama's term is over.

In the meantime, it's at least getting harder to disparage the economy. That's good politics for the party in power, but it's also just plain good for everyone. We have to believe there's a winning political message for Republicans in an economic recovery, even if it requires an admission that the sky didn't fall on America when President Obama took the oath of office. We humbly submit that would be good for everyone too.

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Get started to learn 19 powerful restaurant management tips for success in a down economy

There are various ways for you to boost your restaurant sales. But it is not easy for you to carry out effective business strategies in the current down economy. So, what are the most powerful ways? This writing will help you have an overview of 19 restaurant management tips. Some of the ways are simple and flexible so that you can use for improving your restaurant business immediately.

1. The Food Cost Balance

The average restaurant food cost hovers around 33%. There’re some fine restaurants can creep to 40% while some well-run operations can maintain a 28% food cost. You should remember this is an average. The key to a perfect restaurant menu is the perception, the food cost balance and the value.

If you cannot track it, you won’t know whether you are if you are in line or not. If you track it, you will be on the constant lookout for prices that go up and always ask your vendors for viable alternatives the best possible deals. 

2. Analyze Profit Margin

If one menu item in your restaurant is priced at 40% food cost, then you should set the price of another food item at 20% to maintain your average. This is the reason why many restaurants mingle priced paste on the menu. You can plan your menu pricing structure at the same time you design your food menu in order to create the balance for the palate and in your margins. 

3. Add Special Items To Your Food Menu 

You can create some special dishes as the features of your restaurant and add them to the top of food menu. This strategy is like a way you enhance your restaurant’s trademark. 

4. Add Simple Recipes To Gain High Profits

Imagine that if you use expensive ingredients you cannot get more profit to your pocket. Why don’t you cook some simple recipes such as soups, salads to reduce ingredient cost. Plus, with simple recipes you don’t need to hire a pastry chef with high salary. 

5. Remind Your Servers To Work For Sales

Your staff has to work on commission. Depending on the efficiency they do, business profit will increase. Figure out who the best servers are and ask them to mentor the weak performing ones. Anyone who doesn’t get it needs to be fired or replaced as they cost you money. 

6. Plan Marketing Strategies

Marketing is very important that increases business revenue. A good loyalty marketing allows you to cost the least and get the best results. Never promote an overpriced menu. This is the worst marketing you should never think about it though you always desire to have more profits. Why don’t you plan to provide more service with some discounts at the same price, instead of raising your prices. 

7. Design Your Food Menu

Entering your restaurant, people will pay much attention to your food restaurant space. But when they sit near the eating table, they will watch menu item descriptions and evaluate the features, the quality, the creation of different dishes included in your food menu. Try to design it as clear as possible. But don’t make it look too simple and boring. Think about long names for your dishes which can make your customers feel curious and want to try on it immediately. Moreover, why don’t you insert a variety of eye-catching food images to help your customers know exactly what dish they are going to taste. 

8. Introduce New Dishes And Print A New Food Menu

Don’t forget to introduce new dishes to people. This is a good way to attract them go to your restaurant more than one time. However, you still maintain the old recipes if they help you to develop your restaurant fame. Print the new menu on a paper without containing the old menu cover. Price the new dishes with the old ones reasonably. If these new dishes attract your customers, it means that you maybe should toss the old menu and officially use the new one on a fresh course. 

9. Open Daily Staff Meetings

Daily meeting is essential. It’s an occasion for your staff to exchange ideas and talk about business schedules. The way the staff operates is the way the restaurant goes. Therefore, plan meetings to collect opening ideas from your staff. An excellent staff can contribute great business ideas for boosting your restaurant business. Whereas a poor staff just bring down a great restaurant. Besides, meeting is also a way to build good business relationships between the owners and the staff, and a way to form a business culture in a company. 

10. Have A Detailed Plan

A detailed plan can help you deal with prices, marketing campaign; develop a customer network and much more.

As an important task, you need to review your business quarterly. Analyze the success and the failure you gained while charting a new business course. Restaurants are fashionable places. Let them be new and attractive like fashion. You can plan to change your restaurant spaces seasonally. Take advantage of your restaurant to attract customers. For example, if your restaurant has a great view, you can decorate your restaurant to make it spark with lighting, pictures, flowers and so on.

If you are not satisfied with the business results of the last quarter, change the plan for the next month. It’s one way to keep the customers.

11. Do Business In The Holiday Season

The holiday is an occasion for people to dine at your restaurant. Do not miss this opportunity to offer some discount for attracting people to your restaurant, especially groups of people. 

12. Be Kind To Customers’ Wallets

Actually, many people pay extra attention to the amount of money they spend on eating out. Think about some ways to help your customers save their hard-earned money without impacting only your restaurant profits. 

13. Attract New Customers

Increasing the customer count is one of the important restaurant management tips

to get success in business. There are a variety of tactics to attract new customers in the door. Some ways allow you to create your brand quality, some ways cause you to discount it, yet having new customers provides your growth potential significantly. Why don’t you plan to send targeted emails or make a social media presence or create detailed web pages to draw new diners into your restaurant. 

14. Keep Your Existing Customers Come Back Often

When you have those new customers, keep your existing customers have more dinner at your restaurant. How to do it? You can get started by learning how to create a friendly restaurant, or a restaurant with high and safe quality foods, or a restaurant with reasonable price, or a restaurant with a great view and so on. It depends on your business strategies that you focus on doing some of them.

Exceptional service, food and atmosphere all contribute to the restaurant value. If you make a strong impression on your customers when they enter your restaurant at the first time, you should be hopeful because they can come in the next times. Individual communication with customers is the key to create closeness between your company and your customers. Responding to all feedbacks and thanking customers will let your customers appreciate, which will set you apart from the faceless and nameless competition.

15. Encourage Customers Spending

How to increase restaurant sales by increasing spend directly? Simply, ask eaters some the following questions: Can I interest you in the dessert? Would you like to order a bottle of wine? Seasoned fries with your burger? After you hear positive anwers from your customers, you will answer the question how to increase restaurant sales. This is one of the simple restaurant management tips you should use. 

16. Increase The Rate Of Table Turn

In order to increase the rate of table turn, you have to make sure whether checking are being presented, collected in a timely manner or not, table are bussed and reset as soon as guests leave or not, you have the right arrangement of tables for your average party sizes or not? In the case of limited services, do you have enough POS systems in place? Make a detailed plan to solve these issues, then you will be able to boost your sales. 

17. The Customer Is Always Right

That’s right. This is a golden rule of business, not except for restaurant business. Even if you actually do not agree with your customer’s complaint, you should be calm and behave tactfully. It sounds a little bit bitter but maybe once day the customer will come back to your restaurant. This is must-know knowledge in restaurant management tips. Learn it well!

18. Save Restaurant Money

You can save a lot of money by switching to energy efficient light bulbs, running the dishwasher when it’s completely full. Soaking the dishing than running hot water over them, install low flow toilets from 20% to 40% of water use, turning down the thermostat at 68 degrees, switching from plastic to glass to become a green restaurant, investing in energy efficient appliances, trimming down your food menu, training your staff to sort recyclables, turn off lights, ask them not to sue the restaurant takeout and so on!

19. Run Special Restaurant Promotions

Restaurant promotions are great events you can show customer appreciation, this is also a way to create some extra business at the same time such as opening a coffee shop. You can organize promotions for a nightly happy out to an only annual customer appreciation day.

Many restaurants offer happy hour specials during the week. They offer customers free appetizers such as taco bars, chips, salsa or chicken wings. Live music can be included in your restaurant promotions. Make sure that the music should fit your restaurant theme. Besides, why don’t you think about a contest with the free gift as the way to attract people to your restaurant? In the holiday season, you can run a special promotion to get customers into your restaurant. For example you can provide free drink and foods and some discounts to help them enjoy holiday activities. As the result, you can develop your customer network for increasing restaurant profits. 

I’ve introduced totally 19 powerful restaurant management tips. You can apply the tips in order to boost your restaurant business just in months. The tips are useful for you to carry out in our down economy. 

Now, after reading the entire writing, do you think I forgot listing out some restaurant management tips for enhancing your restaurant sales? I’m happy to see your feedback here.

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The Turkish Economy 2013

The Turkish Economy 2013

The Turkish Economy 2013

by Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO)

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“The War on Rural Colorado” v. “The Innovation Economy”

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

"We've met the enemy and he is us"   ~Pogo

There is a "War on Rural Colorado" – but it's not being waged by who you think it is.  It's not a war waged by urban Democrats.  It's not a war waged by our Governor.  It's a war waged by entrenched rural interests steeped in 20th-century business models, powered by 19th-century energy resources: coal.  Entrenched interests who cling to a model that, by design, is the enemy of entrepreneurship and innovation.  Entrenched interests who resist a new energy paradigm:  a distributed energy generation model.  It is a war of our own making.

Imagine for one moment the reaction by Colorado Republicans to a mythical headline in the Denver Post: "Colorado Legislature Mandates Construction of Sustainable Electricity Distribution Pilot Project in Rural Colorado".  Queue the clown car:  "War on Rural Colorado". "Out of touch legislature attacks rural values".  Independence Institute dog-whistles at Defcon 4 and another yet-unwarranted attack by Vince Carroll on the folly of a 21st century energy policy. 

There is a lot of lip service paid to the word "innovation" on the websites of the members of our state and national associations of rural electrics.  This October the Colorado Rural Electric Association (CREA), whose mission is "to enhance and advance the interests of its member electric cooperatives through a united effort" will be hosting an Energy Innovations Summit.   CREA's wholesale supplier of electricity, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, promises us on their website,  "We’re working hard to address the challenges that potentially could threaten affordable electricity.  As a not-for-profit co-op, we’re committed to protecting consumers today and in the future by providing affordable power while investing in innovation – today and for years to come."

If it wasn't for the fact that Tri-State has given it's member coops an average near-10% annual increase in electricity in the period 1995-2012 and is fighting the mother of all battles to construct a coal plant in southwestern Kansas, the narrative might be plausible. Perhaps the definition of "innovation" has a different meaning inside the board rooms of rural electric associations across Colorado than the one found in Webster.

The imagined headline in the Denver Post?  No, it's not exposing a hidden requirement in Senate Bill 252, it's an actual project undertaken by the National Rural Electric Association.  And no, it's not a project being undertaken in the United States.  This display of innovation is happening in Haiti. 

This past week the second meeting of the Senate Bill 252 Advisory Committee met to discuss the obligations of Tri-State Generation and Transmission under the law.  According to an email from Tri-State post-meeting, they believe they will have to construct or commit to 230 megawatts of clean energy to be in compliance.  They also state they will need to construct or commit to an additional 254 megawatts of natural gas generation as back-up power.  They also add that transmission will need to be built to carry the additional 484 MW to lead centers.  They do not believe it is feasible to meet compliance in 6.5 years. 

Intermountain Rural Electric Association indicates they may meet compliance simply by buying Renewable Energy Certificates [REC's]. 

Now that is real innovation at work. 

Senator Greg Brophy couldn't help himself, stating that he wasn't surprised by the discussion on the REC's, saying that he was aware of that option during the session.  He described REC's as "a waste of money and my neighbor's monies".  He further stated that buying REC's would simply be "transferring our money to Xcel shareholders".

The state-senator-turned-gubernatorial-candidate ended with the statement that "he'd be happier if they'd just roll back the legislation".

Yet, another innovative idea.

Perhaps the senator may have missed the fact that Xcel's current 30% renewable obligation has caused billions of dollars in investments in wind farms in eastern Colorado.  Those projects have been built almost exclusively in his senate district.  His constituents are significant co-beneficiaries of the renewable standard.  In fact, this aggressive state standard has arguably caused the most significant transfer of wealth from his urban, liberal constituents that he wants to govern [via their energy bills] to his rural constituents.  Who does he think is amortizing and maintaining those billions in investments that are in most cases the single largest taxpayer in these rural counties? 

The man is either a mental midget or a disingenuous ideologue.

Let's do some math:  If we spread the 230 Megawatt clean-energy obligation across all of Colorado's 22 rural electrics, that obligation would amount to just a little over 10 megawatts of obligation for each service territory  [not all 22 rural electrics are large enough to be obligated to the new rule].  Spread that obligation amongst the 18 coops that are under the obligation and it would require each coop [if the obligation was evenly distributed] to just over 12 megawatts. Or, look at it another way:  in 2005 then-Governor Bill Owens' Energy Office funded a distributed generation study on Highline Electric Association, headquartered in Holyoke, CO.  That study found nearly 120 megawatts of system capacity on their existing system if it was deployed in a distributed fashion.  Think about that: an existing study that concludes that just one of the 22 Colorado rural electrics has an existing capacity to meet 50% of their estimated obligation.  Without building a single power line. 

While our national association is strutting its goods in Haiti, I'd prefer we demonstrate innovation in Holyoke. 

Let's kick the idea of "innovation" up a notch: Tri-State's summer peak is a product of immense irrigation load, predominantly in the northeastern corner of Colorado.  This are is also home to vast reserves of natural gas that is becoming increasingly 'trapped'.  Let's imagine meeting that summer-time peak with trapped gas in the eastern counties; a series of small-scale "peakers" from 5-to-20 megawatts distributed across the grid, bouying the local conventional gas fields and local employment.  And it would have an added bonus:  in the off-peak season, September through May, those same small, efficient installations can firm and shape wind exports from the region. 

And how would these installs be funded, you ask?  Tri-State and every rural coop has access today to billions of dollars at the Rural Utilities Service (RUS): the federal agency that has historically funded coal plants and transmission projects for every rural electric association across America.  In fact, there has been an appropriation by Congress to RUS of $8 billion annually, specifically targeted for projects like the one described above.  And, with the proposed rule changes at RUS that will be announced next month, Tri-State will have the ability to make these ultra-low rate loans available to their coops, coop members, farmers, ranchers, benefit corporations and entrepreneurs served by rural electrics.  A rule change meant to empower entrepreneurship and innovation in rural America.  Tri-State doesn't have to spend a dime to meet compliance; all they need to do is commit to the power generation from these projects – the same business model that they have employed with the Duke Energy-Kit Carson County Wind Farm and effectively the template they propose to use to construct the Sunflower Coal Plant in Holcomb, KS.

Except in this case, the economic benefits will flow to local projects and rural entrepreneurs.

An Innovation Economy?  SB-252, coupled with a strategic commitment by Tri-State to empower their local cooperatives and individual members with grid access and federal loan programs can spark a rural renaissance in rural areas on both sides of the Rocky Mountain divide.  The argument for a stronger commitment to renewables, beyond 20%, is a more compelling argument than Senator Brophy's position to "roll back the legislation".  Perhaps the Senator missed the recent news in our home county that next years assessed valuation will drop by $43 million.  This, in a county that is swimming in trapped, natural gas resources and drowning in Class 5 wind resources.  I might offer that connecting the dots between the obligations under SB-252 and undeveloped rural resources shouldn't be that hard.

Governor Hickenlooper, SB-252 is sound, state policy.  It's an important cog in your vision for an "Innovation Economy"  in Colorado.  By signing the legislation you provided more authentic leadership on building a framework for rural opportunities than we've seen since the build out of the rural electric system under FDR's "New Deal".  Transitioning from a centralized, coal-based rural utility to a decentralized, diverse-fuel portfolio is no less controversial than the introduction of Uber into today's regulated, taxi-cab sector.  These transitions will occur – it's a question of who is going to lead the transition.  The 2013 legislature gives us the blueprint. The Obama administration will soon be giving rural Americans access to the same low-cost financing that has been enjoyed by Tri-State for decades. 

Don't look back, we're not going that way.

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