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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” - Harry S. Truman
When is the last time you read a book to help you be a better business owner and leader? This week’s tip is to head to your local bookstore or library and pick up a book today!
A variety of topics within the business realm are available, from management to change innovation to marketing to leadership and more. By reading a book on these topics, you open up your mind to new ideas and processes for your company. In addition, as you become a better leader and manager through reading and applying what you learn, the better you will be able to lead your organization and team to continued success.
Seth Godin, business guru, has a helpful post about how to read a business book, including deciding before you even start that you’re going to change three things about how you work. By making a goal before you open the book, you’re less likely to read and then put it down without ever implementing the ideas and knowledge gained from the book. Reading without implementing would be quite a waste of your time!
We understand that your time is limited and you are likely wearing multiple hats. Therefore, we’ve found a resource that will help you pick a great book from the hundreds of business books available. Check out “ The 100 Best Business Books of All Time” for a quick synopsis of some of the greatest business books and how they can help your business. Find the ones that cover topics you need most and start reading today!
P.S. Happy Canada Day and Independence Day to our Canadian and American readers! (Canada Day – July 1, Independence Day – July 4)
Tags:
Employee Management
Leadership
Owning a Business
Productivity
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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Over the past year, the popularity of licorice as a treat has continued to grow. This week we’re encouraging you to get creative with this classic favorite. Remind adults why they loved this treat so much when growing up and reintroduce it in new ways to the younger generation and you may find new faithful customers.
Below we’ve provided a few ideas we found online along with some of our own ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Chocolate Storybook creates and sells a chocolate covered licorice stick using red Twizzlers. It’s even beautifully presented!
- Have fun with packaging! Dylan’s Candy Bar sells bin-like containers full of licorice while Southern Season has put together a licorice sampler that also presents itself as a tray when the lid is removed.
- Licorice is created in a variety of colors so package and display them according to the seasons. For example, pair red, white and blue for Memorial Day and Independence Day; black and orange varieties for Halloween; brightly colored varieties for Spring and Summer; and, of course, red and white or red and green for the Christmas season.
- An assortment of licorice shapes are available world-wide. From Scottish terriers to lighthouses to sea creatures, you may be surprised by what you can find. See what’s available and what your customers would like (i.e.starfish are great if you are by the ocean) and provide them in your store. Be sure you present them in a way that draws attention to the unique shape.
If you have additional unique or fun licorice ideas, please share them in the comments below! As a reminder to members, the RCI Buyer’s Guide is a great place to find licorice suppliers.
P.S. If you’re not with Retail Confectioners International in Cincinnati this week for our 93 rd Annual Convention & Industry Expo, be sure to check out our Facebook page for event photos!
Tags:
Candy Holidays
Candy Making
Holidays
Marketing
Packaging
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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This week’s tip will help you increase sales of your candies outside of the retail store. By partnering with local businesses, you could increase sales and spread the word about your quality products.
Find which retailers in your area are running promotions via the paper, radio or social media and approach them to offer your products as their promotion. For example, if a customer makes a purchase, instead of just a coupon, the customer receives a two or four-piece box of your candies along with it. While customers appreciate coupons, remind the local retailer that the customer will also remember that they went the extra mile by providing quality chocolates. You both win!
Another great local partner could be car dealers. Put together a “Thank You” sample gift to show car dealers what they can purchase from you to give to new car owners. Let them know they may customize a gift basket with their corporate promotional items such as pens, coffee mugs, etc.
If you have ideas for other local partnership for candy businesses, please share them in the comments below!
Members of Retail Confectioners International: This tip is part of a past Kettle Talk article titled How to Increase Your Candy Sales (January/February/March 2011 issue). Access digital versions of this issue and other past issues of Kettle Talk by signing in to the RCI website as a member. Then, navigate to Publications under the Member Resources tab and click on Kettle Talk.
Tags:
Marketing
Merchandising
Owning a Business
Seasonal
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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We have another very quick tip for you this week. It’s all about making sure your chocolate is perfectly tempered for the best results.
Using inclusions in your chocolates? From nuts to coconut to dried fruits, the possibilities are endless for items to include or mix into chocolate and create unique flavors and presentations. However, did you know that you should use slightly under tempered chocolate when using inclusions? Because inclusions are room temperature they could easily, and quickly, over temper your chocolate when adding them to perfectly tempered chocolate.
What does this mean for your chocolate inclusion creations? Chocolate that is not in temper effects the final product in terms of bloom, texture and even the glossiness of the chocolate. Therefore, take this week’s tip to heart and pay close attention to the temper of your chocolate when using inclusions.
This tip was provided at our 2013 Chocolate Boot Camp education course. Find information on additional courses and events hosted by Retail Confectioners International on our website.
Tags:
Candy Making
Quality Control
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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In addition to seeing new product innovations and meeting suppliers and fellow confectioners face to face, you can save money on items such as packaging, machinery and ingredients by attending industry tradeshows. Many exhibitors will provide show specials just for those who take advantage of placing orders while at the show. For example, you could secure a reduced shipping rate, free product samples, or deep discounts by placing the same order you were going to place when the need arose a couple months from now. Note that most suppliers will allow you to place an order and arrange for later shipping dates so you could even place your Christmas order and know it will arrive at a later arranged date.
Tags:
Annual Convention
Merchandising
Owning a Business
Productivity
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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As a candy store manager and/or business owner, you have a number of projects on your plate at one time. Therefore, this week’s tip provides some of our favorite tools to manage projects online. One of the benefits of using online tools is that you can access the information from nearly anywhere and team collaboration is amplified. Plus, the online tools below have accompanying smart phone apps, making access even easier.
- Trello – Trello is a simple and visually pleasing way to organize projects. Add images, checklists, due dates, attachments and more to keep your projects organized. You can have multiple boards, or projects, and organize tasks, or cards, within the boards in whatever fashion you choose. Additionally, assign collaborators to tasks to easily track who is responsible for different pieces of the project.
- Freedcamp – Freedcamp provides project templates to help you get started as well as a group wall to communicate with all users within your projects. The system also makes it easy to choose what your employees and clients can see with a fully customizable user permission system. Freedcamp includes a great dashboard providing an overview of projects, important tasks and recent activity.
- Teambox – Teambox has thought of nearly everything when it comes to project management. Keeping track of conversations, workloads, files and notes and documentation are just some of the features. Users may also view a Gantt diagram of a project’s status, share calendars and connect projects via email. Teambox is free for up to five users and utilizes a “pay as you grow” structure for more than five users.
- Evernote – Evernote is essentially an idea board for managing projects. It’s great for visually focused projects. For example, if you’re looking to redo your packaging soon, you may begin collecting photos, links, documents and notes about what you want your new packaging to look like and accomplish. Note that Evernote is great for you to organize projects and ideas, but to collaborate with others, you’ll want to use Evernote Business which is fee-based.
Now, pick one that works for you and have fun project planning and organizing for your company!
If you have additional project management tools you’ve used successfully, please leave us a comment below – we’d love to hear what they are and why they work well for you.
Tags:
Employee Management
Organizing
Owning a Business
Productivity
Technology
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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National Macaroon Day is May 31 and this week’s tip is to get creative and have fun with this confectionery holiday. We’ve gathered a number of pictures and links below to help get the creative juices flowing. If you do something fun and unique with macaroons in your candy store, be sure to share it in the comments below!
Detailed Design: Animal Print
Fun Colors: Light & Feminine
Don't Forget the Classic: Coconut Macaroon
Unique Pairing: Cupcakes & Macaroons
Great Presentation: Make a Cake
Tags:
Candy Holidays
Candy Making
Photos
Seasonal
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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We have a quick Good Manufacturing Practices tip for you this week. When you receive pallets of chocolate or the 10-pound bars of chocolate from your chocolate supplier, you need to break them into smaller pieces to melt down and create your store’s confections. How do you go about doing that?
Many candy makers will break the chocolate into smaller pieces by smashing it with a hammer. However, if you are using a wood handled hammer, you risk the wood chipping off in the process and small shreds of wood landing in your chocolate. Additionally, if you are using a rubber handled hammer, it likely has small crevices in it that can easily hold chocolate and create bacteria as time goes on.
Therefore, this week’s tip is to use a stainless steel or titanium crowbar to break your chocolate into pieces for melting. It is still a good idea to clean the crowbar on a regular basis, but with no other element such as wood and rubber on the bar, it will be much easier to ensure it is completely clean and sterilized and ready for safe use with food.
P.S. This tip was shared during our recent Chocolate Boot Camp. View photos of this RCI education course on our Facebook page!
Tags:
Candy Making
Cleaning
GMP's
Quality Control
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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Armed Forces Day is a holiday for U.S. citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country. This year it will be celebrated on Saturday, May 18. In honor of this holiday, this week’s tip is to provide a military discount or great special just for military members and their families on this special holiday or even the week leading up to it. From half off, buy one get one, or even a special free gift, the possibilities are endless.
We’ve provided this tip early in May so you have plenty of time to plan and promote the specials and discounts you create. Be sure you spread the word via social media, word of mouth, fliers and even send a press release to area media.
Another idea to show appreciation to the U.S. military on this day (or any day!) is to visit your area veterans’ center with a special delivery of chocolates and candies from your store. Take a moment to thank the veterans present and let them know how much you appreciate their services.
Are you located outside of the U.S.? You can still utilize this tip! Find out if your government has dedicated a day to honor the military in your country and join in with a discount or special in appreciation for their service. If your country doesn’t have a specific day, why not select a day and start one in your candy store?
Tags:
Marketing
Merchandising
Owning a Business
Seasonal
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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Do you realize your front-line staff is asked a variety of questions by your customers? From how your confections are made to where the chocolate comes from, customers these days are more inquisitive than ever about how the products they consumer are made. Therefore, this week’s tip is to take time to train and educate your employees on how chocolate and your particular confections are made.
Below find a few ideas to help you begin creating a training program:
- Let employees get to know you, the owner, as well as the head candy makers (of course, oftentimes that is one and the same). If you have small company, consider a quarterly lunch with the newest employees to introduce them to how you came into the business and why you are passionate about it. Then, they will be able to tell your customers how and why the owner is passionate about quality confections which will help build trust and value for your company.
- Put together a list of required reading and do monthly or quarterly quizzes. The restaurant industry does this for servers – trainees have to take a test on the menu before they are allowed to be on the floor taking orders. You can create a variety of quizzes, from how your company’s confections are made to where and how cocoa is grown. Of course, you can make it fun with prizes, rewards, etc. for the top scoring employees.
- Utilize thestoryofchocolate.com. This website has great information and videos for your employees to discover the origins of cocoa and gain an appreciation for the farmers that grow the beans. Rather than expecting employees to visit this site on their own time, consider providing time at the beginning or end of the day that they can use a company computer to view specific videos, articles, etc. to make it a formal part of your training program.
As you educate your employees regarding how confections are made, they will be able to provide valuable information to your customers as they are perusing your store.
RCI Members: Peter Higgins of Purdy's Chocolates presented on the program they use to train their employees to be chocolate experts last fall at our Canadian Chocolate Tour. Access the session handout by signing in to the RCI website as a member. Then, click on Past Education under the Events & Education tab.
Tags:
Customer Service
Employee Management
Owning a Business
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