|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
"If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." ~ Zig Ziglar
This popular quote motivates us to consider our goals for 2013 and how we’re going to meet them. But we also know that if we don’t set SMART goals, then we’re less likely to accomplish them.
What is a SMART goal?
Specific – Be specific about your goals. For example, rather than “Increase sales,” state “Increase sales of wedding favors by $2000 by August 1, 2013.”
Measurable – Setting a measurable goal helps you to know if you’ve met your goal and to gauge progress throughout the year. Answer questions such as ‘How much?’ and ‘By when?’. For example, “We will increase corporate sales by 5% ($5,000 in sales) in the 2013 calendar year.” Note that if you use a percentage, it’s a good idea to determine the actual amount ahead of time.
Attainable – Set goals that are both realistic and attainable. You want to stretch yourself and your team to reach new heights, yet not set goals that seem unrealistic and therefore discouraging to attempt.
Relevant – Choose to set goals that are relevant to your business’s mission, vision and culture. Relevant goals will matter to your entire team and help drive everyone forward to meet them.
Time-bound – Give yourself a target date. If there are multiple steps you can take throughout the year to meet the goals, assign a target date for each step.
When making goals for your business include your staff in the process and they will take ownership of the goals. The more ownership your staff takes, the harder they will work to meet those goals.
Share your 2013 goals! Leave us a comment and let us know what goals you’ve set for yourself and your business in 2013.
Tags:
Owning a Business
Productivity
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
Especially as the holidays come upon us, candy makers are busy. That’s why this week’s tip helps you manage your time and maintain the quality of your candies.
This past year, we had a Good Manufacturing Practices series in Kettle Talk, our quarterly newsletter magazine for RCI members. The most recent article included a great tip for quality control we just had to share:
Set your candy thermometer with an alarm for a degree or two lower than your cooking time to ensure you don't overcook.
It’s brilliant, right? Now when you start a batch of caramel and walk away to work on packaging, you’ll be alerted to the candy cooking process with enough time to remove it or begin the next step before it gets even one degree too high.
Looking for suppliers of thermometers with an alarm? RCI members can access RCI Buyer’s Guide on the member side of the website or call the RCI office to be connected to a supplier.
Tags:
Candy Making
Holidays
Productivity
Quality Control
Seasonal
Technology
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
“Just by eating together it makes you feel psychologically closer.” ~ David Givens
This week we have some great tips to build community among your staff! And, yes, of course they all have to do with food.
- Trying to figure out what you’re going to do with those Thanksgiving leftovers? Why not have an employee potluck the Friday or Saturday following Thanksgiving? Remember, Small Business Saturday is the Saturday afterThanksgiving. If you have focused marketing efforts on this, it might be a great day for an employee potluck since your employees will hopefully be very busy. We all know that sharing meals together can create community and camaraderie.
- Or, host an Employee Chili Contest for staff. Post a fun flier or bill stuffer in their paycheck to announce the contest and provide a fun way to do informal voting among staff. Award the best chili maker with a store gift card or even paid time off.
- Host Crockpot Saturdays among staff and invite them to bring in a crock pot with an appetizer, main dish or dessert to share with staff on busy retail days. Post a sign-up for each dish in the kitchen for the month and ask employees to select a day to share a dish. Note, only staff who share a dish get to eat a dish on that day.
- Show your appreciation for staff and provide lunch for them on some of the busy retail days at your store. Swap lunch for chocolates with a local restaurant or caterer and thank your employees all at the same time. Or, start a new tradition and host an annual holiday meal for your team at the store even after December 25. Employers could also provide a snack basket for their employees like pretzels, granola bars, fun drinks, etc.
Do you have other ideas/tips for building community with your staff? We'd love to hear them in the comments below!
Tags:
Employee Management
Owning a Business
Seasonal
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
Email marketing can be an effective and cost-effective marketing tool. But how do you grow your list with qualified leads to maximize your reach? We’ve compiled five easy ways to grow your list!
- Guestbook in Store – Take advantage of holiday sales traffic in your store and invite them to sign up to receive your emails to find out about future sales and promotions. Provide an easy sign-up sheet and then be sure to use the sheet to enter them into your list so they receive the emails. Remember, the more information you request, the less likely they’ll be to complete the sign-up so only ask for the necessary info.
- Events and Meetings – Since you’re a chamber member (see post here about why you should be), you’ll be attending networking events and meetings. As you receive business cards from your new contacts, ask them if it would be okay to add them to your email list so they can see when their favorite chocolates are on sale.
- Email Signatures – Create a customized email signature for everyone in your company to use. A simple sign-up for coupons button with a link to the sign-up page can produce a great response.
- Website Sign-up – Include a sign-up box on your website to invite visitors to subscribe to your company sales and updates.
- Sales Calls – Do you have sales representatives making visits on your company’s behalf? Be sure they are inviting the contacts they make to join your email list to stay in touch and receive the most up-to-date company information. You could even print some business card size promotions to hand out that share how to sign up.
Note: No false advertising allowed. Be sure you do actually send out coupons if you advertise it!
Do you have other ideas that you use to gather email addresses for your list? Share them in the comments below!
Not an RCI member? Join today and receive member benefits, including a discount with Constant Contact
Tags:
Holidays
Marketing
Owning a Business
Technology
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
Are you ready for Small Business Saturday on November 24, 2012?
Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. Situated right between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s a great opportunity for you to promote your store to holiday shoppers as a local business.
American Express and Constant Contact have put together great online kits to help small businesses promote themselves and Small Business Saturday leading up to this special day. From downloadable signage to sample copy and outlines, these kits are great places to start planning your marketing efforts.
We hope these tools help to make this year’s Small Business Saturday an extremely successful day for your stores!
RCI Members: Be sure to check the recent Kettle Talk issue for more tips on marketing Small Business Saturday in your store!
Tags:
Marketing
Merchandising
Owning a Business
Seasonal
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
Oftentimes the most random items or places provide inspiration for great ideas. That’s the case with this week’s tip that was originally shared by one of our candy making members in Candy Clinic, an idea-sharing session at our Annual Convention.
This member discovered that magnetic tape can be a great organizing tool. Many candy makers and businesses have metal shelving and storage units. Rather than using sticker labels which leave a residue and are difficult to replace, she found a great use for magnetic tape which can be purchased at retailers such as Wal-Mart for as little as $8 for a 20 foot roll. They use the tape to label storage shelves, etc. which makes it easy to move items around as needed and just peel the magnetic tape and restick.
Do you have a great labeling or organizing solution to share? Leave us a comment below!
RCI Members – Did you know you can watch past Candy Clinic videos on the member side of the RCI website under the ‘Candy Clinic’ tab?
Tags:
Annual Convention
Cleaning
GMP's
Organizing
Owning a Business
Productivity
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
This week's tip may seem like a no-brainer for some of you, but so often we get caught up in other things and forget those that seem so obvious.
So why is it important as a candy making business to join your local chamber? Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking:
1. Phone Referrals – As tourists, visitors and new members of the community call the local chamber for referrals and information about local businesses, this is a great opportunity to build awareness for your brand.
2. Website Links – By including your company name, contact information and link to your website in the chamber’s membership directory (both print and online), anyone who visits the chamber website will have access to your company information.
3. Networking – Attend chamber events to make quality business connections and increase awareness of your business.
4. Lobbying - The local chamber is oftentimes very active in lobbying on behalf of member businesses. Whether it is tax credits or other legislative issues, they are championing your cause as a vital part of the local business community.
5. Member Referrals – Chamber members enjoy referring business to each other. As you network and make connections with other members, the more aware they will be of the services and products your business offers. In turn, your fellow chamber members will think of you when they get asked if they know any local candy makers who can make a custom candy bar or corporate gift, for instance.
Tags:
Marketing
Owning a Business
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
This week’s tip is just a few lines but promises to bring a significant return for your store.
Are you looking to make your boxed chocolates more high-end without drastically increasing the cost per box?
By adding just one premium or expensive piece of chocolate and centering it in your box of chocolates, the value of your box immediately goes up, including the perceived value by your customer. By adding a high-end piece, you also may be able to raise the price and potentially increase your profit margin.
Tags:
Candy Making
Marketing
Merchandising
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
Image from RCI 2011 Fall Regional Institute Candy Clinic
One of the great things about Rice Krispies treats is that they can be formed and cut to take on a plethora of shapes. In preparation for Halloween, this week’s tip is to shape your treats into a variety of Halloween-themed shapes. From pumpkins to candy corn to witch’s hats, many Halloween shapes are easy to form and then you can use colored white chocolate and/or coating to “paint” them and use other candies in your store to add fun embellishments. A variety of sizes, from snack-size to a full-size serving, will give your customers options.
Extra tip: Place the treats on a lollipop stick and you can create a bouquet of Halloween-themed treats that will make a great display for your store and catch the eye of your customers.
Tags:
Candy Making
Fall Regional
Holidays
Merchandising
Seasonal
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
|
As we near the holidays, we know you candy makers will be getting even busier so we will do our best to keep these tips short and sweet.
This week we have a new online tool to help shorten the time spent on shipping all of those holiday orders. Endicia is a low-cost and efficient tool that simplifies the process of shipping with USPS.
Among its many features, the software imports addresses from your address book so you can avoid retyping addresses. Plus, you can manage your shipment, including viewing your postage statements and transactions, or charting your expenses. You can even assign cost codes and send email delivery notifications for each package and even add your company logo before printing.
To get started, just visit dymoendicia.com and select the software solution that best fits your business’s needs. They have a few different solutions available so take a moment to view the different options and pricing structures. For example, Endicia Standard is just $9.95/month and you can try it free for 30 days before signing up.
We hope this tip saves you both time and money this holiday season. At our recent Canadian Chocolate Tour, one member said that this tool has been a huge help in speeding up shipping processes, especially in the holiday season. If you have other tips for shipping during the holidays, please share it in the comments below!
Tags:
Customer Service
Holidays
Packaging
Productivity
Seasonal
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
Print Page
Blog Home
All Blogs
RSS
