CC4Fnews

To kick off the new year we look at the top ten business resolutions you should make to improve your food distribution or processing business in 2010, but first I'd like to share a little insight gleaned from a fellow food business owner that brought to my attention the need to remind ourselves of what our real business objectives are for the coming year.

While visiting with one of my processors between Christmas and New Year one of the buyers came in and said a large Retail chain has just offered 69 cents a pound for some spiral cut hams left over from the Holiday production. My host said "We might as well take it." I asked “Isn’t that a really cheap price for a higher end smoked value added product?” He said “Yeah, I probably have about $2.00/lb in the product.”  In response to my amazed look he said, “Better take what I can get now than freeze the product and just get .39 cents a pound in the summer.” Now there’s a guy that understands carrying costs.

As a kickoff to the New Year, we’ll give you 10 things to do in 2010.

1. Eliminate excess and obsolete Inventories. (Issue 11)
   
2. Look at your P&L and pick your top 3 expenses and focus on how to cut those costs. ( expenses do not mean Cost of Goods Sold). Call the Vendor and see what they can do to help you cut your costs.
3. Use Adjusted Margin as a  Better Measurement of Profitability  (Issue 63)
   
4. Pay salesmen to be salesmen, if you're paying salary and a bonus they are customer service reps, not salespeople. Salespeople are paid on Gross Margin, or better yet Adjusted Margin.
5. Focus on Unprofitable Customers (Issue 207)
   
6. Invest now when there’s still “Blood in the Street”  (Issue 200)
   
7. Plug Profit Leaks (Issue 188)
   
8. Work with “best practices” (Issue 138)
   
9. Don’t fear change.
   
10. Motivate employees  to be champions for the Company goals.

Seems like a lot to do but in this fulcrum year between recession and growth, he who hesitates is lost. Its always better to be too early than to late.

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