nickshanagher

Recently there has been a lot of analysis of what makes some casual dining outlets successful while others fail. Convenience store operators - especially those with food-to-go - should pay attention. While these secrets may look simple, operationally simple things often turn out to be difficult to deliver. So don't scoff. Secret 1: Put plenty of cheese on a takeaway pizza as it retains heat well. Secret 2: Chinese and Indian meals take time to prepare and are not well designed for takeaway. Secret 3: Pizzas and burgers have ingredients that can be bulk bought and the average school leaver can be trained to make them. Secret 4: You need to reinvent the value of meals in the minds of consumers if you want to be successful. Secret 5: Sometimes you are not in the food business. For example, coffee shops may sell expensive coffee but they rent cheap meeting space.

"Business is a fantastic technique for someone from a modest background, with minimal education, to improve their life and get ahead, says Luke Johnson in his book Start It Up. His publishers describe Johnson as “Britain’s busiest tycoon, with a personal fortune estimated at £120 million” and he believes in people with get up and go and that small business owners contribute a great deal to the UK economy. Start It Up, published by Portfolio Penguin, price £12.99, is aimed at inspiring and guiding budding entrepreneurs. How old are such entrepreneurs? Read the book and you realise Johnson has the 50 plus age group just as much in mind as people in their 20s. Independent shopkeepers will find this book useful for two reasons. You can compare your strengths and weaknesses with those described by Johnson. And you can learn about the people you do business with, what motivates them and what they may be thinking. It is organised into seven parts and each part is sub divided into short e...