24 FABRICARE greater understanding of where your business is so there are no surprises. • Incentivized. It is much easier to get your staff to reach the goals if there is a reward. The incentives do not have to be extravagant but they should be fair. If you are giving your staff bonuses, then your company should be improving financially. If you are giving out incentives and not improving financially, then your incentive program needs to be re-evaluated. PLAN DEVELOPMENT Your plan and budget should be developed prior to the beginning of each new fiscal year. It should include the following standards established for your organization: • Quality Standards • Efficiency Standards (including pressing and tagging speed) • Customer Service Standards • Wage and Salary Standards • Overtime Standards There is no right or wrong answer when determining standards. It depends on the level of work you want to present to your customers. For example: You can produce far more shirts if you will accept less than superior quality. Or, your counter staff can wait on far more customers if they do not engage with them. In these examples you can clearly see how your standards affect and drive your budgeting. The most important part is this: whatever standards you develop, you need to consistently produce at that level. Think of the McDonald’s (low end) or Morton’s (high end) restaurant chains: here are two very different standards but you know exactly how your hamburger or steak is going to taste whether you’re in New York or San Francisco. BUDGETING TO SUPPORT YOUR PLAN Start by determining your acceptable annual return. Then figure your projected sales and, finally, your estimated expenses, the largest of which is labor. Sales Budget - Develop a weekly sales plan based on historical sales information. Historical sales are a good place to start and should be a good barometer of future sales as long as there have not been significant changes. Significant changes such as local market changes or changes to your competition will impact sales either negatively or positively depending on the change. Factor this into your sales budget. There should be a separate sales plan for every location and/or route. Here are several ways to increase sales and achieve the annual return you desire: • Review demographics to determine the potential for any expansion. • Increase sales with new products or services. • Implement a marketing plan. • Determine if, when, and how much to increase prices. • Develop an incentive plan for sales. Once you have developed a sales plan, communicate the plan to the management team. The plan should include all 52 weeks of the year. Monitor the sales and piece counts and focus on underperforming aspects quickly. Develop special procedures for new customers and a plan for customers continued from page 23 continued on page 25 FE ATURE