Small Business Operators Are Like a Box of Chocolates
There are countless ways to run a small business, but for some aspects of operations, there is only one right tool for the job.
By: Fintech
Throughout his 22-year career, Ernie DiBenedetto has worked with hundreds of small to medium-size businesses in the hospitality and convenience retail segments. During this time, he had the privilege of speaking in front of a spectrum of audiences, from the C-suites of publicly-traded brands to individual operators with aspirations to build and manage successful multi-location businesses from the ground up.
When speaking to groups, Ernie often kicked it off with a twist on the well-known saying from pop culture icon, Forrest Gump, “Small business operators are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Ernie found an instant connection with the majority of his audience each time he began a presentation with this opening statement. Greeted by a warm chuckle, he looked out into the crowd in search of nodding heads from those who realized the deeper message within the icebreaker. Everyone in the room was focused on chasing that American dream of owning a successful business, but the ways in which they conducted their operations varied significantly from operator to operator.
Some operators were well-oiled machines that thrived on performance measurement and iterative operational refinements that drove bottom-line growth. Others were family legacy businesses where success was measured by familiar faces and smiles from customers and staff. And quite frankly, many of them left Ernie shocked with their stories to the point where he wondered how they managed to run a business for so long without a stitch of strategy, organization, risk mitigation, performance measurement, you name it. As Forrest said, “You never know what you’re gonna get.”
His experiences throughout the years lead him to uncover an endless number of strategies for building and operating a small business. He concluded that there are truly only two needs essential for success: top-notch customer service and accurate performance measurement.
Customer satisfaction is what makes a business thrive. The more you enhance a customer’s experience, the bigger impact you have on the market. Spending genuine time with the people who keep your business running is key to providing a great experience and keeps people coming back.
Second, the need for accurate and timely information about the business’ performance. Every single operator must be able to mitigate risk, accelerate decision-making, and develop strategies for maximizing growth and profitability.
When speaking to groups, Ernie often kicked it off with a twist on the well-known saying from pop culture icon, Forrest Gump, “Small business operators are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Ernie found an instant connection with the majority of his audience each time he began a presentation with this opening statement. Greeted by a warm chuckle, he looked out into the crowd in search of nodding heads from those who realized the deeper message within the icebreaker. Everyone in the room was focused on chasing that American dream of owning a successful business, but the ways in which they conducted their operations varied significantly from operator to operator.
Some operators were well-oiled machines that thrived on performance measurement and iterative operational refinements that drove bottom-line growth. Others were family legacy businesses where success was measured by familiar faces and smiles from customers and staff. And quite frankly, many of them left Ernie shocked with their stories to the point where he wondered how they managed to run a business for so long without a stitch of strategy, organization, risk mitigation, performance measurement, you name it. As Forrest said, “You never know what you’re gonna get.”
His experiences throughout the years lead him to uncover an endless number of strategies for building and operating a small business. He concluded that there are truly only two needs essential for success: top-notch customer service and accurate performance measurement.
Customer satisfaction is what makes a business thrive. The more you enhance a customer’s experience, the bigger impact you have on the market. Spending genuine time with the people who keep your business running is key to providing a great experience and keeps people coming back.
Second, the need for accurate and timely information about the business’ performance. Every single operator must be able to mitigate risk, accelerate decision-making, and develop strategies for maximizing growth and profitability.
But in a paradoxical twist (triple word score!), the more successful you are in building your business, the larger it becomes, and the less time you have for your customers and staff. Additionally, the larger you grow, the less timely and accurate data you have available to understand your business’ performance to validate decision-making. So, for those operators that haven’t figured out how to clone themselves or how to get 29 hours out of a 24-hour day, what do they do to resolve this paradox?
The answer is quite simple. Get the right tool for the job!
Once you wrap your head around needing the right tools for managing the various aspects of your business, the first question most entrepreneurs consider is, “do I build it or buy it?” However, if you need a tool that gives you more time with your customers and staff, then the chances are great that you don’t have the time required to build the tool. In retrospect, your time is only half of the equation in the “build it” approach. Building an effective automation tool requires expertise in software development, industry standards, user experience, and the list goes on and on. Quite frankly, your focus should be on your customers, staff, and strategies for growth, not software development.
In short, the “build it” approach is fine for those aspects of your business that don’t necessarily have a material impact on resource utilization or profitability. But for the high–touch, high–margin, high–risk segments of your business, a “buy it” approach gives you the ability to quickly implement strategies that yield the greatest opportunities to save time and expand margins. Fortunately for small businesses across the country, Fintech delivers an affordable “buy it” solution for managing a high margin, high risk segment of your business – your alcohol program.
Today, one out of every three retailers that sell alcohol uses Fintech as “the right tool for the job” to manage aspects of their alcohol program. With over 30 years of experience, 800,000 connections between retailers and distributors for payments, a wealth of granular data insights and analytics, and a demonstrated capacity to manage over $42B in alcohol payments annually (yes, $42 billion), Fintech has the cost-effective solution for your unique alcohol program needs.
The answer is quite simple. Get the right tool for the job!
Once you wrap your head around needing the right tools for managing the various aspects of your business, the first question most entrepreneurs consider is, “do I build it or buy it?” However, if you need a tool that gives you more time with your customers and staff, then the chances are great that you don’t have the time required to build the tool. In retrospect, your time is only half of the equation in the “build it” approach. Building an effective automation tool requires expertise in software development, industry standards, user experience, and the list goes on and on. Quite frankly, your focus should be on your customers, staff, and strategies for growth, not software development.
In short, the “build it” approach is fine for those aspects of your business that don’t necessarily have a material impact on resource utilization or profitability. But for the high–touch, high–margin, high–risk segments of your business, a “buy it” approach gives you the ability to quickly implement strategies that yield the greatest opportunities to save time and expand margins. Fortunately for small businesses across the country, Fintech delivers an affordable “buy it” solution for managing a high margin, high risk segment of your business – your alcohol program.
Today, one out of every three retailers that sell alcohol uses Fintech as “the right tool for the job” to manage aspects of their alcohol program. With over 30 years of experience, 800,000 connections between retailers and distributors for payments, a wealth of granular data insights and analytics, and a demonstrated capacity to manage over $42B in alcohol payments annually (yes, $42 billion), Fintech has the cost-effective solution for your unique alcohol program needs.
If you’re looking for more time with your customers and staff, Fintech’s automated payments have proven to cut delivery times by an average of 15 minutes each delivery. Plus, Fintech automates data integration, eliminating the need to hand key invoices into back-office inventory and accounting programs. This digital interface saves time by eliminating manual entry and ensures that the data is free of any manual-entry errors.
Additionally, Fintech’s online portal delivers timely and easy-digestible reports of purchase activity and analytics to help you quickly improve purchasing behaviors that can drive better alcohol margins. Fintech has evolved from just a payments company to a payments and data company as they build the analytic tools of the future. These data solutions will provide insights into alcohol programs that will be nothing short of game-changing for your business.
Regardless of your motivations for starting or buying a small business or how much passion and dedication you have to make your business thrive, investments in technology and automation will undoubtedly give you more time with your customers and staff and more accurate information about your business.
Owners and operators chasing the American dream of building a successful business from the ground up have inspired everyone at Fintech to create the most efficient tools possible to help you on your way. Your ability to serve customers, employ and manage staff, generate revenue, and effectively solve problems all while putting food on the table
If you have questions about Fintech or want more information on time-saving and automation for your business, reach out to Ernie DiBenedetto directly at [email protected].
Additionally, Fintech’s online portal delivers timely and easy-digestible reports of purchase activity and analytics to help you quickly improve purchasing behaviors that can drive better alcohol margins. Fintech has evolved from just a payments company to a payments and data company as they build the analytic tools of the future. These data solutions will provide insights into alcohol programs that will be nothing short of game-changing for your business.
Regardless of your motivations for starting or buying a small business or how much passion and dedication you have to make your business thrive, investments in technology and automation will undoubtedly give you more time with your customers and staff and more accurate information about your business.
Owners and operators chasing the American dream of building a successful business from the ground up have inspired everyone at Fintech to create the most efficient tools possible to help you on your way. Your ability to serve customers, employ and manage staff, generate revenue, and effectively solve problems all while putting food on the table
If you have questions about Fintech or want more information on time-saving and automation for your business, reach out to Ernie DiBenedetto directly at [email protected].
