Posts Tagged ‘break’

Make-or-Break Factors in Success and Profitability

For quick printers, estimating can prove to be a major factor in the success or failure of their business.

When a customer requests a bid on a job, they need a fast turnaround, and the best price. For a printer, there are two important issues; first of course is the price and second the profit. If they price a job too high they might miss out on getting the job, and if they price it too low, this starts cutting into their potential profits.

Estimating software is a tool that helps eliminate this margin for error and make every printer’s job easier. This ease is why estimating software is becoming an integral part for many companies in the printing and graphics industry. But what type of estimating software should a printer look for? With so many different companies selling estimating software it can become difficult to find a solution that is the right one.

For this reason Cyrious Software has taken on the role of business software consultants rather then focusing strictly on selling. When looking for a business management and estimating solution, the ability of a company to consult and guide you to the correct solution, be it theirs or someone else’s, should be a major deciding factor. If a software company isn’t willing to work to find a solution that specifically fits their business, it might be wise to find a different company to do business with.

Estimating software can range from a simple estimating calculator package, to a complete powerful, integrated estimating, job tracking & business management system, like Cyrious Software. The difficulty is figuring out which system is right for your business.

How Much & For What

Companies should look at the money spent on estimating/business management software, as an investment and not an expense. Most complete software systems range from about $2,000 all the way up to $14,000 depending on the number of licenses, modules and different customizations. This somewhat large investment makes it vital for printers to find a system that they can not only use to increase profits and save time, but also one they have the ability to continue to grow with.

Many printers are looking for a system that not only has the ability to estimate, job track, and do invoicing but also has the ability to export to accounting packages, create reports, manage their customer base, and expand their business through target marketing. Because not all estimating software packages have this complete business management functionality, printers and similar businesses need to make sure the estimating software they choose has the functionality they need (i.e. Customer Management Tools, Marketing Tools, Shipping & Credit Card Integration) The last thing a company needs is to buy additional software after the initial investment.

Another aspect to consider when searching for a software package is the accuracy it provides. Accuracy is one of the most important features to look for in estimating software. The price of using inaccurate information can add up and become extremely detrimental to a business. Accuracy in estimating software depends on the ability to customize the software to fit the printers pricing. With Cyrious Software, your pricing & cost structure is customized and built into the software making it virtually impossible to have inaccurate estimates.

Integration Is Key

Another factor to consider is how easily estimating software will let one go from estimate, to order, to invoice, and beyond. Without estimating/business management software, printers spend a lot time re-entering/re-writing customer or product information. Even with estimating software if you don’t have the right system you could be left re-keying a lot of important information. This can be a major waste of time. That is why Cyrious Software has created their application to encompass this integration. This means the first time you enter company or order information you never have to enter it in again, unless of course you need to make an update or edit.

The “beyond” part is where Cyrious Software distinguishes itself from many of its competitors. Imagine having the power of an entire marketing research firm at your fingertips. Cyrious gives you that power. Once you have company information and order history in the Cyrious Software system, you can create queries that will allow you to separate customers into different segments, and provide you with an easy method to begin to target different markets. Once these segments are grouped, you can automatically e-mail, fax or print marketing materials to them. Whether it is a follow up letter, thank you note, or special offer, businesses can use the software to help strengthen relationships with current/new customers and/or develop a stronger marketing strategy.

About The Author

Danny Tangredi

For more information on Cyrious Software’s Estimating & Business Management Solutions go to www.cyrious.net or call 1-800-552-1418.

Author: Danny Tangredi
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Latest trends in mobile phone

A good business will not only have a business plan, but an operations checklist as well. The same goes for a restaurant. You need to be sure that you have a restaurant operations checklist, and that it includes all the different aspects of your restaurant, and the various situations that you might encounter.
Refer to point of sale for more information.

There are several different types of restaurant operations checklist that you might want to use. First of all, you might want to have a general checklist that lists the things that you need to do on a daily basis. This can be an important part of the opening, daily operations, and closing of your restaurant. You also might want to think about having a general operations checklist that details all the things that should be constantly done in your restaurant. Lastly, you will want to think about having several different operations checklists that you can use during different or unusual situations.

Daily Run Checklist

One of the things that your restaurant should have is a daily run checklist. This should be a list of things that are required in your restaurant and that should be done each day. You should break this list into three sections. The first section should be the opening section. These should be the things that you want done in your restaurant by whichever employees are responsible for opening your restaurant during the opening times. This should include any cleaning; stocking and anything that you need done as far as preparing the restaurant for service. All in all, this should be a checklist that tells an employee exactly how you want your restaurant to be when the first customers come in.

The second part of the daily run checklist should be a shift checklist for each of the shifts, or each of the service periods you serve. You need a list of things that should be done during the day of operations. This means all of the activities that should be done and what time they should be done; this includes preparation, cooking and cleaning etc. during the day.
The third part of this checklist should be for the people who are responsible for closing your restaurant. You want to make sure that these are all of the activities and other things that you need done to shut your restaurant down for the night, as well as to prepare it for the following day. Go to point of sale software for more information.

Always Checklist

There are some things that you want to tell your employees that they should always do. This can include permanent settings for lights and temperature, permanent rules regarding operations of the restaurant, and various policies that each employee should know. You can think of this as your list of rules for your employees. What do you want them to always remember and to always do, whether they are opening or closing, or working during the day?

Special Checklists

Something that you have to remember is that not every day is like the other. There are going to be situations in your restaurant that are not day-to-day occurrences. You should have a checklist for special events that might happen in your restaurant. You should have one checklist of each of them. This can include a checklist for what happens when a large party is in your restaurant, or when someone has rented a portion of it for a special event.

Also, you have to think about events that you do not plan. You should have a checklist for each emergency that your restaurant might encounter, and what to do if those happen.

All of your checklists should be written in such a way that a new employee, on their first day at work, could figure them out. This is especially important for the ones that deal with everyday activities, as well as with emergencies. If you have the right kind of checklists set up for your employees, you will find that your restaurant runs much more smoothly, and much more by your own standards, even when you aren’t there.
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