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Equipment: Paring down

Equipment: Paring down

Editor’s note: The author is partner, Pecinka-Ferri Associates, a foodservice equipment agent in New Jersey. The guest column is part of The Schechter Report and NRN’s content partnership, and the views do not necessarily reflect those of Nation’s Restaurant News.

I stood on my bathroom scale, staring down. The number flashing between my two big toes stared back at me. It wasn’t a pretty sight. With vacation over and the holidays looming large, I had to have (and execute) a plan to lose weight. Having spent most of my life around restaurants and foodservices, I had become a “professional” dieter: I knew what to cut out of my life. This would mean all of the best of the holiday season: pumpkin pies, cookies, fresh baked breads, lasagna…

We in the restaurant equipment sales and distribution community need to pare down, too. Our successful operator partners have adopted this strategy to continue to earn profits in challenging economic times. They’ve shown us that less can truly be more.

For many foodservice equipment manufacturers and rep firms, our concentration on year-on-year volume increases has served us well, but now the time has come to concentrate on bottom line growth. We can’t continue to sacrifice profits at the altar of top line growth.

Some manufacturers call it “the 80/20 rule,” others “product rationalization.” Bettering our bottom lines starts with getting back to our core competencies, which will necessarily mean “honing the blade.” Leaner line offerings must be in the offing. This can free up scant resources for innovation, sales skill development and support of new concepts, such as those serving global ethnic items.

Back when I was starting out as an equipment rep, a veteran sales manager used to tell younger colleagues, “Sell what you’ve got!” Well, what we’ve got today are bloated equipment catalogues. With most of our factories competing in each other’s arenas, trying to eke out a little more volume is becoming increasingly problematic in the current financial environment. We have to face the fact that we cannot discount our way to profitability!

Our businesses must follow the example of the end-users who have pared down their operations to preserve profits. Our focus must be on providing operators with affordable, compelling, need-satisfying, profitable foodservice equipment.

Has your company started your economic diet? Do you know which products and practices to cut out?

Appearances are not all that’s at stake; it’s about achieving financial health, too. Make no mistake, profits and the survival of our businesses are on the line.

TAGS: Operations
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