While we live in unprecedented times, past events provide insights and practices as pandemic recovery plans are developed. Consider these five elements of organisational decision-making: information gathering; strategy; combining long-term thinking with short-term actions; clear communication internally and externally; and a review of policies and processes to ensure your hospitality business is prepared for coming out of this crisis, and future crises.
Your stock is your product, your investment, your asset, and your risk. In appreciating and understanding the risks and opportunities that your stock presents, information gathering leading to total visibility of your margins, total control of your inventory, and total security of your investment, becomes critical. The flow of high-quality information is simply more important than ever, and enables better decisions. A United States military framework for thinking about the external environment that has gained traction in the business world is VUCA: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.
These words seem similar in many respects, a key point of VUCA is that each of these terms describes a different situation that requires a specific response. The suggestion is that volatility should be met with agility; uncertainty with information; complexity with restructuring (with internal operations reconfigured to address external complexities); and ambiguity with experimentation. Uncertainty in this sense refers not to scientific questions about the coronavirus, but to what effect the virus will have on present and future business. What new realities will it generate? What will recovery look like? How long will it take? What will a post-COVID world entail?
For your stock, the largest variable cost in your business, seek out new data sources and gather new perspectives! What was done in the past cannot be accepted as being right and proper, or sufficient, in the future. At Total Stock Control we work every beverage (and food) product in your business in to our custom stocktake program and track each drinks’ usage and movement through your business, and report back with total accuracy and transparency on cash and margin percentage.
It is insightful today in the midst of this global pandemic to see how our most agile customers react, and how they use the data sources available to them. With a full food and beverage stocktake every two weeks one multi-site operator we work with utilises our stock data and reports to build in multiple perspectives to his decision-making. He has established a weekly meeting with his senior team which begins with two very focused questions: What do we know now that we didn’t know before? How can we use that information to make decisions? Each team member is responsible for research within their area: talking to customers, engaging with suppliers and service providers, scouring competitor websites and social media, and cost management. At the meeting, team members share their findings and discuss the available data, what assumptions can be drawn from it, and insights to be leveraged. These discussions are then translated into action points.
While the current uncertainty can be daunting for leaders of hospitality businesses of all types, it is critical not to fall back on inaction as the default position. A good starting point: Ensure you are considering all available, relevant information but are not overwhelmed by information overload. This is a period of continuous learning. The lessons may be unchosen and unwanted, but they can be leveraged to guide future actions. It is important not to let them go to waste. Businesses should ideally emerge from this crisis sturdier, wiser, and better prepared for future crises and events.
Irish owned and operated since 1993 Total Stock Control is your trusted nationwide partner for all your stocktaking and stock management needs. Serving large and small customers in Ireland and Northern Ireland, we work with single and multi-site operators of Hotels, Bars, Restaurants, and Off Licences on a weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly basis. We support hospitality business of all varieties and locations, from private members clubs, to high volume transit hubs, through to large late-night music venues and fine dining restaurants. Don’t just take it from us, contact us directly for any further questions you may have.
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