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132 Business View Australia - June 2015
rewarded with the appreciation of
his customers and increased sales
.
Use of the most modern
equipment and methods
Over the years the laws in Victo-
ria changed and it progressively
became harder for new entrants
to conform with what the health
department requirements. This
gave Greg an advantage as he had
an established business which
used the most modern equipment
which surpassed the specifications
laid down by the government.
Greg explains how constant at-
tention to the equipment used in
the business has helped him, “This
shop that we have a business in,
is nearly 80 to 90 years old. It has
been modernised by everybody that
has owned it. The first two compa-
nies installed new equipment and
then when we took over, we made
further improvements. About 10
years ago we modernised the front
of the shop, which meant new win-
dows and new cabinets, which re-
sulted in the saving of a lot of work-
time. Switching the refrigeration
system to an upgraded version has
saved us about 16 hours a day.”
Outsourcing of work
The business has used innovative
techniques to stay ahead and has
incorporated several strategies
aimed at increasing its sales while
maintaining the highest quality in its
products. One step which it took in
this direction was that we stopped
the cooking process and outsourced
it to a company who was also re-
sponsible to ensure the quality of
the product that it delivered. As a
result of this, Greg could use the
time which became available to
him to concentrate on increasing
his retail and wholesale business.
Greg has also outsourced the work
connected with preparing the beef
for sale. When he was doing this
in-house he had to employ three
butchers for the task. After out-
sourcing the process, he now saves
$500 a week in addition to the wag-
es of the three butchers. He has
also saved himself the trouble of
finding competent butchers as this
is a skill that is not readily available.
The business has initiated a loy-
alty club which results in repeat
visits by customers. It has done
exceedingly well by garnering 3500
members. Here too, the work is
outsourced to a vendor who man-
ages the entire process. We feel
the introduction of the Loyalty Club
helped us through the GFC crisis.
FOOD & BEVERAG