OPERANNG OPPORTUNITIES

WALLY LYNCH Paid Associates PO. Box 741623 Dallas. Tx.75243

O

trlnrrER what rhe forecasters

I ! and prognosticators say about next year, sales and profits will still be generated by the effective use of people and assets. The fittest will survive. Here are 10 questions (with comments) to help you determine how your people and assets were employed this past year:

(1) Did your company own and make available to all employees a college level text book on retailing?

(lfyou answer no, you're running a space station without an owner's manual.)

(2) What formal classes or seminars relevant to your business did you and/or your management attend?

(Doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. are all required to hone their skills.)

(3) Other than on the job training and indoctrination, how many hours of formal (non supplier) training were provided by your company for each of your employees?

(Grow people and the rest will follow.)

(4) How many employee suggestions to improve your operation were received and/or adopted by your company?

(When I talk, I don't learn anything.)

(5) Excluding public relations and incentive travel plans, how much was spent to tell your customers why they should buy goods and services from your company?

(How can anyone know how good you are unless someone takes the time and makes the effort to tell them.)

(6) What are the names of your customers who consistently appear on the list of Receivables over 60 days old?

(Most cornpanies lose all profits somewhere between 30 and60 days.)

(7) Did you read the clocks on your fork lifts so that you knew how many hours per week each was used?

(Effective is 25 to 30 hours per unit per 5 day week.)

(8) How many items (other than special orders and which ones were they?) produced less than four unit sales each?

(Turnover at 8 to l0 times is very doable; average is 6 times.)

(9) Using Delivered Sales only, on average, how much in dollar sales was delivered with each of the company's trucks?

(Over $1,500,000 is very doable per 2 to 2-1/2 ton truck.)

(10) How much were the company's non-payroll taxes?

(One example - sales of $1,500,000 at 2o/o pre-tax, non-payroll taxes were $10,000. Company's first $500,000 in sales was needed to pay these taxesone-third of its annual volume.)

There are no right or wrong answers, just your answers. Whatever you come up with, you will be better off if your people and assets are more deftly employed each year.

CHUCK LINK executive director

Gflf'PEn penalties are coming for tJcompanies who lail to report or misreport occupational accidents and illnesses. OSHA requires all employers covered by the Occupational Safety & Health Act to maintain a log and summary of all recordable occupational in-

To Gatch A Thief

Losses at the cash register can be combatted by a conscious plan to counteract theft.

. Know who you hire.

. Use testing devices.

o Train new hires by giving them the proper tools to get the job done.

o During training tell employees that you use a shopping service to determine the accuracy of cash handling.

o Tell employees what is expected of them.

juries and illnesses for each establishment, recorded on OSHA Form 202. A second supplementary record for each incident must be kept and recorded on OSHA Form l0l. Both forms must be available for inspection.

OSHA will treat any Form 202 errors as "willful'1or "serious" violations. The agency has proposed fines of $1,000 to $10,000 for unrecorded or misreported o Correct people takes. o Reward people work.

Careful, periodic supervision should be made, including: o Periodically examine the contents of registers for errors. r Conduct surprise audits and balancing of registers. o Prohibit personal packages, purses incidents uncovered during an inspection. and other containers near the register. o Verify accuracy of cash refunds, exchanges and credits by contacting customers. Let your employees know this. r Routinely transfer employees to other registers or departments.

This tougher new stance is the result of criticism OSHA has received for not insisting that employers accurately maintain accident and injury records.

A favorite trick of the dishonest employee is to toss expensive merchandise into the dumpster and retrieve it after hours if the dumpster is located outside the gate. Dishonest employees are often in collusion with the trash handler in this type theft when the dumpster is located inside the gate. You're especially vulnerable if you haul your own trash.

Rotate employees handling trash, periodically inspect your dumpster and pass a rule that all boxes to be placed in the dumpster must be broken down flat.

. Locate registers so that they can be viewed by customers. Indicator windows should be clearlv visible to customers.

Home Genter Show Program

What intrinsic factors distinguish highly successful DIY/home improvement businesses? How will modern technology improve bottom-line profits? What ingredients are key to customer satisfaction? How does OSHA's new standard affect store managers? These questions will be addressed during The National Home Center Show, March l2-15, at Chicago's McCormick Place East and North.

Fourteen programs will be led by leading business and industry experts. Highlights include the "Great Encounter," featuring "In Search of Excellence" co-author, Tom Peters; "The State of the Industry," led by acknowledged industry gurus whose combined sales top $5 billion; and the all-new "Lunch and Learn" series.

Four of the most acclaimed industry innovators will panel the State of The Industry session, Frank Denny, ceo, Builders Square; Bernard Marcus, chairman, ceo, The Home Depot; Hal Smith, chairman, ceo & president, Ernst Home & Nursery; and Robert Strickland, chairman, Lowe's Companies, Inc.

The show's new "Lunch and Learn" series offers buyers and merchandisers, as well as store and department managers,topics including a how-to session on complying with OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard and give-and-take sessions with two of the industry's most respected consultants, Joe Samulin and Steve Herman. For more information about "Lunch and Learn" registration, contact William Fishman, director of education and special events, 619/485-7500, FAX 619/485-7502.

Other sessions scheduled include: "Overcoming Roadblocks to UPC Scanning;" "Export Now;" "Innovations from Overseas;" "Preparing for EDI;" "Cashing in on Installed Sales;" "Pathways to Success for Independent Home Centers."

The National Home Center Show exhibition will feature over 1,300 exhibitors, Sunday, March 12 through Tuesday, March 14 from 9:00 a.m.5:00 p.m. and Wednesday, March l5 from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.