The SCORE, Issue 3, 2023

THE

THE MAGAZINE OF FRANCHISE BUSINESS SERVICES

The Sustainability Issue Looking to reduce your environmental footprint? Learn more on page 18 and page 20.

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2023 ISSUE 3

PROUD TO BE YOUR WINGMAN SINCE 2012

McLane Foodservice offers its sincere gratitude to the BUFFALO WILD WINGS franchisees for their years of partnership and success in growing together.

© 2021 McLane Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2023 Issue 3

FBS Board of Directors James Bitzonis Chairman Roz Mallet Vice Chairman Ed Lynn Secretary/Treasurer Wray Hutchinson Chairman Emeritus Jenny Beaudoin Director Brian Carmody Director Mark Jones Director

ON THE COVER

There are countless areas in your sports bar where you can reduce energy consumption, shrink your shrink and lower your BDubs' impact on the environment. Turn to page 18 and page 20 to find out how.

COLUMNS 2

Chairman’s Column

DEPARTMENTS 4 FBS Member News 7 Calendar of Events 13 Look, Listen, Read

7 10 15

Recognitions Franchisee Spotlight One Topic: 10 Facts

FEATURES

Jeff Reynolds Director of Business Partner Relations jeffr@myfbsonline.org 678-797-5163

12 FBS Members Connect at the Buffalo Wild Wings Worldwide Convention 14 Spotlight on the 118th Congress: Maria Salazar (R-FL-27) 16 Celebrating A Successful Team Up for Kids This October! contributed by the Buffalo Wild Wings FoundationSM 18 Reducing Energy Usage at Your Sports Bar: Tips for Easing Impact on the Environment and Your Wallet

by Allison McCallum, FBS communications editor 20 Shrink Your Shrink and Your Negative Environmental Impact

by Jared Johnsen, FBS communications specialist 22 Elements of The Entrepreneurial Mindset Series: Element No. 2: Purpose, Path and Plan

by Dan Coughlin, The Coughlin Co. 24 How to Improve Cyber Security in Just One Month contributed by Lockton Cos. 26 New Form I-9 Required Beginning Nov. 3, 2023

by Eileen Momblanco, Laner Muchin 27 Countdown to Year-End: A Payroll Checklist for QSR Restaurant Owners and Office Staff contributed by Mize CPAs 28 Storytelling As a Leadership Tool

by Dennis and Danny Snow, Snow & Associates Inc. 30 Sharpening Your Tools: Six Reasons Why Mental Fitness Matters in the Workplace

by Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®

Design and Layout

DIRECTORIES

Bobby Pancake Director Larry Podlogar Director Steve Grube Director Christy Williams Executive Director

FBS Editorial Board Rachel Jackson Editor-in-Chief rachelj@myfbsonline.org Allison McCallum Communications Editor allisonm@myfbsonline.org Jared Johnsen Communications Specialist jaredj@myfbsonline.org

Advertising Sales

Kristen Thomas KT Graphic Design ktgraphicdesign@gmail.com

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Associate Member Listing

32 Advertisers Guide and Editorial Calendar

Headquarters 1701 Barrett Lakes Blvd. NW Suite 180 Kennesaw, GA 30144 Phone: 678-797-5161 Fax: 678-797-5171

In keeping with our commitment to the environment, this publication is printed on certified, environmentally-friendly recycled paper using eco-friendly inks.

Franchise Business Services publishes The SCORE. Any reproduction, in whole or in part, of the contents of this publication is prohibited without prior written consent of Franchise Business Services. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright© 2023

Printed in the U.S.A.

www.myfbsonline.org

Letter From the Chairman Fall is always an exciting time for Buffalo Wild Wings® franchisees.

Summer vacations are over. School starts back up, and we get ready for FOOTBALL!

ARE YOU READY? Jim Bitzonis FBS Chairman

W

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e love football at BDubs! High school, college and pro – we are excited for it all. Our sports bars fill up with enthusiastic fans wearing their favorite jerseys and arrive sporting big appetites for wings, burgers and beers. Get prepared for the crowds of cheering fans! It’s like music to our ears.

Now, we suddenly have bigger crowds on Thursday nights, Saturdays, Sundays and Monday nights too. Thank you, football!

Soon after football starts, we get into the MLB playoffs and look forward to the World Series! Then, the NHL and NBA begin their seasons, and we have lots of fans rabid for hockey and hoops! After that, my favorite sport revs up – men’s college basketball! If you don’t remember, UCONN will

be defending their title this year – let’s go Huskies! Then, before you know it, winter and maybe snow will be upon us. I, however, shall savor the fall, the foliage, Oktoberfest and football … followed by the World Series, hockey and lots of hoops … I’m sure glad my wife likes sports or there would be trouble in paradise!

This time of year gives us a great opportunity to evaluate our performance as we prepare for the crowds of sports fans. Are we properly staffed? Are we executing in our sports bars to the best of our ability and keeping customers at the top of our minds? When you start to feel complacent, ask yourself these questions!

It was great to see many of you at the Buffalo Wild Wings Worldwide

Convention. The FBS Member Meeting was a great chance to touch base with our members and our last gathering until the 2024 FBS Summit! We have big plans in store to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Summit, so save the date for April 22-25, 2024. We will see you in sunny Palm Springs!

Until next time, I hope you enjoy the fall as much as I do, and I wish you all a great fall season with great sports moments and rocking and rolling sports bars across the land. Cheers!

Safe travels,

Jim Bitzonis

MEMBER NEWS

Washington BWW Kicks It Up With Local Community

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n July, the Vancouver, Washington, Buffalo Wild Wings® fed 400 hungry children as staff volunteered for the Soccer in the Park summer camp.

Owned by World Wide Wings, this is the second year team members of sports bar No. 3513 participated in this event, serving BWW® wings to happy campers.

“It is an amazing experience to be part of this event since it’s all about the kids,” General Manager Luis Arellano said. “We play a small but super important part of the event.”

Soccer in the Park is a nonprofit organization devoted to getting children active while learning life skills and having fun with others. The group holds weekly kick around sessions, summer camps and community outreach events.

Not only were BWW employees thrilled about the event, but the children were ecstatic to be outside playing soccer and eating wings with one another.

“When the kids at the event saw us put up our BWW tent, they were super excited about it — even the parents and all the volunteers!” Arellano said. “Everyone was super appreciative.”

Sports bar No. 3513 enjoys being a part of the Vancouver,

Children and volunteers getting a good stretch in before they play.

Washington, community, supporting local organizations, helping feed first responders and donating time and food to local schools. S

Buffalo Wild Wings Salisbury Achieves Top Ten Ranking in Blazin’ Games 2023 B

uffalo Wild Wings® Salisbury, Maryland, operated by High 5 Hospitality, is thrilled that it secured a top 10 spot in the BWW Blazin' Games of 2023. This achievement places the team among the elite sports bars in the entire Buffalo Wild Wings franchise nationwide.

"This has been a true display of leadership, consistency, pride, upholding standards and following processes.”

– Bobby Pancake

High 5 Hospitality CEO

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Blazin' Games is an annual nine-month competition designed to foster sportsmanship, drive and fun while promoting continuous learning and excellence within the BWW® network.

The competition's first round, known as the "Learning Round," assessed teams based on key learning metrics. Participants earned points through successful completion of The U Learning Hub monthly activation training, Brand Champ programs, quiz scores and improvements in beverage sales.

All teams that entered the competition progressed to round

two, the "Practice Round." Here, they brought their Round One points with them, and additional points were earned based on guest survey scores, guest experience metrics, quality, service and cleanliness scores. As the competition intensified, the top 50 teams advanced to round three, the "Execution Round." In this round, each remaining team received visits from field leaders who awarded points based on skill demonstration, execution and knowledge.

Salisbury Buffalo Wild Wings excelled throughout the Blazin' Games competition, securing a place in the coveted top ten. As part of the final showdown, they formed a team of five, comprising of a general manager, two heart of house team members, one server and one bartender, that competed in a variety of challenges, including a culinary competition and a bartending competition.

High 5 Hospitality CEO, Bobby Pancake, expressed his pride in the team's accomplishments.

"This has been a true display of leadership, consistency, pride, upholding standards and following processes,” Pancake said. “This team knew what they were capable of and set out to prove it. They set a goal and they have achieved it."

Buffalo Wild Wings Salisbury was pleased to represent their community and demonstrate their dedication to excellence on a national stage during the Blazin' Games finals. S

MEMBER NEWS

Valley Stream BWW Volunteers for NYPD at Community Park Event S

taff at RSQ Foods owned Valley Stream, New York, Buffalo Wild Wings® embraced the outdoors by donating time and food to the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Camping in the Park event.

On Aug. 29, the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau held its Camping in the Park event to join members of the local community together and give children a positive interaction

Buffalo Wild Wings Rehoboth Donates to Sussex Consortium’s Work Program

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igh 5 Hospitality (H5H) owned Rehoboth, Delaware, Buffalo Wild Wings® raised $4,050 to support the Sussex Consortium's work program, and the donation was made July 20, during a Jimmy Gallagher, Pamela Graves, ceremony at the restaurant's Brittany Walker, Cape Gazette location. staff and Mark Trewartha pose The check presentawith the donation. tion was led by Buffalo Wild Wings Rehoboth's General Manager, Brittany Walker, and supported by multi-unit manager, Jimmy Gallagher, and H5H COO Mark Trewartha. The check was received by Pamela Graves, Consortium vocational coordinator/transition specialist, representing the Sussex Consortium's work program.

The Sussex Consortium's work program is an initiative aimed at empowering students with disabilities to develop essential skills and knowledge, enabling them to become self-sufficient employees. From age 14, these students are provided with valuable resources and tools that prepare them to thrive in the workforce until they graduate at the age of 21. Buffalo Wild Wings Rehoboth takes immense pride in being a dedicated partner of this life-changing program for over ten years.

This donation was made possible through Buffalo Wild Wings Rehoboth's successful Team Up for Kids campaign, which unites community members and patrons in support of the shared vision to uplift and empower local youth.

Brittany Walker expressed her gratitude to all who contributed to the campaign.

"We believe in giving back to the communities that support us,” Walker said. “Our partnership with the Sussex Consortium's work program is a testament to the importance of creating lasting impacts in the lives of young individuals. We are humbled by the support we received from our patrons and community." S

with the police. In addition to music, food and games, the NYPD provided a rockclimbing wall, bubble foam pit, tie-dye station and so much more for participants to enjoy.

Hosted every summer, the event was intended to take place during the nighttime like it has in previous years. Local councilwoman Nantasha Williams pushed to hold the event during the daytime before young students returned to school.

Sports bar No. 3800 was a vendor for the event, serving BWW®’s iconic wings. The Valley Stream Bufalo Wild Wings’ staff also volunteered by playing games and face painting with the children.

Camping in the Park is not the Valley Stream sport bar’s first appearance at a local event. General Manager O’Neil Washington plans on participating with his team in more community events and hopes to get other general managers in his area to get involved with the NYPD event as well.

“Everyone was so excited, and the kids were ecstatic,” Washington said. “I hope to get more Buffalo Wild Wings staff involved for next year!” S

MEMBER NEWS

High 5 Hospitality Donates Wings to Aspiring First Responders B

uffalo Wild Wings® franchise, High 5 Hospitality, gifted aspiring first responders with the best way it knows how – with delicious wings!

New Castle County in Delaware held its Police and Paramedics summer youth program at the end of July, and Buffalo Wild Wings of Bear, Delaware, donated chicken wings to campers and staff for their willingness to teach and learn lifelong skills.

This camp provides youth that have an interest in public safety with comprehensive training, service and experience while promoting education, physical fitness, leadership, team dynamics, life skills and good citizenship within the local community.

High 5 Hospitality likes to show its support to its local community and will continue to do so in upcoming

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Satisfied campers enjoyed their wings donated by High 5 Hospitality.

fundraisers, donations and more.

“They were thrilled about their lunch that day!” said High 5 Hospitality

Digital Marketing Manager, Samantha Jenkins. “We were honored to donate wings to the campers and staff.” S

RECOGNITIONS

J

une was a big month for World Wide Wings' (WWW) long-term team member, Leah Collins.

District Manager, Leah Collins, celebrated the beginning of summer with her promotion to director of operations for the Midwest market. Collins brings together all the passion and excellence WWW exudes in everything they do, from Blazin’ Games, guest service and team member development to great food.

Collins is the newest director of operations at WWW. She started her journey with Buffalo Wild Wings® in 2007 as a cashier while in high school. She then moved to Indiana for college and served at a BWW® while she pursued her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Indiana University. Collins loved wings culture so much that she decided to stay, and over the years, she has moved through all positions to get where she

is today. She is a true testament to Buffalo Wild Wings career pathing.

Ever ready to help with anything and roll up her sleeves to do what needs done, committed to making the brand the best there is and passionate about helping her team grow, Collins is a force of nature looking to discover what comes after reaching No. 1. S Collins and her family.

Congratulations to

Congratulations to

Certified Training General Manager, Donald Vitolo, and Team White Plains, New York, of RSQ Foods on their recertification as a National Certified Training Sports Bar. This amazing team does great work in their beautiful historical building!

Vitolo and the team are always on point and working hard.

RSQ Foods thanks them for all they do and their commitment to training and providing a great experience for all their guests. S

Certified Training Manager, O’Neil Washington, and Team Valley Stream, New York, of RSQ Foods on their certification as a National Certified Training Sports Bar. Washington and his team do amazing work at their Buffalo Wild Wings® sports bar, and RSQ Foods thanks them for all they do and their commitment to training and providing a great experience for all their guests. S

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2023 Issue 3

2024 FBS 20th Anniversary Summit April 22-25 Hyatt Indian Wells Palm Springs, California

SCORE |

We want to highlight your company’s achievements (employee promotions, new hires, employee or restaurant anniversaries and sales records). To submit information for Recognitions, complete the online submission form at www.myfbsonline.org/submissions, email communications@myfbsonline.org or call 678-797-5161.

THE

EVENT CALENDAR

Support the Vendors COMPANY

LEVEL

CONTACT

EMAIL

PHONE

Elevanta Health

Partner

Caroline McShane

memberservices@elevanta.com

678-797-5160

Green Dot Corp./rapid!

Partner

Steve McDonald

smcdonald@rapidpaycard.com

503-206-5144

Hall Financial Advisors

Partner

Kevin Knab

kknab@hallfa.com

866-865-4442

Lockton Affinity

Partner

Reid Robson

elevanta@locktonaffinity.com

844-403-4947

Mize Restaurant Group, providing Partner Elevanta Payroll and Accounting Services

Stacy Higgins

shiggins@mizecpas.com

800-234-5573

McLane Foodservice Distribution

Diamond

Lynn Modisette

lynn.modisette@mclanefs.com

972-364-2050

PepsiCo

Diamond

Marc Wolfson

marc.wolfson@pepsico.com

904-588-5401

Sazerac

Emerald

Candida Banti

cbanti@sazerac.com

415-302-0202

Retail Tech Inc.

Emerald

Shannon Johnson

sjohnson@retailtechinc.com

952-224-4327

Budderfly

Pearl

Mike Leatherwood

mike.leatherwood@budderfly.com

786-442-5065

Campari America

Pearl

Jess Hix Conlon

jess.conlon@campari.com

281-851-7755

Ecolab

Pearl

Paul Martin

paul.martin@ecolab.com

612-750-0759

Heineken

Pearl

Chuck Mathison

cmathison@heinekenusa.com

770-377-6959

New Belgium Brewing

Pearl

Kari Gladney

kgladney@newbelgium.com

419-280-6015

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Pearl

Nick Bunce

nick@sierranevada.com

520-405-1727

UPshow

Pearl

Scott Axonovitz

scott@upshow.tv

419-261-1802

The Wasserstrom Co.

Pearl

Matt Brown

mattbrown@wasserstrom.com

614-737-8314

Accuserv Equipment and Lighting

Assoc. Mbr

Mike Thomas

mthomas@accu-serv.com

502-400-8677

Alliance HCM

Assoc. Mbr

Jennifer Gordon

jennifer@alliancehcm.com

281-825-4220

Altrua Global Solutions

Assoc. Mbr

Melode Smelko

melode@altrua.com

850-562-4564

American Beverage Market

Assoc. Mbr

Beth Borkosky

bborkosky@abmcocktails.com

601-383-8338

Anheuser-Busch

Assoc. Mbr. Mike Bouche

michael.bouche@anheuser-busch.com

617-750-1924

Audio Visual Design & Install

Assoc. Mbr. Jason Abbott

jrabbott@avdiusa.com

260-615-8995

Boston Beer Co.

Assoc. Mbr. Gary Fragle

gary.fragle@bostonbeer.com

770-402-9850

C&T Design and Equipment

Assoc. Mbr. James Bales

jbales@c-tdesign.com

317-654-3721

Craft Standard Enterprises

Assoc. Mbr

Michael Vacek

mvacek@craftstandard.com

515-505-5650

Daltile

Assoc. Mbr

Terrie Miller

terrie.miller@daltile.com

216-409-3153

Deschutes Brewery

Assoc. Mbr

Greg Owens

gowens@deschutesbrewery.com

678-770-7220

DRAS Cases

Assoc. Mbr. Josh Flattum

josh@drascases.com

507-402-4812

E & J Gallo Winery

Assoc. Mbr

gerald.sullenberger@ejgallo.com

214-727-1844

Federal Heath

Assoc. Mbr. Greg Root

groot@federalheath.com

817-685-9075

Founders Brewing Co.

Assoc. Mbr. Brendan Romero

romerob@foundersbrewing.com

202-486-6455

GOJO

Assoc. Mbr

Diane Collins

collinsdi@gojo.com

330-690-5421

ITW Food Equipment Group

Assoc. Mbr

Matthew Alexander

matthew.alexander@itwfeg.com

937-681-2718

Keurig Dr Pepper

Assoc. Mbr. John Orgeron

john.orgeron@kdrp.com

678-333-2031

KNMarsh CPA

Assoc. Mbr

Kelly Marsh

kelly@knmarshcpa.com

970-217-9467

Lagunitas Brewing Co.

Assoc. Mbr

Tommy Hunter

tommy.hunter@lagunitas.com

847-363-0639

Levecke

Assoc. Mbr

Eric Lake

elake@levecke.net

972-839-7179

LG Electronics

Assoc. Mbr. David Boerlin

david.boerlin@lge.com

760-415-7797

THE

Magnesol

Assoc. Mbr

sruizdiaz@dallasgrp.com

908-892-6695

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THAT SUPPORT YOUR ASSOCIATION

Mahoney Environmental

Assoc. Mbr. Cameron Calhoun

cameronc@mahoneyes.com

910-465-6636

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Manitowoc Ice/Pentair

Assoc. Mbr

Marlo Rogers

marlo.rogers@pentair.com

920-629-8222

Maximus

Assoc. Mbr

Kevin Haag

kevinhaag@maximus.com

301-332-6216

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Gerald Sullenberger

Sally Ruiz-Diaz

COMPANY

LEVEL

CONTACT

EMAIL

PHONE

Micro Matic

Assoc. Mbr

Stanley Baron

stbar@micro-matic.com

347-234-1699

Molson Coors Beverage Co.

Assoc. Mbr. Stephanie Vint

stephanie.vint@molsoncoors.com

816-289-1786

Netspend

Assoc. Mbr. Marene Harof

mharof@netspend.com

678-642-8311

Ole Smoky Distillery

Assoc. Mbr. Mike Ross

mross@osdistillery.com

248-882-8668

One More Time

Assoc. Mbr. Alex Alvarez

aalvarez@onemoretimeinc.com

323-839-8541

Orion

Assoc. Mbr

Louis Matino

lmatino@orioninc.com

732-995-2406

Otter

Assoc. Mbr

Stefano Caccia

stefano.caccia@tryotter.com

416-878-1489

Paradox

Assoc. Mbr

Ross Grainger

ross.grainger@paradox.ai

406-459-6743

PartsTown

Assoc. Mbr

Craig Drummond

cdrummond@partstown.com

717-329-4380

Pinnacle Commercial Capital

Assoc. Mbr

Bill Wildman

wildman@pincomcap.com

317-472-2828

Plymold

Assoc. Mbr. Judy Ryan

jryan@plymold.com

507-789-8337

Red Bull North America

Assoc. Mbr. Yamila Riquelme

yamila.riquelme@redbull.com

917-544-2837

SAVI Controls

Assoc. Mbr. Byron Baird

bbaird@savicontrols.com

214-785-6510

Seating Concepts

Assoc. Mbr. Ken Hibben

khibben@scicustom.com

815-483-2253

Strategic Tax Planning

Assoc. Mbr

Christina Christiansen christina.christiansen@smartertaxplanning.com 202-455-6010

Stratix Corporation

Assoc. Mbr

Tony Glinski

tony.glinski@stratixcorp.com

860-922-2835

The Original Pickle Shot

Assoc. Mbr

Jon King

theoriginalpickleshot@gmail.com

215-378-9119

TredSafe/Walmart

Assoc. Mbr. Ted Travis

ttravis@galaxycorp.com

949-510-0950

Trinity Capital/Citizens Bank

Assoc. Mbr

Laura Nishimura

laura.nishimura@citizensbank.com

562-746-7269

Underberg America

Assoc. Mbr

Patrick Brane

patrick@underbergamerica.com

740-815-7750

Wathco Inc.

Assoc. Mbr

Jason Walder

jasonw@wathco.com

678-898-4769

White Claw

Assoc. Mbr

Cathy Bass

cbass@mikeshard.com

615-930-8616

Wintrust Franchise Financial

Assoc. Mbr

Sean Willison

swillison@wintrust.com

847-295-4272

Workstream

Assoc. Mbr. Ryan Anderson

ryananderson@workstream.is

931-409-1440

WyreStorm Technologies ProAV Corp.

Assoc. Mbr

jim.reinhardt@wyrestorm.com

631-901-9709

Jim Reinhardt

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FRANCHISEE SPOTLIGHT

Dani Reichenberger Wings of Minot, ND Partners: Ken, Janelle and Samantha Herslip Year Became a BWW® Franchisee: 2008 Total Number of BWW Locations: Three Total Number of Employees: 100 How did you and your partner(s) meet?

It’s a family business!

What drew you to the brand?

We love the concept of sports bars and specifically gathering with friends and family. The brand was a perfect fit for what our family enjoys, and we wanted to bring that to the communities around us.

What is your favorite thing about the brand?

Hearing a packed house explode over a big game win, a knockout fight or just the general laughter that comes with family and friends gathering over some wings and beer to escape the craziness of the world, even if only for a brief time.

What other concepts do you own?

Previously, Denny’s.

What are your current top three business goals?

1. Grow our customer base by reaching groups we may not have previously been attractive to.

2. Further develop long-standing employees to ensure their love for the brand and this industry never diminishes with the current economic state.

3. Drive to bring back “butts in seats” to prove the experience of gathering with family and friends over cold drinks and hot wings adds value to people’s lives.

Describe your best recent business decision:

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Recently, I decided to move away from a “one size fits all” model with scheduling, developing teams, etc. We have focused more on a per store basis and played off the strengths of the employees we have. While our daily operations and expectations remain the same, morale increases when people feel empowered with positivity rather than run down with a constant feeling of failure if they are not particularly good at one task but feel where they excel is never highlighted. We have chosen to operate by highlighting the strengths and looking to fill the gaps for the weaknesses by creating additional positions, adding staffing to certain shifts or scheduling in a more detailed way rather than only using a template.

What is the best business advice you have received?

My father told me at a young age, “Always be the hardest worker in the room and never turn down opportunities to make money and grow your knowledge. Knowledge is always power, so be confident in what you know but never afraid to learn more.”

To this day, everyday I strive to be the hardest worker in every aspect of my life, regardless of the instant reward.

Describe the biggest industry change since you started: The labor market is significantly different than it was 15 years ago. We are seeing fewer part-time employees in our locations/areas. While we used to have a vast number of college students, single parents and teachers looking for part-time extra money, etc., we are now seeing more full-time employees. This leads to some of our busier evenings or weekends having gaps we struggle to fill successfully and more overtime hours on occasion.

Describe your current biggest challenge as a franchisee: In Western North Dakota, we have seen the largest oil boom in history, the fastest crash to that boom imaginable, followed up by all the struggles of COVID-19. In 15 years, our organization has operated locations at average sales, the No. 1 stores in sales and back down 50% again when the oil bust left overnight. We have a lot of pride in our quick actions to ensure we continue operations with as little impact as possible, as we have had to adjust quickly numerous times. This comes with a lot of long nights, early mornings and countless hours spent on budgets, orders and daily operations to ensure we are successful and positive at all levels while keeping our staff engaged and forward focused.

What is your favorite BWW wing sauce?

Asian Zing (Mixed with Parm Garlic!)

If I weren’t a franchisee, I would be … I really have no idea! I have a triple bachelor’s degree in management, marketing and international business. I had intended to go to law school; however, I do not regret passing that up. I love numbers, the fast-paced business life and all the great people I get to meet along the way. S

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FBS Members Connect at the Buffalo Wild Wings Worldwide Convention T

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he 2023 Buffalo Wild Wings® Worldwide Convention, Oct. 9-11, in National Harbor, Maryland, gave FBS members the opportunity to come together halfway between the 2023 and 2024 FBS Summits. With the 2024 Summit celebrating the 20th anniversary of the annual event, the FBS Board of Directors wanted to drive up excitement for FBS and this milestone event and also address pertinent questions among FBS members.

FBS Chairman Jim Bitzonis opened the meeting with an FBS membership update. As of October 2023, 92% of Buffalo Wild Wings franchisees are FBS members, meaning our membership owns 80+% of franchised BWW® locations.

Bitzonis also touched on FBS’ quarterly publication, The SCORE (which you are reading now), and he encouraged members to submit their content for the magazine. This magazine is tailored to YOU, so please help the editorial team by sending in your news and employee recognitions!

The presentation from Bitzonis ended with a high-level overview of the recent work that the Franchisee Advisory Council (FAC) and FBS have done with Buffalo Wild Wings Corp. The FAC advocates for BWW franchisees directly to the franchisor, while FBS is the organization that represents BWW franchisees and provides education and services. For an in-depth look at how both organizations work, please visit The SCORE, Issue 2, 2023.

FBS has taken initiative and sought outside legal counsel on

a number of issues BWW franchisees are facing. The advocacy of FBS helped lead the way in resolving the NCR breach from earlier this year, and the FBS Board continues to seek guidance on recent development agreements that have potential to disrupt the business of your BWW sports bars.

The FAC continues to bring these concerns to the attention of BWW Corp., and FBS will keep membership updated as more information becomes available.

The FBS Member Meeting concluded with a Q&A with the FBS Board of Directors. FBS members were passionate about their concerns, and board members shared the same sentiments, and they are working diligently on addressing these issues with the franchisor. Please stay tuned into FBS communications for more updates!

Make sure to save the date for the 2024 FBS Summit, celebrating 20 years of the annual event!

FBS hopes to see you all in beautiful Palm Springs, California, April 22-25, for the Summit. Next year’s event promises to be our biggest yet! Keep an eye out for communications from FBS with the registration link early in January of 2024. S

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LOOK LISTEN READ

L

ook, Listen, Read is a quarterly compilation of some of the most highly rated and reviewed apps, podcasts, books, websites and other resources. FBS does not support or endorse the use of these tools, which merely serve as a guide to exploring a new level of knowledge and productivity for your business.

1

In Shelly Sun’s “Grow Smart, Risk Less: A Low-Capital Path to Multiplying Your Business Through Franchising,” she shares practical advice, insights and her own compelling experiences to help readers discover their power and avoid the pitfalls in franchising their businesses.

2

Jolt is a franchise management system for franchisees in any industry. It is an entire operations suite with consistent forms, intelligent checklists, integrated probes and sensors, automated reporting, food safety label printers and more — all seamlessly integrated & organized together.

3

“FranchiseU!" provides education and inspiration to those in or considering careers within franchising. This podcast is produced by Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence at the University of Louisville and hosted by Dr. Kathy Gosser. The Center’s vision is to empower communities to create and sustain generational wealth using the franchising business model.

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Whether you are considering getting into a franchise or have made the commitment, “Franchising Demystified” by Wayne Maillet provides you with a deep understanding of the franchisee-franchisor relationship. This definitive franchise handbook provides you with the tools to effectively assess the right franchise opportunity for you and then maximize the return on investment.

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The FranConnect app is a platform that provides all your departments — including sales, operations, finance, support and marketing — a single, shared view of your franchise business.

FranConnect has solutions for every stage of your franchise growth.

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In Chris Wilson and Boynton Weekes’ “Winning Franchise,” they dive into the world of franchising and share the secrets to selecting a successful franchise. The two discuss the latest trends and developments in franchising, share success stories and lessons learned and provide practical advice and tips for navigating the complex and competitive world of franchising.

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2023 Issue 3

Are you looking for an integrated franchise platform to grow your franchise that has multiple tools to manage your franchise? With the BrandWide app, you can consolidate all your tools into one platform. BrandWide helps you grow your brand and make your units successful by providing everything you need in one integrated franchise software system. S

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Marketing 360 helps manage and grow small businesses. Not only do you get the tools you need to scale, but you also get the do-it-for-you marketing programs you need to grow.

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In Jeff Dudan’s “On the Homefront” podcast, Dudan aims to inspire and empower individuals to transform their lives, make a positive impact in their communities and enhance the well-being of those they cherish most through responsible franchising and entrepreneurship.

Peter Daly-Dickson and Andrew Priestley gather successful international franchisors and franchising experts for their book “Franchising Freedom” to candidly share their current, best-thinking strategies and insights for finding the right franchise to start building and growing a sustainable, profitable franchise business.

Spotlight on the 118th Congress:

Maria Salazar (R-FL-27) Q A

What skills or perspectives from your background do you apply as a public official?

Journalism prepared me for public service in several ways, but the stories I heard from my community and the attention to detail it required me to develop were the most important. The constituents I represent in Florida’s 27th District include many of the people I served in my 35 years as a journalist. As a war correspondent and Bureau Chief in Latin America, hearing the stories of those fleeing communism, socialism, persecution and violence helped me understand the importance of good and stable governments.

Any good journalist is also trained to develop a keen attention to detail. Evaluating the rigor of any argument also prepared me for Capitol Hill – I like to know all angles of a story before making any major decision.

Q A

What do you see as the current biggest threat to small-business owners?

The biggest threat to small-business owners is the state of our economy. There is a partisan gap on the health of the U.S. economy, but the stories my constituents tell me paint a very clear picture. First, high inflation from reckless federal spending has caused an invisible tax raising business costs substantially. Second, credit has become harder to access as banks have had to tighten lending. And third, labor. We need hands to fill the jobs that are currently vacant. Lastly, from a regulatory standpoint, President Biden’s Small Business Administration (SBA) is supposed to consider economic costs on small businesses when it issues new regulations. However, these negative impacts have constantly been ignored. The nation needs an economic policy based on respect for small businesses and the taxpayer.

We do not have that now. Over 90% of my district’s businesses employ less than 10 people – how are they going to grow when a large population of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck?

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Q A

What challenges have you helped small businesses in your district overcome?

While small businesses suffered greatly during the pandemic, my office was ready to introduce legislation to help them on day one. As a member of the Small Business Committee, I worked closely with my colleagues to extend the Paycheck Protection Program, a critical lifeline to small businesses at the height of the closures. My first bill that was signed into law provided small businesses with relief on their COVID-19 Economic Impact Disaster Loans, another line of support when many Miami mom-and-pop shops needed it the most.

I also led the charge to reopen the cruise industry in 2021, which at the time was the only industry in America being told by the federal government that it could not operate. Cruise ships are

supplied by small businesses and directly connected to the restaurant, tourism and hospitality industries.

Thousands of jobs returned to Miami when I was successfully able to convince the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to let cruise ships sail again, under new safety guidelines.

Q A

In what ways are you seeking feedback from small businesses in your state/district and using that information in Washington, D.C.?

My district office is one of the best in the country. My staff are constantly looking for feedback from my constituents on how I can better serve them in Congress. I love meeting with business owners in my district to hear what’s going on and how I can be helpful. My office also works with the SBA to hold events in Miami, including one to connect Miami small businesses with the SBA’s nonpartisan Office of Advocacy. I firmly believe that the federal government should be a client of the private sector – my office ensures we’re here for our constituents, not the other way around.

Q A

What seat do you believe franchisees have at the table and what do you do to support them?

Franchisees are a critical part of Miami’s economy, and my office’s doors are open to any franchisee who needs support. My colleagues on the Small Business Committee and I are always ready to listen to the issues and address the challenges they face. More specifically, I recently supported a letter with some of my House colleagues to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan that provides a few suggestions on how the FTC can strengthen the Franchise Rule. These suggestions include greater transparency in franchise terms and conditions, modernizing franchise disclosures and encouraging dialogue through the promotion of independent franchisee associations and advisory councils.

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What message do you have for small-business owners struggling with supply chain issues, inflation, staffing and other prevalent issues of today?

Help is on the way. I have the only bill in Congress that will address our nationwide labor shortage: HR 3599, the Dignity Act. This is a historic, bipartisan immigration reform bill. It secures our border, provides a practical solution for the undocumented and restores America’s economy. Although this is an immigration reform bill, it will solve our workforce shortage issues on day one and ensure we have a labor force for the future.

This bill has strong support from business leaders, the agricultural sector, the faith community, economists and immigration reform groups. You can find more information about this bill here: https://salazar.house.gov/dignity-act . S

One topic: 10 facts

QSR Franchise Marketing and the Demand for Original Content 1

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Today, the demand for effective marketing is as high as it has ever been. Eighty-five percent of marketers said there is more demand for brand content in the present day than the pre-pandemic era.

With media channels as crowded as ever, standing out amongst your competition is crucial to a franchisee’s success.

Forty-seven percent of foodservice operators agree that their competitors are more intense in 2023.

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Is the average customer consuming brand content? Yes! Eighty percent of them watch restaurant-related videos.

This content is fruitful as well, with 70% of consumers saying they are more likely to visit a restaurant that creates personalized promotions.

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Brands are increasingly returning to vintage colors, logos and menu items to hone in on one concept – nostalgia. Around 75% of consumers enjoy marketing that allows them to recall the “good old days.”

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If you want to earn a ‘follow’ on your brand’s social media, you will have to earn it. Fifty percent of customers only follow one to four brands on social media, with another 26% following fewer than 10 brands. *Note: This is a compilation of web articles strictly for engaging your thoughts.

2023 Issue 3

Sources: Business News Daily, BuzzStream, Bynder, Fit Small Business, Menu Tiger Salesforce, National Restaurant Association, New Epsilon Research and WARC

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Your emotionally connected customers, staff and stakeholders are the people perpetuating the brands you manage. They are the ones that keep your customers coming back and generate new traffic. After all, 92% of customers trust recommendations from a loved one or notable public figure.

The key to effective marketing is transparency. A survey of 2,000 customers found that 94% will be loyal to a transparent brand. Meanwhile, 39% will even change brands in pursuit of brand transparency.

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With every visit to your restaurant(s), your customers are building a relationship with your brand. Loyal customers are emotionally connected customers, as 64% of consumers felt an emotional connection to their favorite brands.

Believe it or not, your customers want to hear from your business. Forty-nine percent of patrons who subscribe to receive promotional alerts from their favorite restaurants prefer to get them weekly.

Grant dollars support programs like AllStars.

Celebrating A Successful Team Up for Kids This October!

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ur annual Team Up for Kids fundraiser launched Oct. 1. This is an important program for our brand and our community. Most importantly, it is an excellent way to engage your team members to be part of something impactful. Last year, you made a huge impact by raising $1.9 million across the BWW® system. We are hopeful we can raise even more this year. All it takes is a simple ask, “Would you like to support local youth in your community?”

The impact of these grant dollars was seen across the country in over 329 local nonprofits that received funds last year. Over half of the donations went to local Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the country. We also saw a lot of new organizations being supported this year.

We truly are making a difference in the communities we serve.

Some key takeaways about the program:

• The majority of what your sports bar raises goes back into your local community, and you have a say in where those grant dollars go.

• It’s a turnkey way for us to support kids in our community and engage our team members in something truly meaningful.

• Franchisees will have the opportunity to compete in a bracket challenge against other markets for the chance to win additional grant dollars for your community.

• The Buffalo Wild WingsSM Foundation is excited to see the impact we will have this year.

• Remember, the Foundation is here to help. If you have any questions about the program, please reach out to Catherine Stranberg.

What if we ask every guest, every time to help support youth in our community? The sky is the limit on where we could go with the Team Up for Kids Campaign. Please take a moment to check out this QR code with more stories about how you are supporting youth.

Together, we can make a difference and support youth organizations across the country. For more information on ways to engage with the foundation and give back in your communities, please reach out to Catherine Stranberg at cstranberg@inspirebrands.com. S

SUPPORT LOCAL YOUTH CHARITIES

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Applies to $5+ in-store donations only, while supplies last. Coupon is valid for dine-in only at participating locations. Must present original coupon, which expires 11/30/2023. One redemption per customer on a future visit.

Proceeds benefit the Buffalo Wild Wings Foundation, a division of the Inspire Brands Foundation, which supports organizations like Boys & Girls Club of America. TM & © 2023 Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc.

Reducing Energy Usage at Your Sports Bar Tips for Easing Impact on the Environment and Your Wallet

by Allison McCallum

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re you looking at your sports bar’s utility bill, wondering how it’s increased so much over the years? Reducing your energy consumption and its cost goes far beyond turning off your lights at the end of the day.

Restaurants are heavy users of energy, using five to seven times more energy per square foot than the average business and 30 times more than a residential household. Almost every piece of equipment in the kitchen of your sports bar uses energy, along with the lights that run 16-20 hours per day, and the HVAC system works hard to keep everything cool.

Not to mention the TVs, small appliances at the bar and POS systems — all requiring energy to keep your sports bar running at its best.

The fact is that all this equipment is necessary to run a restaurant, and there’s no way around using it. Even so, there are ways to reduce energy consumption, leading to a decrease on your utility bills and helping the environment in the process.

1 Equipment Not all appliances are created equal. It might be saving you money in the short term to not replace the 20-year-old fryer that still works, but it’s costing you more in the long run.

Most new appliances are built to be more energy efficient, leading to a decrease in energy consumption without much effort on your part. Maintaining your equipment is also the best way to ensure it’s running efficiently. Simple preventative tasks, like keeping condenser coils on your refrigeration units clean, will give your equipment a longer lifespan and keep it running at top performance.

Other pitfalls to look out for are accidentally leaving walk-in doors open, leaving equipment that’s not used regularly idling and not replacing water filtration system filters in a timely manner.

2 Lighting Most Buffalo Wild Wings sports bars are open for business 13-14 hours a day, and staff are there hours before opening and after closing, meaning most of the lights are on at least 18 hours a day. Even during closed hours, some lights are left on for safety and for staff leaving late at night or arriving early in the morning.

Using energy efficient lighting is critical to cutting costs and reducing energy consumption. LED lightbulbs use less electricity and last up to 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs.

On top of this, you can install bi-level switching, which groups certain lights together, meaning you can have some lights on without having to turn on all of them.

Outdoor lights are often left on all day, typically by accident, so putting your exterior lighting on daylight sensors will keep them off during the day and ensure they’re only on when it’s dark out. Consider other areas in your sports bar where you could install occupancy sensors, like closets and storage rooms, as those areas only need to be lit when someone is inside.

3 Heating and Cooling No one enjoys eating or working in a hot restaurant.

Keeping your sports bar at a comfortable temperature for customers and employees is crucial for your business.

Investing in a smart thermostat is one of the easiest ways to make sure you keep temperatures where you want them. They’re programmed to know when the fan and AC need to run, leading to less unnecessary energy expenditure. Other easy ways to keep your air conditioner running at its peak are changing the air filter monthly and tuning up your HVAC equipment yearly.

It's important to reduce your sports bar’s heat usage overall, which is easily done by lowering the water temperature on the dishwasher and installing unheated hand dryers in restrooms.

Ambient temperatures in the kitchen can also be reduced by having properly working exhaust hoods installed and maintained and using fans to lower temperatures.

4 Kitchen Layout

ALLISON MCCALLUM is the communications editor for FBS. You may reach McCallum at allisonm@myfbsonline.org or call 678-797-5165.

Deliver the best on-premise on-premise employee experience employee experience Increase Increase Success Successof of Blazin’ Games Blazin’ Games Improve Improve Employee Employee Recognition Recognition & & Retention Retention Achieve Greater Achieve Greater Operational Success Operational Success Grow Revenues via Server Grow Revenues via Server Sales Leaderboards Sales Leaderboards To watch a 60-second video or talk to To watch a 60-second video or talk to our team, scan the code or visit up.show/ICTD our team, scan the code or visit up.show/ICTD

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2023 Issue 3

The above tips are going to make an impact on lowering your sports bar’s energy consumption, but unless your staff is

Sources: Energy Star and Constellation.

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5 Train Your Staff

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to lowering your sport’s bars energy consumption. The best way to start is by implementing the suggestions above, and there are businesses out there who work with you to find more ways to reduce costs, increase energy efficiency and lower your impact on the environment. FBS partners with APPI Energy to provide data-driven procurement solutions that reduce and manage electricity and natural gas supply costs for members on an ongoing basis. Every day, APPI Energy identifies the wide range of energy supplier prices across the U.S. and utilizes that data to provide the lowest prices available among many vetted, competing suppliers. APPI Energy now offers a full array of efficiency measures to reduce and track your consumption.

To take advantage of this membership benefit program, contact Margo Madden at APPI Energy at 800-520-6685. S

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The layout of your sports bar’s kitchen can actually have a large effect on the efficiency of your equipment. There’s a lot of hot and cold extremes in a kitchen — fryers, ice machines, refrigerators and so on. Keeping your heated and cooled equipment separate will keep them running efficiently and correctly.

For example, if your ice machine is next to an oven, the ambient air will be hotter near the ice machine, making it work harder to produce ice and run correctly. Refrigeration units also need breathing room, as they expel hot air in the cooling process.

Having proper ventilation around your equipment is necessary; otherwise, they will expend more energy trying to stay cool.

properly trained, you won’t see a decrease on your utility bills.

To avoid this, be sure to outline all the proper protocols in your employee handbook and incorporate them into your training with new and existing employees. Don’t exclude front-of-house employees either, as they are often in the kitchen as well.

Posting reminders around areas where it’s necessary to follow these protocols is a small way you can keep energy consumption at the top of everyone’s mind.

o u Y r k S n h i r r i Y o d u n r a n h k S ative Environmental Imp g e N

act

Disclaimer: The companies, products and services mentioned in this article are not endorsed

by FBS in any way and are inserted to educate you.

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he restaurant industry is one of the most wasteful – producing over 915,400 tons of food waste annually, according to Modern Restaurant Management. Together, with food scraps, packaging, cooking grease, single-use kitchen equipment, such as gloves and tasting spoons, and more, many restaurants succumb to the large landfill bin to rid themselves of the waste they produce.

Nation’s Restaurant News estimates that 60% of restaurants have a recycling program. It’s a decent number, but when it is taken into account that only 30% of recyclable materials are actually recycled, that number becomes obsolete.

Restaurant managers cannot save every beer drip or leftover meal, but taking the proper measures to ensure a business is acting sustainably can reduce waste output and carbon footprint overall. After all, 57% of consumers consider sustainability in

by Jared Johnsen

some way when deciding where to dine out.

Today, kitchen managers can reduce their spoilage before they even order their inventory.

Tracking shrink prior by implementing a sheet for all staff to use to document can track these losses from the source. Keeping an eye on ingredients that perish quickly and/or get actively used can help gauge the correct quantity of inventory to order.

Of course, maintaining a proper stock is also key to reducing spoilage within sports bars. Following best practices, such as storing inventory properly, tracking expiration dates and actively rotating product is crucial to ensuring customers are eating the freshest food made available to them and little is wasted. With upwards of 10% of a restaurant’s food never making it to the customer, tracking shrink is imperative to a sports bar owner’s

profit and the environment.

Pre-consumer waste is not limited to food stock. Simple changes to how kitchens prepare food before service can reduce a sports bar’s daily waste output without sacrificing efficiency. For example, taking the time to consider quantities of the ingredients needing to be prepped for the day can prevent over prepping and reduce the amount of food wasted at the end of the night.

“When food goes to the landfill, the nutrients in the food never return to the soil. The wasted food rots and produces methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.”

– Environmental Protection Agency

This is not limited to pre-service prep either. Extra care must be given to produce that loses freshness quickly after they are cut, such as fresh herbs, avocados and cucumbers. One way to reduce shrink of these items is to prep smaller pans of these ingredients as they are needed on the line.

Despite their best efforts, restaurants still have the ability to produce thousands of pounds of food waste per week; however, how they sort and dispose of their waste makes all the difference.

Sending food waste to the landfill sounds like the easiest way to dispose of it, but it proves to have a negative environmental impact.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “When food goes to the landfill, the nutrients in the food never return to the soil. The wasted food rots and produces methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.”

To prevent this, environmental professionals recommend sending the waste to a composting facility, where compost is manufactured and sold to farms, plant nurseries, vineyards and more. Restaurant operators can also donate certain produce scraps directly to farmers and the waste can be repurposed as animal feed.

Sustainable and 100% compostable, plastic alternatives are constantly developing and may hit Buffalo Wild Wings® sports bars in the near future.

JARED JOHNSEN is the communications specialist for FBS. You may reach Johnsen at 678-439-2291 or jaredj@myfbsonline.org.

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2023 Issue 3

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In the occurrence that inventory is over ordered and risks being discarded due to expiration, many national and local food banks operate to feed those who are food insecure in their respective communities by accepting donations. With the Center for Disease Control (CDC) stating in a survey that 50% of active food bank visitors say that fresh produce is available, donating surplus can not only benefit the environment but members of the community.

Despite a sports bar’s best effort, they generate waste off premises as well. Single-use carry-out items, such as plastic utensils, takeout containers and moist toilettes, often go to the landfill where it can take up to 1,000 years for these materials to decompose.

Eco-packaging companies, like Green Paper Products (GPP), have developed containers from sustainably sourced and compostable materials. In GPP’s instance, its containers are made from material derived from corn starch, which is 100% compostable. In recent development, a company called Ecovative developed Mushroom Packaging, insulation material made from mycelium mushrooms. Sustainable and 100% compostable, plastic alternatives are constantly developing and may hit Buffalo Wild Wings® sports bars in the near future.

Even with implementing these practices and teaching BWW® employees how to carry them out, sustainability must be embedded into company culture to perpetuate these values.

Promoting these values in the workplace not only educates staff but displays passion for the environment.

Something as simple as teaching bartenders how to properly pour a beer can reduce alcohol waste by as much as 18%.

So, it does go to show that if restaurant owners and managers shrink shrink and adapt an eco-friendly business model, it could not only aid the business in the long run but generations to come. S

Elements of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Series Element No. 2:

Purpose, Path and Plan

by Dan Coughlin

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hy do you want to start a particular business? (Purpose) What is the approach you are going to stay on to make the business successful? (Path) What are you actually going to do by certain dates to make progress on your path? (Plan) Essentially, that’s it. No matter how big or small your business enterprise is or becomes, these are the three primary questions to focus on.

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Purpose

Let’s be honest. Being an entrepreneur is hard. It’s hard mentally, physically, socially, financially and emotionally. Many times, you may very well wonder why it’s worth it, and you may come very close to giving up on your venture.

What will keep you going? Your purpose, your reason why you wanted to be in business on your own to start with. Your purpose helps you to maintain the resilience and courage necessary to keep going when your best customers walk away from

you, when a great employee leaves your business and when you are dealing with significant personal challenges.

Take time, lots of time, to clarify the reason why you want to start your own business. This is the crucial first step.

For me, my purpose is very simple. I wanted to start my own business back in January of 1998 because I wanted to help people achieve whatever they wanted to achieve.

I’ve always gotten an enormous kick out of being a helper, a guide, a teacher and an advisor for other people and watching them achieve something that is meaningful to them.

During the darkest days of The Great Recession from 2008–2010, I was able to keep going despite very few business opportunities because, at the end of the day, I wanted the chance to help other people achieve their goals.

Why do you want to own your own business? Please do not rush through that question. Write your answer down over and over and over until it is either meaningful enough to you to keep

you going through the bad times, or you realize that it is not strong enough to start your own business.

Path

While there are many different ways to fulfill your purpose, trying to go down multiple paths at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

Let’s say a person’s purpose is to create meaningful and fun family and friend experiences. So, he opens an indoor pickleball arena. Well, now he must choose a path for his business.

Is he going to focus on opening up as many pickleball locations as he possibly can over the next five years or is he going to focus on making the customer experience at his one location as great as he can make it by being personally involved in trying a variety of ideas in order to see what really sticks with customers?

Either path will require a different usage of his time and energy. Either can be successful. What won’t be successful is trying to go down both paths simultaneously.

Once you have a purpose, lay out what the path is going to look like for your business over the next several years. Once you know the path, then you can make decisions that fit on that path.

Plan

A plan, to me, involves a calendar. It means writing down what you are going to do each day and each week and each month to make progress on your path. As you add things to your to-do list, ask yourself if that is the highest and best use of your time to move your business forward on the path you want to be on.

Conclusion

These three ideas (purpose, path, and plan) are each very important. The consistent interweaving of these is what allows a business to gain momentum and to build a great brand, great operations and great customer relationships.

However, as time moves on, you may realize that a different path would be more effective. You might possibly change your purpose. And as you change those two, you will have to adjust your plans. Just notice that changing your purpose or path is a very significant thing that is going to have significant ramifications. If you change them, then I encourage you to change them with the attitude that you are going to stick with the new purpose or new path for the long term. Companies with a weak compass constantly change their purpose and path and end up taking their organization on a wild roller-coaster ride that usually does not end well. S

Since 1998, DAN COUGHLIN has worked with serious-minded leaders and executives to consistently deliver excellence.

He provides Executive Coaching, Leadership and Executive Development Group Coaching Programs and seminars to improve leadership and management performance. His topics are personal effectiveness, interpersonal effectiveness, leadership, teamwork and management. He also guides strategic decision-making meetings. Now, he is also focused on helping people to develop their entrepreneurial mindset. Visit his free Business Performance Idea Center at www.thecoughlincompany.com

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How to Improve Cyber Security in Just One Month contributed by Lockton Cos.

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ver the last few years, franchises have become a favorite target of cyber criminals. Hackers have stolen password credentials, franchise business records and customer credit card data from thousands of well-known establishments.

It is true that cyber-attacks target all sorts of businesses, and many recent high-profile hacks include big names outside the industry. However, some cybercriminals prefer franchises because they’re easier targets.

• Franchises have less robust defenses than banks and other prime targets.

• General awareness of cyber threats and hacking techniques is lower.

• Employees tend to have less training on how to protect the business from cybercrime.

• Franchises have a high sales volume.

The consequences of a hack are serious. According to a recent report by IBM, the average data breach cost for businesses with fewer than 500 employees is $2.98 million, and the average cost per breached record is $164.

Cyber security is important, but for a busy business like yours, it may be hard to focus on. You may worry it will take too much time or money, or perhaps you feel like cyber security is a topic best left to the experts. But as it turns out, taking control of

your cyber security is easier, cheaper and quicker than you think.

Improving cyber security at your business can be as simple as taking a few easy steps over a few weeks’ time, but the resulting improvements can last much longer.

Here’s a simple plan you can implement at your business any time of the year to improve cyber security in just one month.

Improve Cyber Security Week 1: Inventory At your business, you understand the importance of taking an inventory. It gives important information that helps you make better decisions. The same is true for cyber security. You need to know what you have in order to protect it.

In your first week, focus on taking an inventory of all your digital systems. Answer questions like: • How many computers and devices do you have?

• What apps and software does your business use?

• Are systems and software lacking any updates?

• Are all your passwords secure and up to date?

• What access privileges do staff members have?

• What protections do you already have in place?

Taking an inventory will tell you where you are already doing well and where you have vulnerabilities that could benefit from improvement.

Improve Cyber Security Week 2: Housekeeping Good cyber security doesn’t have to be difficult. While the technology can be complex, it’s simple cyber housekeeping that helps keep your business and data safe and secure.

Spend your second week focusing on some key housekeeping tasks to improve your protection. First and foremost, take care of any vulnerabilities you identified last week: • Perform recommended update and patch maintenance to your systems and software.

• Update any passwords that are weak, old or otherwise compromise your security.

• Turn on beneficial security protections you already have, like spam filtering, firewall protection and multifactor authentication.

If you’re not sure about whether and how to do an update, or how to use your software’s security features, get help from your local IT expert or contact the product’s customer support.

Improve Cyber Security Week 3: Planning At your business, you are probably well aware of the importance of advanced planning and development of emergency procedures. They can be crucial for responding quickly and appropriately if there is a fire, an injury or a robbery. With cyber security, having a plan is also key for making sure you stay a few steps ahead of cyber criminals.

For your third week, focus on creating a cyber response plan.

Some key steps are to: • Conduct a risk assessment.

• Identify cyber vulnerabilities.

• Define conditions for action.

• Develop a detection plan.

• Plan an incident response.

• Draft communication templates.

• Create an event log template.

A formal plan can make an important difference in a cyber incident. It helps you identify and respond to problems quickly while taking the right steps in situations where the wrong steps can often magnify the problem and its cost.

The Elevanta Insurance Program is administered by Lockton Affinity, LLC d/b/a Lockton Affinity Insurance Brokers LLC in California #0795478. Coverage is subject to actual policy terms and conditions. Policy benefits are the sole responsibility of the issuing insurance company. Coverage may be provided by an excess/surplus lines insurer which is not licensed by or subject to the supervision of the insurance department of your state of residence. Policy coverage forms and rates may not be subject to regulation by the insurance department of your state of residence. Excess/Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds and therefore insureds are not protected by such funds in the event of the insurer’s insolvency. Elevanta will receive a royalty fee for the licensing of its name and trademarks as part of the insurance program offered to the extent permitted by applicable law.

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AN AWARDWINNING BLEND OF COGNAC & ORANGE LIQUEUR

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Improve Cyber Security Week 4: Training Just as they are crucial for managing risks in other areas of your business, your team will play a big role in the cyber security of your business. It’s important to include everyone in making your business safer online.

Spend your last week of the month focused on employee training.

• Train employees on the dangers of cyber-attacks and the importance of cyber security.

• Teach team members how to use newly acquired or activated security features.

• Provide your staff with information on common scams like email phishing and malware.

• Organize drills to teach the team how to follow your new cyber response procedures.

It can’t be overstated how important your team is when it comes to cyber security. Managers can’t be everywhere at once, and frontline staff are often the first to notice something usual.

More Ways to Protect Your Business from Cyber Security Risks It’s true that cyber security can be intimidating and often isn’t given the attention it deserves. But protecting your business from cyber risks is probably easier than you think. It is possible to improve cyber security in just one month with these few simple steps.

It’s also possible to do more to protect your business from the risk of cybercrime. Contact co-brokers Lockton Affinity and Elevanta to learn more about Cyber Liability insurance and cyber security resources that can help protect your business. Visit Elevanta.LocktonAffinity.com to learn more. S

New Form I-9 Required Beginning Nov. 3, 2023

Along With this Change Is a New Alternative Procedure For E-Verify Employers’ Forms I-9 Completed During COVID-19 Flexibilities

by Eileen Momblanco

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration TtheheServices (USCIS) recently published newest version of the Employment

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Eligibility Verification form, Form I-9.

Employers are required by law to complete the Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment authorization of their employees within a certain period of time post-hire. This new version of the Form I-9 is only one page, instead of two. Other changes include more detailed instructions and new guidance on acceptable receipts and auto-extensions of some documents on the Form I-9 List of Acceptable Documents. Employers may begin using the new edition beginning Aug. 1, 2023, but may continue to use the 2019 version of the form through Oct. 31, 2023.

Beginning Nov. 1, 2023, only the new Form I-9 dated ”08/01/2023” may be used. The version date can be found at the lower left corner of the form.

In addition to the new Form I-9, USCIS also announced a new “Alternative Procedure” for the physical inspection requirement for Forms I-9 completed during COVID-19 flexibilities, specifically for employers who were enrolled

in E-Verify during this time period.

As we previously reported, employers had until Aug. 30, 2023, to complete physical inspection of I-9 documents for Forms I-9 completed using remote inspection under the USCIS’ COVID-19 flexibilities. Under this new “Alternative Procedure” rule, E-Verify employers who meet four requirements may choose an alternative procedure in lieu of physically examining Form I-9 documentation. To qualify for the alternative procedure, the employer must have: 1. performed remote examination of an employee’s documents between March 20, 2020, and July 31, 2023; 2. been enrolled in E-Verify at the time they completed the Form I-9 for that employee; 3. created a case in E-Verify for that employee (except for reverification); and 4. be currently enrolled in and continue to participate in E-Verify.

Employers who do not meet all four requirements above must have performed an in-person physical examination of documents by Aug. 30, 2023. Under the Alternative Procedure, employers must

have remotely examined the employee’s Form I-9 documents by conducting a live video interaction for each employee whose documents were examined remotely under the temporary flexibilities but never in-person physically examined. The Form I-9 must then have been annotated with the wording “alternative procedure,” the date of the second remote document examination and employer representative initials in Section 2 or in Section 3, as appropriate. These steps under the Alternative Procedure should have been completed by Aug. 30, 2023. S

EILEEN MOMBLANCO is the Chair of Immigration Practice Group at Laner Muchin Ltd. Momblanco can be reached at emomblanco@lanermuchin.com or (312) 467-9800.

Countdown to Year-End: A Payroll Checklist for QSR Restaurant Owners and Office Staff

contributed by Mize CPAs

As the calendar inches closer to December, many of us are busy preparing for the holiday season. While that is all well and good, payroll processors find themselves immersed in a different kind of festivity: preparing for year-end financials. The objectives of this period extend far beyond the routine processing of paychecks. It encompasses a complex and critical set of responsibilities that require precision, attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to compliance with ever-evolving tax laws and regulations. To help you and your team prepare, we have assembled the easy-to-follow checklist below.

If You...

Have You?

Print your own W-2s

Ordered the forms and envelopes?

Test print before January!

Submit your own W-2s

Updated your SSA BSO password? You can test your W-2 file using AccuWage with the SSA prior to submission.

Are an Applicable Ordered Forms 1095-C, Forms 1094-C Large Employer (ALE) and envelopes?

Test print before January!

Registered with the IRS for electronic filing if you have more than 250 forms to be filed (electronic filing required)?

Prepare your own Forms 1099

Ordered the forms and envelopes?

Review a current list of payments to verify how many 1099s you will need and add a cushion.

Test print before January!

Updated your Accounts Payable system with current Forms W-9 information for vendors.

Let’s start with some housekeeping questions.

Next, here are some items you should complete before Dec. 31.

Then, after Jan. 1, you will want to do the following.

n Gather employee health insurance premium amounts paid during 2024 to be shown on Form W-2 (Box 12, Code DD) if you filed more than 250 Form W-2s in 2023. n Check to see if you have any third party sick pay to report on W-2s. n Plan for disaster recovery! Don’t wait until the last day to print your Forms W-2 in case you experience a disaster (water leaks, floods, inability to enter your office for various reasons, no electricity during storms, etc.). n Perform a year-end reconciliation.

• Do 941s & 941-Xs tie to Forms W-2?

• Check Federal Taxable wages, Social Security & Medicare taxable wages. n Identify all exempt items.

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Mize is a full-service accounting firm that has provided the Elevanta payroll and accounting solution since 2003.

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In summary, year-end preparation for payroll professionals is essential to ensure legal compliance, provide accurate tax documentation to employees, meet reporting deadlines and maintain financial integrity within your organization. It also contributes to overall organizational efficiency and employee satisfaction. S

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n Prepare and review your year-end holiday payroll processing schedule and prepare your 2024 payroll processing calendar for the processing dates (with holidays and direct deposit considered) and paycheck dates. n Identify potential taxable benefits to add to payroll before Dec. 31, 2023.

• Personal use of company owned/leased auto • Year-end bonuses • Holiday bonuses or gifts • Group term life insurance policies • Third party sick pay • Gift cards/certificates • Two percent S Corp. shareholder benefits • Moving reimbursements (now taxable!)

• Educational benefits • Severance or settlement agreement payments • Manual checks not already entered to payroll • Void checks not already entered to payroll n Remind employees to complete a new Form W-4 if their address, withholding allowances, name or SSN needs to be updated.

Watch the IRS website for the updated Form W-4 for 2024. n Run a list of your W-4 exempt employees and remind them they must provide a new W-4 for 2024 prior to Feb. 17, 2024 (single standard deduction). n Ask all employees to verify their SSN and mailing address. n Run a preliminary Form W-2 prelist and determine if any employees are missing SSNs or address. Review for any that have an SSN beginning with “9” or something that looks obviously wrong (for example 123-45-6789). n Review your vendor payment list to determine if there have been any payments in Accounts Payable that should have run through payroll and need to be reported on a Form W-2. n Verify whether you have foreign workers that need special treatment on Form W-2 (J-1 VISA or other types exempt from SS/Medicare). n Check the due date of any state reconciliation forms and/or W-2 filings. n Reconcile your bank accounts and deal with outstanding paychecks.

• Unclaimed property reports are required in all 50 states.

• “Negative reports” may be required when you do not have any property to report.

• Never filed unclaimed property? Contact your Mize CPAs staff for assistance. n Review your Form 941 tax deposit requirements for 2024.

If you have been paying monthly, check your “lookback period.”

• If you pay semi-weekly, be sure to deposit NEXT DAY if a liability exceeds $100,000 in your normal deposit period. n Review IRS Notice 931 for specific rules.

Storytelling As a Leadership Tool

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by Dennis and Danny Snow

I

f you have read some earlier articles of mine, you know that I am an advocate of using stories to perpetuate the culture of your organization. The advice to make use of storytelling has been buried in the previous articles, and I feel that the subject merits its own discussion.

In communicating a point of view, a principle or a value, there are few techniques more powerful than a well-told story. A story provides a "mind picture" for the listener and gives color to an otherwise abstract concept. As a leader, for example, I could advise new supervisors to "treat employees with respect." No one could argue with such a suggestion. The following story, however, gives meaning to the principle. I've used this story hundreds of times because it happened to me (in 1982), had an impact on my leadership style, and others have told me that the story has an impact on them.

I had recently been promoted to my first management position at Walt Disney World: Supervisor of Fantasyland (my all-time favorite job title). I was preparing to give my first "verbal reprimand" to an employee, and I was actually excited about it.

Finally, I was giving a reprimand instead of getting a reprimand.

I was mentally rehearsing what I was going to say to this cast member regarding his poor attendance. It was going to be a verbal bombardment designed to get him to beg forgiveness and to be ashamed of his irresponsibility. Moments before the cast member was to arrive at my office, my boss, a wonderful leader named Bruce Fox, sat down in the chair across from me. He looked at me and said something that I have never forgotten. He said, "Dennis, no matter what you have to do as a leader, whether you have to reprimand someone or even fire someone, when he walks out of the door, you make sure he walks out with his dignity." Bruce's words not only changed how I handled that situation, but how I've tried to conduct myself as a leader ever since.

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DENNIS SNOW is a business author, speaker and consultant who helps organizations develop world-class customer service. He is the author of two books, “Lessons From the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life” (Snow & Associates), and “Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service” (Wiley).

Dennis can be reached at www.snowassociates.com, or at 407-294-1855.

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Admittedly, telling the above story takes longer than saying, "treat employees with respect," but I think the point is much more vivid. Stories allow people to peak behind the curtain of things that have happened to you as a leader, to the company and to others in the organization.

Another example comes from Southwest Airlines. "Don't take yourself too seriously! Have some fun!" Hundreds of organizations say the same thing. \Southwest Airlines, however, has a story that they share that demonstrates commitment to fun from the very top of the organization. The airline was in a legal battle with another company regarding the rights to a marketing slogan. Southwest CEO Herb Kelleher and the CEO of the other company decided to settle the matter by holding an arm-wrestling match dubbed, "Malice in Dallas." The event had all the trappings of a WWE wrestling match, complete with trash talking, cheating and hoopla. The winner would get the rights to the slogan, and the loser would donate $15,000 to charity.

Everyone had a lot of fun, charities received $15,000, and it was agreed that both companies could use the marketing slogan.

Kelleher was carried out of the event on a stretcher complaining that he had lost because he had earlier hurt his arm trying to save a little girl from being hit by a bus, had overexerted himself walking up a flight of stairs and had a case of athlete’s foot.

This is a CEO that believes in not taking himself too seriously!

Southwest loves to tell that story.

As a leader, you can use stories in just about any situation. Here are three very appropriate opportunities for using stories: Celebration/Recognition – How many times have we heard a leader say, "The whole team came together on this one. Congratulations to everyone!"? Well, that's nice, but so what? I'd like to hear some stories about how the team came together and how they overcame the challenges thrown their way. And maybe some inside stories from team members. I'm much more likely to be engaged in the celebration when there is some real emotion involved. Let's hear the story!

Change/Challenges – The business landscape changes faster than most of us can keep up with. All of these changes cause frustration and skepticism regarding the flood of new initiatives that keep coming down the pike. While stories don't eliminate frustrations, stories can help illuminate the reason the change is happening. Using a specific customer experience to illustrate the need for change can help employees picture what is happening and, more importantly, what needs to happen.

Training – We have all sat through boring training classes in which an instructor or leader recites a bunch of policies and procedures. Our eyes glass over and while we've "been told," we don't really understand. Stories of employees doing an exceptional job and stories of the results of exceptional work bring the training to life.

We all have thousands of experiences that can provide the foundation for stories that help perpetuate an idea, concept or culture. You simply have to think about those things that have had an impact on you, a customer or an employee. Am I saying that it is important for you to become a good storyteller? Yes. However, good storytellers were poor storytellers first. Good storytellers got to be good by telling stories. That's really the only way to get good at it. I can tell you that a good story for business has three components: the setup, the story itself and the point. The setup tells the listener why you are telling the story. The setup doesn't give away the ending, but it lets the listener know that the story is about having fun or the importance of providing good service, etc. The story itself is exactly that, and it will get better each time you tell it. The point tells the listener about the lesson the story illustrates. The reprimand story noted earlier, for example, provides the foundation for a discussion on methods for maintaining the dignity of an employee while taking corrective action.

It is very satisfying to hear a story that you have told repeated by others. The re-telling may bear little resemblance to the original, but that's okay. Sometimes a story takes on a life of its own.

Sometimes a story becomes part of the folklore of the organization.

That's how cultures are perpetuated, and that is the point. S

Sharpening Your Tools: Six Reasons Why Mental Fitness Matters in the Workplace

“

T

by Laura Stack

o survive, a man needs food, water and a sharp mind.”

– Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner

and World War II veteran and POW.

This isn’t just another article about honing your mental acuity, so you can boost your workplace productivity. There are plenty of those out there, and I’ve done one or two myself. No, this article is about the why, not the how. You may think the why is obvious, but is it? Most people only have a nebulous idea that mental fitness is a good thing — and, of course, they’re correct. But it’s important to know why it’s a good thing in detail, because this makes its value easier to pin down and focus on.

There are always the basic arguments for keeping your mind sharp. It may help you live longer, avoid Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and often aids your memory. It also keeps you centered and protects you in several environmental senses, ranging from shielding you from physical harm to expanding your common sense. But it also offers more immediate benefits to your entire life, of which your work life is a significant part.

These reasons include, but are not limited to:

1

It helps you plan. It’s easier to care about what’s next when your mind is sharp. Furthermore, you can easily consider all options, obstacles and milestones pertaining to a project and visualize your ultimate goals in all their glory. While you can’t account for all contingencies, it’s simpler to address them when you can think clearly.

2

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It makes you more mindful. When your mind is dull, you float through life on automatic. You may get by, but your efficiency and effectiveness are minimal. You’re more likely to miss important things or make mistakes that require repair, thereby wasting time and energy. Mental acuity, when properly applied, makes you more alert to what’s happening right now.

Such mindfulness helps you navigate the present with greater ease. Your attention focuses more fully on what you’re doing and taking part in, not only allowing you to boost your efficiency, but also to retain more of what you’re experiencing and learning.

3

It enhances creativity. Mental sharpness not only helps you plan the future and navigate the present, but it helps you leverage your past with greater facility. Now, you won’t experience many “eureka” moments just by increasing mental acuity unless you deliberately let it loose, free-associating and purposely shuffling through your experience, education, readings and other

learning as you cogitate on a problem. Ideally, it can also bridge the way into the fertile fields of your subconscious mind, where potential ideas cross-fertilize and accumulate.

4

It contributes to mental flexibility. When your mind is unclouded, it’s more likely to let you see farther into your memories and experience; it may also help you see when other people’s ideas make good sense. When this happens, you become less reactionary, more willing to consider new ways of doing things as the world changes. It also allows you to deal better with daily stresses and to survive painful blows, allowing you to learn from them and move forward more easily.

5

It simplifies decision-making. In allowing you to “see” farther, mental acuity presents a wider variety of options when you’re trying to decide on a course of action. Clearly understanding your goals, as well as consciously putting to use well-established decision-making processes in combination. Recognizing the benefits of all the options makes decision-making easier in the long run.

6

It helps build an optimal mindset. Overall, higher mental acuity contributes to your general well-being, providing you with another tool that helps you become your best self. When your mind is sharp, it allows you the flexibility and mindfulness to make the best decisions possible. You’ll also be able to think more creatively, so you increase your chances of surviving anything life or work throws at you.

The Sharpest Tool in the Shed

While physical health is vital and contributes to your mental health, cerebral sharpness is what really matters in your workplace.

How fast you can run or how much you can bench-press pales in comparison to your ability to assimilate data, perform rapidly, integrate well with your team and create new opportunities for the organization. Sharpening your mental tools will benefit your career — whether that means lots of reading, doing more Sudoku puzzles, untangling brainteasers or all the above. S

© 2023 LAURA STACK. Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE is an award-winning keynote speaker, bestselling author, and noted authority on employee and team productivity. She is the president of The Productivity Pro, Inc., a company dedicated to helping leaders increase workplace performance in high-stress environments. Stack has authored eight books, including FASTER TOGETHER: Accelerating Your Team’s Productivity (Berrett-Koehler 2018). She is a past president of the National Speakers Association, and a member of its exclusive Speaker Hall of Fame (with fewer than 175 members worldwide). Stack’s clients include Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart, and Bank of America, and she has been featured on the CBS Early Show and CNN, and in the New York Times. To have Laura Stack speak at an upcoming meeting or event, call 303-471-7401 or contact us online.

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ADVERTISERS GUIDE 2024 FBS Summit Budderfly 855-659-4190

3 23 energy-team@budderfly.com

Buffalo Wild Wings Foundation 17 cstranberg@inspirebrands.com foundation.buffalowildwings.com Campari America 240-367-6137

25 www.campariamerica.com

Ecolab 800-321-3687 Elevanta Health 678-797-5160

21 bit.ly/bwwflex

McLane Foodservice Inc. 972-364-2050

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5 www.heinekenusa.com IB Elevanta.LocktonAffinity.com

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 520-405-1727

31 www.sierranevada.com

The Wasserstrom Co. 800-888-9963

31 bww@wasserstrom.com

UPShow 312-500-9200

19 www.up.show/ICTD

* BC=Back Cover, IB=Inside Back, IF=Inside Front

2023 EDITORIAL CALENDAR ISSUE

4

AD RESERVATION DEADLINE

Nov. 24

PUBLICATION DATE

December

IF lynn.modisette@mclanefs.com

New Belgium Brewing/Bell’s Brewery 910-638-3634

23 www.bellsbeer.com

PepsiCo 732-618-8578

BC www.pepsico.com

Retail Tech Inc. 952-224-4327

9 sjohnson@retailtechinc.com

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6 cbanti@sazerac.com

11 www.elevantahealth.com/fbs

Heineken 770-377-6959 Lockton Affinity 844-403-4947

Sazerac 415-302-0202

CALL FOR FRANCHISEE NEWS Issue 4 is due out December 2023. As always, we want to highlight any news or events associated with our members.

If you have ideas for potential stories, please submit online at www.myfbsonline.org, email communications@myfbsonline.org or call 678-797-5160 by Nov. 24. Our editorial staff can assist in writing the article.

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Cyber security in time for football season.

With customer credit card data, business records, passwords and more, your franchise has valuable information that cyber criminals desire. And with the cost of a cyber attack topping $160 per breached record, these attacks can be costly.

Don’t fumble your cybersecurity. Help protect your business with Cyber Liability insurance from co-brokers Elevanta and Lockton Affinity.

Visit Elevanta.LocktonAffinity.com to request a price indication today.

The Elevanta Insurance Program is administered by Lockton Affinity, LLC d/b/a Lockton Affinity Insurance Brokers LLC in California #0795478. Coverage is subject to actual policy terms and conditions. Policy benefits are the sole responsibility of the issuing insurance company. Coverage may be provided by an excess/surplus lines insurer which is not licensed by or subject to the supervision of the insurance department of your state of residence. Policy coverage forms and rates may not be subject to regulation by the insurance department of your state of residence. Excess/Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds and therefore insureds are not protected by such funds in the event of the insurer’s insolvency. Elevanta will receive a royalty fee for the licensing of its name and trademarks as part of the insurance program offered to the extent permitted by applicable law.