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Hoteli Kazi Ngumu
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Angelica _ann
#11 Posted : Monday, March 10, 2014 1:03:33 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 12/7/2012
Posts: 11,937
Swenani wrote:
Chaka wrote:
@Swenani,
What if the workers make food on the side(using their own ingredients) for sale in the restaurant and also have fake order/receipt books ?


Impromptu checks are the key

You will catch them. Once you catch one, then you try to be remorseful cheat them that if they say the truth and the people in the chain of eating then you will look into their case favourably. Once sure of the thieves, fire!
In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins - cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later - H Geneen
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Gathige
#12 Posted : Monday, March 10, 2014 2:26:17 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 2,242
Amani254 wrote:
Thanks friends. It is in Wangige at a place with good pedestrian traffic.Have tried to spend a couple of days there and the sales actually go up. Only that I cant quit my day job to run this thing. Those wondering what type of hotel it is, it is a basic kenyan eatery. Samosa, Mandazi, chai, Matumbo, chips, kienyeji type of a place.



@Amani254, the effective controls for such a start-up establishment can be too high compared with the returns. One option would be to get one of your trusted employees there and make him/her a co-owner with some small ownership %. That person will then manage with an eye on better returns and minimize the "eating" by the others.
"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." Goethe
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Amani254
#13 Posted : Tuesday, March 11, 2014 6:45:52 AM
Rank: New-farer

Joined: 3/6/2014
Posts: 21
Very helpful ideas there. I particularly like the control measures suggested by @ Swenani above. Someone also told me recently that portining is absolutely important in such a restaurant. Thanks Gathige too for the 'stake' idea with my loyal staff. Will think through these carefully and come up with a plan. I can see it being profitable in the near future.
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kinyaa
#14 Posted : Friday, March 14, 2014 10:29:29 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 6/27/2009
Posts: 10
Location: Kiambu
Remember,most employees dont buy into your dream.Get one who believes in your dream and let him handle the cashier and "whip" the others into action.
All the best chief.
There is a difference between Breathing and Real living.One is God given,the other is a personal Choice.
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Kusadikika
#15 Posted : Tuesday, March 25, 2014 10:51:47 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 7/22/2008
Posts: 2,723
@Amani254. Restaurant businesses are some of the most complex businesses to operate. This is because there are many variables to control and the trick is achieve a sustainable balance rather than be exceptional in any one of them. The one thing that is however central to the running of a successful restaurant is cashflow. To cite examples of successful strategies:

Visit Kosewe's and see that cash is collected before anything is served. The money is collected at a central location by one person. The waiters do not handle money except for drinks which are easily quantifiable and inventory is easy to account for. Even here note that money is collected first before goods are dispensed.

I do not know whether she is still there because i have not been there in a long while but ask around and see if a lady called Nyaugenya is still operating from the market opposite Aga Khan. If there was an MBA in food business this lady would be the ultimate professor. Go there when it is busiest and watch her performance of customer service, control of money (she walks around with a money bag round her waist and it is the one thing she does not delegate), quality control, you will hear her barking orders back to the kitchen, control of seating arrangements, hygiene and linking up with other businesses around her (you will seat at her table and if you need something that she does not sell, she will have it brought from whoever is selling it without you leaving). She is in charge and the place runs amazingly well.
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Amani254
#16 Posted : Friday, March 28, 2014 10:32:34 AM
Rank: New-farer

Joined: 3/6/2014
Posts: 21
Fully agree @ Kusadikika. One has to personally manage this kind of SME in Kenya. Employees do not care an inch about you.

My friends, I have given up.

Perhaps I should add a chapter when that book is finally published 'Small Business Failure' One year down the road more than an M down the drain and as my single biz permit comes up for renewal next week, I will not be in the queue.

However, a million lessons have been learnt and hopefully, i might recover something small from disposing the damn thing.

Cherios.
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Chaka
#17 Posted : Friday, March 28, 2014 12:28:01 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/16/2007
Posts: 2,114
Amani254 wrote:
Fully agree @ Kusadikika. One has to personally manage this kind of SME in Kenya. Employees do not care an inch about you.

My friends, I have given up.

Perhaps I should add a chapter when that book is finally published 'Small Business Failure' One year down the road more than an M down the drain and as my single biz permit comes up for renewal next week, I will not be in the queue.

However, a million lessons have been learnt and hopefully, i might recover something small from disposing the damn thing.

Cherios.


@Amani254,
At least you tried..many of us are too scared to try anything!All the best..
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Amani254
#18 Posted : Friday, March 28, 2014 12:55:33 PM
Rank: New-farer

Joined: 3/6/2014
Posts: 21
@ Chaka Thanks for the consolation. Try I did and will not be scared to try something else.
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Swenani
#19 Posted : Tuesday, April 01, 2014 10:51:40 AM
Rank: User

Joined: 8/15/2013
Posts: 13,237
Location: Vacuum
Sad Sad Sad Sad Sad Sad Sad Sad Sad Sad
If Obiero did it, Who Am I?
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sparkly
#20 Posted : Saturday, April 05, 2014 12:01:09 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 9/23/2009
Posts: 8,083
Location: Enk are Nyirobi
del
Life is short. Live passionately.
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  | | Edit by user: Saturday, April 05, 2014 12:05 PM | Reason: duplication
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