How’s Business?

Monday, August 22, 2011

How’s this for a conversation starter at your local diner:

“Congratulations! I see business was up last month”

How would I know?

Easy.

I eat at The Montreal Deli at least twice a week, and usually keep the receipt for expense claims.

That means that at the start of each month (I keep receipts in monthly envelopes) I know the starting docket number.

If I know the docket number at the start of the month, I know the difference in docket numbers between each month.

And that means I know how often the waitresses have presented a bill to a table or to a person.

I eat there often enough to know that the clientele is homogeneous; it’s in a quiet part of town, frequented by regulars. It’s not near the convention centre downtown, or alongside a major highway outlet mall.

So the number of dockets is a fair representation of business levels.

Now the same applies to Bruno’s and McDonalds , right across the street from me.

If I wanted to pitch to them, a few months of “two apples” or “$1 coffees” gets me all the data I need to keep an eye on them.

What retail area would you like to process? Here’s an insight into how things are going on.

• Your local pizza parlor?

• Florists shop?

• Dollar store?

They all give you quantified data.

Pretty well for free!

Talk to Me !

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