Don’t let c-store performance problems surprise. Everyone knows that work has surprises and work has problems. The trick is to do what you can to make sure those problems are not surprises. If you are looking at your c-store performance on a monthly basis, you may be well aware of that wisdom. Finding the problem …

Scorecards catch things in a c-store. There are a lot of details to take care of in a C-Store. It is easy to let small details slip through the cracks.  Here are 5 things that slip through the cracks in a c-store that daily scorecards catch: Tank Meters are not calibrated correctly – Tank meters …

If you were to ask someone on the street “What would your rather own, a small company or a big c-store company?”, the typical answer would probably be “A big company”.  Advantages of owning a small c-store company are many. Smaller  companies have a lot of advantages that are often overlooked. First, they try different …

Like many, as I get older, I have to work harder to keep fit. Sadly, I found myself 5 pounds heavier after spending 6 months on a diet.  I was going backwards. Embarrassed, I decided something needed to change. As an analyst, I decided to make a plan. Surprisingly, my personal diet plan reminded me …

One of the surprising things about the motivational impact of numbers. Share results shows staff that you care about performance. Think about it. We know business at some fundamental level has to produce a revenue. Obviously, sales generates the money to run operations. the staff control the output of a store. If you are not …

The six benefits of removing c-store performance unknowns make a difference to your results. A c-store manager knows all to well the concern for a potential result or consequence of the unknown.   They make decisions daily and often without having all of the information they need.  Missing, incomplete or incorrect information creates confusion. For example, …

Problem identification is the first step to solve any problem.  C-store managers use reports, experience, business intelligence (BI) and consultants.  Nonetheless, there are 3 Steps to solve c-store performance problems that are often overlooked. Once a problem is defined, the question then becomes, how do we resolve it.  This will vary on the type of …

There are 4 ways employees win with accountability. I am one of the “doers” in my company. I report directly to our CEO. Tracking my activities is a key part of my job. Our culture expects work to be done and done well. We know how projects are progressing. Further, we analyze how use our …

These days, few businesses  run without some sort of software. Software configuration gives you 2 secret weapons in changing times. It can range from just a free internet email account to a full fledged Operation Support System that does everything.  Selecting software can be stressful, for it is most likely something you will live with for years …

There are 4 ways trending will help your c-store.Dictionary.com defines trending as the general course or prevailing tendency. This perspective is a necessary component or perspective to have when evaluating Convenience Store performance.   So if this is so great, why aren’t all companies doing it? The reason usually points to the time it takes to …

I got my report card at work today. A daily scorecard is not the same as a report card, but there are many important ways it has the same impact. When thinking back to our school years, there was never a day quite as important than the day when report cards were distributed.  A good …

All convenience stores share and print spreadsheets with the latest and greatest performance statistics to let managers know where to focus and what is going well in their company.  However, a single snapshot in time may not really relay what is going on as much as you think it might.  Yes, current spreadsheets will tell …