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 …

The balancing act of control can be elusive. One of my favorite articles read this year was Lori Deshene’s “50 Things You Can Control Right Now”. It was a rare gem I found on the Tiny Buddha Website. While there is much in the world out of our control, there are many things we can …

How c-stores use back office data varies greatly. Customizing your reports is not a new concept. Most Business Intelligence and even some Back-Office tools come with standard reports, but this usually entails data that you can currently get from your Back-Office system already. There are core areas of activity that impact the totals these systems give you that need …

If you break the word insight down to in-sight, the power it gives you is easier to comprehend.  It is easier to correct problems, or avoid troubles when they are known and seen.  While spreadsheet reporting will give you insight into the most critical issues, it can be the little issues that impact the bottom lines of those …