A simple decision can save BIG bucks!

What hidden wastes and costly expenses are lurking within the daily operations of your business? You might be amazed at the simple decisions made every day in your business that create daily product or labor expenses that can add up to really BIG bucks over the course of the year.

I offer for example, a story about one of our clients at Epicures, Inc. This client is a popular and successful restaurant chain with over 250 locations. We helped our client make one simple decision that saved their company BIG bucks every year. The decision was concerning the daily preparation of fresh cutlets of chicken breasts for use in a few of their popular dishes.

Our client had originally decided to purchase bulk chicken breasts and prepare the cutlets daily in their kitchen for use in the evening dining service. This apparently simple decision created a daily responsibility, a job that required two employees and took a minimum of an hour a day of kitchen work to complete.

The two employees had a number of tasks to perform each day concerning these chicken breast cutlets. They had to prepare their workspace for the processing of chicken and carefully clean and sanitize everything. They had to process and cut the chicken breasts while constantly weighing and trimming the cuts to specific weights and sizes. They tried to limit the amount of waste, but it was hard because they had specific requirements in the cut quality and portion size. Not all of the bulk chicken breasts they ordered were usable. Once the breasts were cut, they had to press the cutlets to the specific thickness while maintaining the quality and consistency of their product. Afterwards, they would have to safely store the cutlets for use in the evening service, and carefully dispose of all the waste. Finally they would conscientiously clean and sanitize their workspace and put away all of their supplies. If they were working quickly, without substantial issues or errors, two employees could complete this series of tasks in about an hour. (If they were lucky.)

So our client had made a simple decision about chicken breast preparation that had created some work in the kitchen. No big deal, right? You decide. This process created a two man-hour labor expense. It required two employees to spend an hour of kitchen time, creating a two man-hour daily labor expense. If that labor expense cost a single restaurant even as little as $20 every day, 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year, what is the total labor expense for the 250 restaurants? This seemingly simple and insignificant decision was costing our client almost 1.5 MILLION dollars a year!

Our client had created a huge expense by making a simple decision about how to handle some chicken breasts. Luckily, during a visit to one of our client's restaurants, we noticed this chicken breast process and decided to figure out an alternative solution. We presented our solution to our client, and they made one simple decision that saved their company almost 1.5 million dollars every year. They chose our solution.

We connected our client with an excellent poultry product supplier who was professional and very motivated to help. This poultry product supplier had a state of the art facility and provided poultry of excellent quality. This supplier could provide all 250 restaurants with fresh chicken breast cutlets that were precision cut, weighed, pressed, and conveniently packaged. They could provide cutlets of higher quality and consistency than our client could match in their own kitchens. The supplier could deliver the cutlets when our client wanted them, in the quantity our client needed, at a price that was comparable to the unprocessed bulk chicken breasts previously purchased. Our client no longer needed to expend any labor in the preparation of chicken cutlets.

With one simple decision our client saved almost 1.5 million dollars a year. They also improved the quality and consistency of their products. But what is the catch? What did it cost them to save almost 1.5 million yearly? Where is the hidden cost? What did they have to pay Epicures, Inc. to save all of this money? Nothing.

At Epicures, Inc. we rarely charge for services because it is usually not required. We generate a majority of our revenue through partnerships with suppliers and vendors so most of our services to our clients are provided free of charge. So our client in this example, created a 1.5 million dollar yearly savings by using free consultation services from Epicures, Inc. and making one simple decision.

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