Forward Thinking

I did it. I got a promotion at work and am now the general manager of the store where I work. I won’t officially fill the position until the first part of July, but I’ve already got some ideas of how to improve sales and how to incent the crew to work better, not necessarily harder.

I attended a meeting specifically for managers of restaurants that are located within Walmart stores. Recent construction has put the McDonald’s in the front of the stores instead of at the rear. This puts us in line with some of the other businesses that are up front, such as the hair salon, the nail salon, the optometrist, and the game room. We aren’t hidden away at the rear corner of the store anymore.

This position also puts us where any special offers can be easily seen and attract customers. Being in this better location means that I can offer things like buy one-get one or other things to encourage customers to come in and eat breakfast, lunch, or supper with us. I might also be able to put in a popcorn machine or a pretzel machine for a different snack than the regular McDonald’s stores offer.

I’m getting pretty excited and can’t wait to run some of these ideas by my supervisor. Many other in-Walmart stores are already doing things to increase their sales, and there’s no real reason why our store shouldn’t do the same.

Technorati Tags: general manager, sales, Walmart, McDonald’s, businesses

Right now, where I work, we are giving away some cool glasses, free with the purchase of a large size meal. I have to tell you, offering these kinds of promotional products really brings the people in and really increases sales a lot. In fact, in our small store, it’s hard to keep up sometimes. We just aren’t used to having to keep so much food prepared. However, the promotion is a good one and I’m getting in on it, too, by purchasing the large size meals. I just ask for the smaller size fries when I do that, though, because I can’t eat a large order of them no matter how hard I try!

Pretty soon, there will be the anniversary of one of our signature sandwiches. We will probably offer some kind of promotion then, too, if people can recite the jingle that used to play on the TV commercials. Things like this keep us on our toes but are also fun. When people try to sing or recite the jingle, you get lots of giggling going on and it’s almost impossible!

See, that’s how work should be every day. Hard work mixed with some fun so we are all smiling and it’s not a fake smile.

Technorati Tags: glasses, promotion, TV commercials

It’s only June, and where I live the temperatures are already going into the 90s many days. It’s blazin’ hot every afternoon when I drive to work. And, my car air conditioner doesn’t operate which means it’s like driving a sweat lodge. I leave early so that I can arrive at work early to cool down and dry off before I have to clock in. Yeah, it’s that hot.

I have been thinking about trading cars so I can have one with AC, but this car is so close to being paid for that I really would like to fully own it and drive it without the payments for awhile. It’s usually the way I do things. I get several years from a used car purchase. However, I am going to have to have some work done on this one, including having the AC fixed and a good tune-up, if I’m going to continue using it. In my opinion, it would be more economical to replace some car parts on it and just buy gas than it would be to pay car payments plus gas every month. The price of gas is really what’s got me thinking along these lines.

If I have a little work done on my car to make it more fuel efficient, and I get the AC running in it, then there really won’t be any need for another car for quite awhile. I can drive this one payment-free for probably another two years.

Technorati Tags: air conditioner, tune-up, fuel efficient

Here’s some good news — or is it? Yahoo! is selling out to Google instead of Microsoft. As if Big G didn’t already pretty well control everything on the ‘net from page rank to searches to blog hosting to ….well, just name it and the Big G fingerprint is heavily into it. Now, they’ll own Yahoo! Is there no stopping this internet giant?

Microsoft withdrew their bid when Yahoo! asked for more money. Big G, though, is apparently a source of limitless funds and can buy anything at any price, including the only search engine company I even use anymore, as well as the hosting provider for two of my blogs. Will things change? Not at first, I’m sure. But mark my words, slowly and insidiously, Big G will mark everything with the G brand and effectively eliminate the exclamation point.

Of course, the government will have to investigate all of this first before allowing the sale to be finalized. With Big G’s share of the search market already huge (bigger than everyone else combined), this could push them over the top of search marketing and effectively bring them before US government as a monopoly, or raise huge anti-trust issues. The door is still open for Microsoft to thwart this whole deal and gain a larger share of the market, if they will just swallow their pride and do the deal. After all, who needs a bigger G on the planet?

With all the bloggers who have been shot down as far as page rank goes, you’d think that somebody, somewhere, would have the ‘nads to stand up to Big G and really fight for a larger share of the search engine market. Apparently, ‘nads get tucked away when a dollar bill is flashed around.

Technorati Tags: search market, search marketing, Microsoft, search engine

At one point in my job, I figured I’d just stay pretty much at the position I’m at and just go with the flow of it. But lately, I’ve gotten aspirations to be more in the company. I think my problem was a lack of self-confidence that I could really handle more responsibility well or that maybe I couldn’t learn things as quickly as younger managers seem to. While it’s true that old brain cells like mine tend to be slower on the uptake than younger ones, I am not beyond redemption in this area.

I’ve been working in a smaller store and that has given me the confidence and drive to do and learn more. Eventually, I hope to be a salaried manager. The income would be nearly double what I’m earning now. This means getting more education in my company and learning more about the ins and outs of daily business, especially where employees and profits are concerned.

I’ve already learned quite a few things in this small store. I have a little more freedom to learn and explore the network system and use tools that are there. The whole system is set up so that general managers can make schedules, order supplies and food, and communicate with one another and with higher management in the corporation. When everything is in place, doing these tasks isn’t really all that challenging. My supervisor is confident that I can handle anything they throw at me, which helps my own self-esteem tremendously. She is my biggest cheerleader!

I’ve already run one idea by her and my general manager. They both heartily approved the idea and told me to go ahead and put the idea into action. I think that anytime a manager creates a way to improve the way the store and crew operate, it’s applauded and rewarded. So, I have a few other ideas that I’ll develop more fully and see what upper management thinks about them.

I’m finding that when I treat the store I work at as if it’s my own personal enterprise, more gets done and everyone takes more pride in their work. I know I can’t do it all by myself, so I enlist crew and other managers to team up with me to work on improving things within this store. It’s possible that these improvements will filter out to other stores and be put into action there. For now, though, I’m delighted to be able to just use my store as the “guinea pig” to see how things go.

Technorati Tags: job, company, salaried manager, education, supervisor, general manager

With oil prices at record highs, and prices at the pumps surging not only daily but nearly hourly, it looks like the economy is in the dumper. Consider this, though. Is this a real economic crisis?

Every time we turn a corner, things have gone up in price. From gas to groceries to furniture, it’s all on the rise. These things have always been on the rise. When I was a teenager, gas was .29 a gallon and a loaf of bread was .15. I could get a Coke for a dime and it was fifty cents to see a movie.

During the 70s we had the so-called gas shortage, then later a so-called paper shortage. Neither one was ever in short supply. The “gas shortage” was trumped up by Big Oil seeking to line their fat pockets even further. Gas prices went to over a dollar a gallon during that time. The “paper shortage” was the result of a late night TV host cracking a joke. It was never a reality. Bear in mind that low crude prices are what trigger a so-called shortage.

As I recall, and I do, very clearly, there was much wailing and crying and gnashing of teeth when gas prices went to $1 a gallon. “What is this world coming to? How will we ever be able to buy gas at that price? The economy is in the dumpers for certain!”

Every year, prices rise. Every year you have yellow-press journalists screaming “the sky is falling” and fear-mongering economists blaming everything from the administration to the weather to lack of education. Let’s get real. Prices rise. Period.

When people want higher wages, prices must go up. When people want more freebies from the government, taxes must go up. It doesn’t matter who the President is or what political party is currently running the Congress, it’s just the same song, different verse. And what do we, as consumers, do? We adjust, just like we always have.

From the ancient days when bartering went from one goat for a bushel of wheat to two goats for the same bushel, prices have risen. While some things are out of our control, many things are well within our control. Consumers can help dictate prices simply by not purchasing some things, or by reducing the amount they purchase. In a free market economy, the bottom line for big business is the bottom line.

Right now, unemployment is down. Do you know what that means? It means more of you have gainful employment and are not on the government dole. It means you are helping to produce a more healthy economy for yourself and for the nation. And no matter what your job may be, it’s worthwhile to do it, and do it well. It also behooves you to make sure your employer is profitable so you can keep your job and get raises in due time. That’s the real economy.

The economy isn’t what the “experts” say it is. The state of the economy isn’t dictated by them, the President, or the Congress. It’s dictated by consumers, employers, and employees. So stop your whining and crying about how things are and set about to improve yourself and your job, and the actual business your employer is in. Make it strong and you will help make the entire economy strong.

Technorati Tags: economy, economic crisis, prices

Buying a house is on hold for awhile because I don’t have any credit history. None. Nada. Zip. The mortgage guy tried everything he could to get us a USDA loan to buy a particular house, but in the midst of all our efforts, USDA changed the rules. Before, if you had a good pay history from a variety of resources, you could get a home loan. Now, they also want a credit score.

The thing is, all my married life, things had been in my late husband’s name. Now, I’ve got to build my own credit history. I’ve applied for my very first credit card. Yes, I’m 56 years old and never had a credit card. One is on it’s way now. I’ll charge only what I can pay each month. Probably, I’ll use it to pay for things I normally buy with cash anyway. That way, nothing extra comes out of my budget and I know I can pay it all off each month.

Once I have a credit score, we’ll resubmit for the loan and see how it goes then. All my other sources are good with good pay histories, so that’s in my favor. I’m good with my money, so I won’t have to be concerned about foreclosure at a later date. I pay my bills on time and I don’t mind sacrificing something to make sure the bills are paid. They come first.

I think I’m well on my way to really being a homeowner in the near future.

Technorati Tags: credit history, mortgage, USDA loan, credit card, budget

I’ll be heading to work a little later. Today is payday, although I can’t actually cash my check anywhere on Sunday nor can I put it in the bank today. I don’t trust the night deposit facility. From time to time, things have been known to slip to one side and get lost. So, I’ll head to the bank first thing in the morning, make my deposit, and go around bill paying.

You know, this makes me think - what if something happened to me? Who would pay my bills off? I really do need to get a life insurance policy so that my children aren’t burdened with my bills. I don’t have a lot of bills, but once we get into the house we’re buying I don’t want them to have to deal with that payment.

The things you owe for carry over after your death, you know, and your creditors will look to the next person or persons in line for the money you owe. That will be your spouse or your children.

Technorati Tags: payday, bank, bills

One of the major reasons I wound up paying taxes in is because I simply didn’t spend enough money in 2007 to offset the right amount of income. I’ll have to be more diligent about spending money this year on business related items. It’s awfully tempting to check into buying used cisco equipment and spending a nice chunk of money on it, though I might not be able to use it right away. However, it would be nice to be able to network my laptop to my PC to my printer using this sort of equipment. I think I could be more productive, especially when I’m working on eBay listings as well as my regular blogging.

I’ve got some good photographs of items I will be listing in auctions on my old PC, but right now I have to load them onto a flash drive then put them into this laptop to move them around.

Technorati Tags: taxes, eBay, blogging

I went to the tax guy’s office to have my tax returns done. Well, I made too much last year and didn’t spend enough on business expenses. That means that I now owe taxes. I’ll mail my vouchers off tomorrow and get that bill paid in about a month, so any interest charges won’t be very high. i would have paid it outright today, but I had other commitments for my funds.

I can tell you this, it burns my toast that I have to pay in. I didn’t make a million dollars. I didn’t even make $25,000. But a middle-aged widow with no dependent children doesn’t have any way to get a tax break. Of course, in a couple of months I’ll get my tax rebate, which will be about the amount I owe both in Federal and State income taxes. I will have paid my tax bill before that arrives, so it will all even out eventually.

Technorati Tags: tax, tax returns, business expenses, taxes, tax rebate