US Congress: Do as we say, not as we do.

  If you haven’t been paying attention to the news lately, you have clearly missed the obvious: the American political system is not only broken, but grossly incompetent and corrupt. Over the course of the last several months I have noticed an alarming number of reports detailing this fleecing of tax payers dollars and lack of leadership in Washington. Now more than ever, Americans are looking to our elected representatives to help get us out of this anemic economy, help create jobs, and release our future from the unbridled debt and deficit that hovers and looms. However, if that is our only plan and/or saving grace, you might want to consider what the eventual outcome will be based on hard evidence of greed and self-interest found in Washington today

According to The Tennessean in an article published on November 16th of this year “Congress includes 249 millionaires. The median wealth: $891, 506, (is) almost nine times the typical American measured by income”. That means that 47% of the people making financial policy decisions for you and I are millionaires. In Tennessee alone, just 4 of our  congressmen are worth a reported $138 million dollars. And that number does not even reflect their primary homes because of disclosure guidelines. How does this reflect a representative government of average Americans? It doesn’t.

The more alarming aspect of these statistics is that our congressmen are leaving Washington with “more money in their pockets than they had when they arrived,” according to a report by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes on November 14th of this year. According to Peter Schweizer in the report, “Its really the way the rules have been defined. And the people who make the rules are the political class in Washington. And they’ve conveniently written them in such a way that they don’t apply to themselves.”

For instances, a minimal tenure in Congress allows for lifetime benefits in pension and health care. And ironically, members and ex-members of Congress will not have to participate in the new “Obama-care” healthcare legislation. Schweizer also goes on to disclose in the report that Congress is not subjected to adhering to insider trading laws governed by the SEC, “If you are a member of Congress, those laws are deemed not to apply. Corporate executives, members of the executive branch and all federal judges are subject to strict conflict of interest rules. But not the people who write the laws.” He points out that during the health care debate, leaders (Boehner) were trading health care stocks and making huge profits and during the financial crisis of 2008, they (Pelosi) were dumping their stocks before the rest of America even knew what was going on based on their closed-door knowledge of impending legislation. And guess what? According to the rules written and governed by Congress, all of this is totally legal.

In another report by 60 Minutes the week before, Lesley Stahl interviewed Jack Abramoff, Americas most infamous felonious political lobbyist, which disclosed the fact that a job in Washington is merely a stepping stone to financial security. In that report he stated that “When we would become friendly with an office and they were important to us, and the chief of staff was a competent person, I would say or my staff would say to him at some point, ‘You know, when you’re done working on the Hill, we’d very much like you to consider coming to work for us.’ Now the moment I said that to them…that was it. We owned them. And what does that mean? Every request from our office, every request of our clients, everything that we wanted, they’re gonna do.”

And don’t get me started on the effectiveness of our leadership’s responsibilities to use tax payer’s money wisely. Have you taken a look at the balance sheets, income statements, or projected cash-flows of Medicare, Medicaid, or the US Post Service lately? The last of which has been losing billions of dollars annually for years and just recently reported a $5.1B loss for their fiscal year that ended September 30, while also  laying off 130,000 people this last year.

All of these accounts point to the glaringly obvious fact that our elected leaders have done the exact thing that the founding fathers tried to prevent which was government greed and abuse of legislative powers. Congress has systematically and cleverly excluded themselves from laws that are written for all Americans to the audacious benefit of themselves. They make policy decisions of today based on posh lobbying jobs promised them tomorrow, and don’t have the fortitude to make the tough decisions facing our country’s future. Because if they were to actually lead, and make the hard changes necessary to right the ship, they will become unpopular and won’t get elected. And trust me, getting re-elected takes a dramatic precedence over leadership in American politics today.

Public office was designed to be a privilege, and honor, not a resume builder or investment in future financial security. The media has spent an enormous amount of time highlighting the “Occupy Wallstreet” protests all over the nation. And I can’t say that I disagree with the unrest with Wallstreet. But until average, everyday Americans organize an “Occupy Washington” protest that demands strict rules for the ones that write laws for the rest of us during and after their “service” to our country, America will continue it’s downward spiral into insolvency and economic atrophy.

Until next time…

Jason Ritchason -President/Owner

A Percentage Here and a Percentage There…

Chipping away at expenses can produce increased profits.

A Percentage Here and a Percentage There Can Double Profits

By Sandy Horwitz & Deryk Konhauzer

A restaurant whose gross sales are $3,000,000 with a net profit after operating expenses of $150,000 can double their profits by cutting costs by single digit percentages! For example, if prime costs (defined as all food & beverage costs + all payroll related costs, including gross payroll for all managers, hourly employees, payroll taxes, benefits and workers compensation, etc.) are decreased by 3% and operating expenses lowered by 2%, say hello to an additional $150,000 in NET profit due to a miniscule 5% of savings thanks to good decision-making.

It goes without saying that the restaurant industry is a penny business-some would even say a half-penny business. Purchasing at times can be a tricky game. What if a vendor changes the price of beef? What if the vendor was charging $100 for 8 pounds of beef and recently upped the price to $103? Sometimes, a restaurant operator may ponder, “Is it worth stirring the pot with a vendor over three dollars?” The answer is YES it is worth it. In this instance, the three dollars represents 3% percent of $100. If you apply the three dollars to $3,000,000 in gross sales you have $90,000 that you pick up in profit.

Now let’s talk operating expenses. Is it really necessary to keep the air conditioner on its coolest all the time? Are you getting the best rates on linens and flatware, insurance, cleaning and office supplies, etc? Or do you think with the proper attention you could get some of these items for 2% less? In the context of $3,000,000 in gross sales, cutting the costs of all expenses by 2% will tack on an additional $60,000 in net profit at the end of the day.

So, with operating expenses down 2% or $60,000, plus the 3% pick-up in prime costs or $90,000 will add an additional 5%, or $150,000 to net profit. This essentially has doubled the original $150,000 in net profit to a net of $300,000.

Our clients are disciplined in the restaurant culture. It is not because they are frugal or cheap-it also certainly does not come at the expense of a quality product at a terrific value. Yet it is through methodical management of daily reporting of information which can be an important tool where purchasing and inventory control are involved. Maximizing inventory through the use of specials is a great means of minimizing spoilage, as well as, potentially introducing profitable and more permanent menu items. Staffing is also a huge area of control-especially when it comes to the right vs. wrong time to cut servers for the night.

A wise person once said to me, “if you turn your back on your business, your business will turn its back on you.” Simply put, the tone must be set at the top. Managers should be trained to be cost conscious. It is imperative that they understand the concept of controlling expenses. For example, preventative measures should be taken by management to convey to staff the importance of limiting unnecessary loss, such as the inadvertent disposal of silverware and/or linens, such as napkins.

There are methods we will touch on in future articles that are obvious. Yet it can easily be missed that a percentage here and a percentage there has an impact on your bottom line. And if you have multiple locations, your income will multiply too!

Sandy Horwitz & Deryk Konhauzer 

Pets at Work? Absolutely.

This week at Skyline I learned that our team mascot and my dog, Lilly Mae, has a broken metacarpal on her front left paw. After watching her limp around for a couple of days and then not putting any weight on it at all, I finally took her to my veterinarian, Belmont Animal Hospital -who also happens to be an active Skyline ERS client. Dr. Baker Eadie took x-rays and confirmed the bad news.

What does this have to do with business you might be asking yourself? Well allow me to explain…

When I started Skyline, Lilly was my only companion and co-worker. She would sit there next to me on the floor and look at me in awe all day because in my previous professional life, I could not take her to the office. Now I was with her all day and all night. We became much closer during those first months before I made my first hire. She went everywhere with me. We were basically inseparable for 3-4 months. I’ll have to admit that there were several unilateral, intra-species conversations with her during that time where I asked her advice, looked for feedback for those entrepreneurial decisions, and generally bounced ideas off of her like a crazy person. She never answered but she always gave me a reassuring look and would jump up in my lap to remind me that she supported me, no matter what my decision. During this time in my life she picked me up on days when I questioned my professional move away from the security of my family’s business to start my own, and lifted my spirits every single day just with her presence.

Skyline now has 5 employees. Lilly stays in the office with all of us all day and couldn’t be happier. She marvels at us humans talking on the phone, clicking away on our machines, and discussing ways to help save our customers money on a daily basis. She is always the first in the room to feel/vibe if someone is down, depressed, or just doesn’t have the motivation that day. It is really kind of uncanny. She will walk up to all of us when she senses something is off and will nudge her nose into our leg for a head-scratch or back rub and as nuts as it may sound…it helps.

There have been numerous articles published on the positive effects of pets in the workplace and I truly believe that pets make for a more enjoyable, relaxed, and productive environment. Work should be enjoyable and happy. Pets facilitate those feelings and specifically contribute to a cohesive team concept. Lilly has literally been the glue that has kept us all together unknowingly and through her sweet, gracious, loving manner. Anyone that knows her knows that she is truly one of a kind when it comes to dogs; well-behaved, smart, sweet as pie, clean, gracious, inquisitive but not annoying, respectful, intuitive, laid-back, and one of the best damn bird dogs I have ever hunted with!

I realized today that I wasn’t the only one at Skyline that felt this way about Lilly when I informed everyone that I was taking her to get x-rays. Every single Skyline member texted me throughout the day for updates on her status independently. It was heartwarming, touching, and confirmed what I already knew: Lilly is as much a part of Skyline as any of us.

I write this blog to officially thank my sweet dog, Lilly Mae, for her unconditional love and support for me and Skyline…every single day. She makes coming to work fun and happy for me and the whole team. There is no doubt in my mind that Skyline would not be the same today without her.

I wish her a speedy recovery and hope that she is not in any more pain, as she would do for all of us at Skyline if the roles were reversed.

Me and Lilly Mae

Until next time,

Jason Ritchason -President/Owner