I am an overly optimistic person. There’s not a challenge I am not willing to take on. A person I highly respect once said, “Difficult takes a day — and impossible takes a week!”
I have embraced this philosophy for years because when it comes to feeding more kids and making my clients happy, I do not accept failure. One of my intrinsic beliefs is: “I will make it happen”. It might sound cliché but anyone who knows me can tell you I love a challenge — especially when someone says it has never been done before!
This was the case when I took over the supervision of all the high schools in one district. I had a great group of leaders but the reality is that high schools are the most challenging of all grade levels! Typically, high school students do not like to dine in the cafeterias. Many believe it’s just not cool.
I faced what seemed like the impossible task of battling the school administration. There were 3000 plus students scheduled into one 40 minute lunch shift. The principal refused to adjust the lunch period even when I showed him mathematically that we faced considerable challenges.
One particular high school has “NEVER” had a positive financial year. So I got the staff together and said we will no longer worry about the length of the lunch shift. Instead, I told them to focus their energies on opening more lines and alternative points of sales.
You are probably thinking we’re going to add labor to a school that has been in the red since airplanes used propellers and horse and buggies were in fashion?
But that’s exactly what we did. We also contacted manufacturers so we could have the latest and greatest in food offerings for the students. Then we started offering some great breakfast and lunch items that were easily accessible.
To make a long story short: we ended the school year in the black and continue that positive financial success to this day. I congratulated the staff on a job well done and reminded them that “the Impossible can only take a week to accomplish!”
Want to learn more about the ICC approach to school foodservice success? Visit our YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/ingeniouscc. Then check out our website for more ideas at www.ingeniouscc.com.
Dedicated to bringing your customers to the table!
Kern Halls
“Chief Innovator”
Ingenious Culinary Concepts
Tel/Fax 1(888)-994-3476
www.ingeniouscc.com
PS: Be sure to pick up our free gift, ICC Spills the Beans: The Trifecta Formula for Sales Success! at www.ingeniouscc.com.
