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The Real Costs of Shrinkage

Whether you run a restaurant, a clothing store or hotel, theft is a reality of all businesses.  Do you know what the shrinkage is in your business?  Do you know what acceptable shrinkage is for your industry?  Shrinkage is the difference between what should be there in terms of inventory, and what is really there.  Shrinkage is a combination of internal theft (employee theft), external theft (shoplifting), paper-work error and vendor fraud.  It is a loss of profit.

But what is the actual cost of theft?  Let's say that you sell snow globes to tourists.  Perhaps that snow globe cost you $1 and then you turn around and sell it for $5.  One might be tempted to think that the loss is $1.  But in reality you have not only lost the $1 that you paid for the item, you have also lost the profit that you would have received from selling it.  How much will you need to sell to make up that lost profit?  But that is just the monetary cost.  If shrinkage becomes a big enough problem, the costs become evident in other areas of your business as well.  If a business owner or manager cannot bring shrinkage within acceptable levels, it can mean a loss of hours for employees or increased prices to your customers.  With decreased staff hours, it is difficult to retain staff or provide customer service.  When a business manager needs to increase prices due to high shrinkage, the customer suffers and might take their business elsewhere.  If an employee steals from you, the loss is usually substantially higher than with a customer.  There is little chance of recovering what is lost - this includes both the monetary loss and the loss of trust and sense of betrayal that is created and can put a dark cloud over your whole operation.

So the actual cost of shrinkage trickles down to many areas of your business.  Take a look around and see where you might improve areas that are within your control.  You might take a look at your store layout and merchandising, or carefully measure portions of food that you serve your customers to cut down on waste, or put better controls in place to minimize spoilage.  It could also be as simple as providing better customer service; both externally to your customers, and internally to your employees.  But the key is to know where you could improve and start making the changes to decrease your shrinkage.

MTEC is offering Retail Loss Prevention Training Complimentary on January 15, 2015  

This workshop details how internal and external theft contributes to that loss as well as the best defense to minimize it. Also discussed is the rising cost of theft due to organized gang activity and how to protect your business from this growing problem. Highly recommended for businesses of all sizes!

When: January 15, 2015   

Time: 9:00am-12:00pm
More Info

For more information or to register please contact us at 204-957-7437 or email register@mtec.mb.ca.

Restaurants Canada developed the National Food Safety Training Program in 2004 after seeing a growing demand for standardized food safety education from operators from coast to coast. The program is designed to train and certify employees of quick-service, full-service, chain and independent foodservice establishments to meet a national standard of food safety.

 

The course content covers: 

1. INTRODUCTION TO FOOD SAFETY
2. BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS
3. FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS (Chemical, Physical,Allergen)
4. FACILITIES DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
5. EQUIPMENT & UTENSILS
6. CONTROL OF HAZARDS (from purchasing to service/distribution)
7. CLEANING & SANITATION
8. PEST CONTROL
9. EMPLOYEE & VISITOR ILLNESS, INJURY, AND HYGIENE
10. EDUCATION AND TRAINING
11. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT (HACCP)

This 8 hour workshop includes a workbook and exam. The NFSTP will be offered at our location and throughout Manitoba upon request.   

Who should attend?

• All owners, managers and supervisors of food service establishments.
• All food service personnel who are responsible for the receiving, preparing and serving of food.

To better serve and accommodate industry professionals, we are now offering the NFSTP over two evenings and on Saturdays! Join us on Wednesday February 25 and Thursday February 26, 2015, from 5:00pm-9:00pm, or Saturday February 28, 2015. The cost of the program is $115.00+GST, this includes a manual as well as the exam (70% passing rate).  

For more information, contact SAFE Hospitality, info@safehospitality.com or call (204) 694-SAFE (7233)

Visit the website at www.safehospitality.com.

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Attention Event Coordinators & Planners!

Our upcoming workshop series will be held on January 16, January 23 and January 30. For a registration form, please  click here.    

For more information, contact Fiona Slikker, fslikker@mtec.mb.ca or call (204) 957-7437.

December & January Training

Keep Your Business Profitable - Invest Your Time In Training!

*We are offering 15 complimentary seats for many of the following sessions. Sign up now!

Upcoming Safety Training