Read Midnight Inventory first!
Now, fast forward many years. I don't recall the exact year but it was probably around 2011-2012. Could be earlier. I was still doing inventory. The end of each month would come and I would still be the one counting inventory. I had handed off other stuff, including other parts of month-end but I was still the only one doing inventory. That means I probably did it at least 10 years, probably more like 12, especially if you count the 2 years I had a store in Atlanta. That is 120-144 straight months of me doing inventory. WHY?!?!?
It wasn't because I had just mindlessly continued to do it. I had actually put some thought into it. I thought it was good thought, too. This is why I had continued:
1) It's important. If we miscount the inventory, our food or paper cost will be wrong. That's bad for tracking and bad for my income. I figured if it got messed up I wanted it to be me that messed it up.
2) It gave me a way to stay connected with the business. It forced me to walk the entire store and see the physical business.
3) I didn't like doing it. That's right, I kept doing it because I didn't like doing it. I figured everybody would dislike it and it was something I could do and avoid dumping on somebody else.
4) I ran good numbers (food and paper cost) and I didn't want to risk that changing.
These are all legitimate reasons. They are good reasons. And, I was wrong...
So, I don't remember exactly why, but a month came where I wasn't going to be at the store on month end. I suspect there was an event out of town that I needed to be at. Tebo had been ordering truck for a while and counting inventory is similar. Just more detailed. So, I asked Tebo to take care of inventory that month. Guess what? Nothing fell apart. Tebo survived. Our food cost was fine. I could be wrong but I think Tebo may have even liked being given that opportunity.
30 days later I had a decision to make. Was I going to take inventory back or was I going to let Tebo do it again....? Well, I did both. My memory is we had a few questions after the first month so Tebo and I both did inventory. I think we did this a couple months. Then, Tebo took it. I've not done inventory since then. Guess what? Those 4 concerns I had, here is how they worked out.
1) We did make some mistakes along the way and I was able to help Tebo learn through them and get better. This is key. I didn't just dump it. We worked through it till he had it well under control.
2) It gave Tebo an additional connection to the store and performance and I was able to find other ways to stay connected.
3) I think Tebo likes his role of owning numbers and inventory and this was key to that.
4) I did run good numbers back then and we run even better numbers now. By sharing ownership, I was able to focus on other stuff that needed my attention and Tebo was able to own food cost more completely.
What are you holding on to? What are your reasons? Any of them sound like my reasons?
Imagine if I had held on to inventory. Would we be better or worse? What about all the other stuff I used to do (pretty much everything from squeezing lemons to washing dishes to DT bagger to fileting...
What could you hand off this month? Who could you create an opportunity for? Don't overthink it. Just do it.
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