Stop Overpaying in Taxes

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This one credit provides substantial savings.

About $1 billion in tax credits are claimed each year under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. Sadly, many restaurants and lodging businesses are unaware of the program or simply don’t take advantage of it.

WOTC was founded in 1996 by the Small Business Protection Job Act to reduce the federal tax liability of employers who hire from “targeted groups” that commonly face significant obstacles to employment. In return, businesses receive compensation for hiring these workers.

WOTC offsets the costs of hiring a new worker. This should be welcomed news for the hospitality industry, where the turnover rate approaches 75 percent and businesses spend $1,200 per employee on training.

Here are five common reasons why businesses miss out on WOTC money.

  1. Failure to screen applicants

While there is no limit to the number of new hires employers can claim for WOTC tax credits, businesses often fail to screen new employees to see whether they meet the certification criteria. The remedy is to screen new employees when on-boarding new hires to determine WOTC eligibility. Doing so can save you thousands of dollars in tax savings each year.

  1. Short submission window

The federal government requires that WOTC applications be processed within 28 days from the applicant’s hire date. Thus, it’s important to identify candidates immediately upon being hired to take the swift action needed. An integrated workforce management solution can make it simple and fast to capture all necessary WOTC information and promptly submit the documentation to qualify for the tax credits.

  1. Unsure who qualifies

Over 20 percent of workforce qualifies for WOTC, and you wouldn’t know if you were hiring eligible applicants. Many of the questions to determine eligibility would not come up in an interview. For instance, three-quarters of the program’s beneficiaries are food stamp recipients. So it’s important to have a system in place for new hires to access and complete WOTC qualification.

  1. Need a tax liability to benefit

It’s a misconception that you must use your WOTC credits immediately or need a tax liability to benefit. Once an eligible applicant is certified, the credit can be applied to estimated quarterly tax payments. You can carry the credit forward up to 20 years, and companies may keep the credits on their books as an asset in a possible sale.

  1. Don’t understand potential savings

WOTC tax credits can substantially reduce the total amount of money you owe to the IRS. You can claim between $2,400 to $9,600 for each qualifying new hire depending on which target group the employee falls under. The only catch is that your new team member must work a minimum of 120 hours within the first year in their hired role to qualify. After 120 worked hours, you can claim a credit equal to 25 percent of the new hire’s first year of qualified wages. After 400 hours, a tax credit equal to 40 percent of their first year of wages can be claimed.

When looking for a payroll provider, make sure they have the ability to screen new hires during on-boarding to determine WOTC eligibility, flag candidates, and can assist you in completing and submitting applications within the required timeframe to secure your tax credits.

About Heartland

Heartland provides entrepreneurs with software-driven technology to manage and grow their business. The company serves more than 400,000 merchants nationwide, delivering trusted solutions for payment, payroll and human resources, point of sale, customer engagement and lending. Heartland is a leading industry advocate of transparency, merchant rights and security. Heartland is a Global Payments Company (NYSE: GPN). Learn more at heartland.us.

The Fastest Way to Get a Delivery Program Up and Running

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Today’s restaurant operators can now use several channels to reach their guests, including:

  • bricks-and-mortar seating
  • catering
  • takeout
  • drive-thru
  • delivery

Digital ordering apps and online delivery platforms have grown the delivery channel exponentially.

Among them, online delivery — particularly, via third-party providers— is garnering the most attention because it holds the biggest promise of boosting sales. Last year, the research firm NPD reported a 20% increase in delivery sales and 10% gain in delivery foodservice visits, many them prompted via digital ordering. A Technomic restaurant operator report showed delivery generated incremental sales for 60% of those surveyed.

By all accounts, the delivery runway remains long. This year, for example, a Wells Fargo survey of nearly 500 consumers who ordered restaurant delivery at least once during the surveyed month found that respondents ordered delivery fewer than five times a month. The survey also noted 28% ordered delivery just once in the past month.

This channel is immature and has a long way to go to become economically viable on a long term basis. The marketplace is evolving and will change until it normalizes.

So if you’re among operators ready to leap on the bandwagon yet smart enough to grasp the pros and cons of online delivery, consider these five issues before signing a contract with a third-party delivery service. Or, more likely, services.

  • Footprint. Is there enough front-of-the-house space to accommodate both delivery drivers arriving with large sacks and dining-room guests waiting to be seated? If not, can the space be expanded to accommodate guests — and at what cost? Or will you have to devise rules for when and where drivers arrive and hang out while waiting for orders?
  • Seamlessness. The issue of seamlessly integrating third-party delivery technology into a restaurants’ point-of-sale system is improving. But that doesn’t mean your delivery service of choice will make it happen for you. Yet it shouldn’t be a dealbreaker if the delivery service hands you their tablet. But be aware that technology (via third-party integrators) does exist to flow orders directly into your POS. Companies that supply it include Ordermark, Omnivore, Chowly, and ItsaCheckmate.
  • Visibility. Images of your food will appear on a third-party’s website. Make sure the photos you supply not only make your dishes look inviting but fairly represent what is supposed to arrive at the customer’s door. Also, a good idea is to first “test drive” menu items yourself by putting them in a car and driving around to determine which hold up best after, say, an hour’s drive-time.
  • Data. Today’s big issue is, Who owns sales and customer-behavior data —  you the operator or the delivery service? For now, delivery services claim it, because in their mind they “own” the customer. But here’s the twist: If the delivery driver arrives late with cold food, guess who gets blamed? You do. And without customer details, how do you reach out and solve the problem? Worse: Ordering off of a third-party platform bypasses a restaurant’s loyalty program, depriving guests of a possible deal and operators of customer data.
  • Fees & pricing. There’s no such thing as “free delivery” — at least not for you, the operator. Third-party service fees may run as high as 30% of individual menu items, depending on an operator’s ability to negotiate a fair percentage. The bigger you are in terms of sales or number of units, the better your chances of negotiating a lower fee. One way to make up for high fees is to raise menu prices on delivered items. Yet check first with your third-party delivery firm. Some are known to frown it.

Blog written by Former restaurant CEO Fred LeFranc is the Founder/Chaos Strategist at Results Thru Strategy, the Charlotte, N.C.-based consulting firm he co-founded in 2009. This blog can be found in the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Magazine – Fall Edition. 

The Significant Role Plastic Straws Play in Health and Safety

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Straws are often thought of as a modern-day convenience, but straws have been used by almost every culture throughout history. The oldest evidence of straw usage dates to Ancient Sumeria. Long, thin tubes of precious metals which were placed into jars of beer to reach the liquid beneath the fermentation were found in Sumerian royal tombs. Evidence of straw use by people across Mesopotamia, China, and the Americas, has been found. During the Industrial Revolution, people used straws to avoid flu and polio epidemics from communal cups used at popular soda fountains. However, no one has benefited more from the advances in straw design than the disability community.

One of the first straw patents ever filed was for the “improvement in drinking-tubes for invalids” by Eugene Chapin in 1870. When Joseph Friedman founded his Flex-straw Company in 1947, hospitals were the first to buy his patented bendy straw. When factories began churning out consumer plastics after World War II, not only were plastic straws convenient for fast-food consumers because they didn’t tear on the crosshairs of plastic lids like paper straws, but they provided a way for people with disabilities to drink both cold and hot beverages independently without worrying about choking,  breaking their teeth, bacterial infections, and allergic reactions.

Most people no longer use straws to avoid fermentation at the top of beverages, or to avoid disease from the use of communal cups. Straws have become a modern-day convenience for most. For people with disabilities, however, single-use plastic straws are still a vital piece of assistive technology that have no current viable replacement. This simple, plastic tube is just as essential to our day-to-day lives as a bowl, fork, curb cut, elevator, or any other accommodation we have come to expect in order to be a fully inclusive, integrated society.

As straw bans continue to pass across the country, the disability community continues to be left out of the discussion even though this is the community most impacted by them. Many lawmakers have passed straw bans with the intention of still providing access to those who need plastic straws, but frequently exceptions only apply to institutions providing medical care. A lot has changed since 1870. Most people with disabilities no longer reside in institutional care. We now live integrated within our communities. We attend school, we have jobs, we go to grocery stores, we have active social lives, we go out to restaurants, and we need access to single-use plastic straws in those places.

While our lives might have changed dramatically, most of the alternatives to plastic straws haven’t. Metal, paper, glass, and even plant-based straws might be marketed as new ideas, but most of these materials have been used for straws for hundreds of years. Even in their new designed forms, they still pose the same significant health risks that contributed to single-use plastic straws being used in lieu of them.

In the 1930’s, the average lifespan of a person with a disability was 23. Today, we have a lifespan of 70, close to that of the general population. While far from the sole contributing factor, there is no doubt that single-use plastic straws have contributed to our increased lifespans. Attempts to completely ban single-use plastic straws jeopardizes those gains. Any meaningful action to reduce single use plastics must consider the needs of this often-forgotten community.

Olivia Babis is the Public Policy Analyst at Disability Rights Florida. She was born with a physical disability which necessitates the use of single-use plastic straws, and other assistive technologies, so she can live independently.

The Inn-side scoop on our Member of the Month

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Our September Member of the Month is inn-spiring! Meet Anthony Sexton, owner of the Victorian House Bed & Breakfast in St. Augustine. Anthony is a member of our newest chapter, the Florida Inns.

While he’s always loved the hospitality industry, managing an Inn is his first time on the lodging side. Now a seasoned innkeeper with 8 years of experience under his belt, he has enjoyed every minute tackling his goals with his wife, Marilyn, by his side.

Anthony truly has a passion for the hospitality industry, and enjoys getting to meet every friendly face that walks through the door. As an “ambassador” of St. Augustine, he always makes sure guests are set up for a successful trip!

Take a look at Anthony’s highlight video!

Know someone you think should be our next Member of the Month? Nominate them today!

Is email marketing part of your recipe for success?

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It takes more than great food to get customers into your restaurant. It also takes a healthy serving of email marketing.

Email marketing is the most effective way to incentivize your best customers to spend more money with you, win back diners who haven’t been to your business in a while, and attract people that have never visited. For example, 44 percent of people check their email for a deal from a company they know, whereas only 4 percent will go to Facebook.

It may come as a surprise that social media is not the preferred way most consumers shop for promotions and deals. Research compiled by Campaign Monitor reveals that 72 percent of people would rather receive brand content through email, while just 17 percent look to social media platforms.

With that in mind, here’s some tips on how to leverage email marketing to keep your restaurant busy year-round.

Collect email addresses

To connect with potential diners, you’ll first need to collect their email information. Embed an email signup form on your website. Sweeten the deal by offering customers that opt-in a free appetizer or desert that they can use the first time they eat with you. Additionally, you can do a drawing for a free meal and ask people to enter by leaving their business card.

Also ask for email information when people order online and make reservations. And when they book a table, ask if it’s a special occasion so you can send birthday and anniversary emails later. Also print your email signup URL on all receipts.

Make your words count

Below are some topics to include in emails:

  • Highlight new and seasonal menu items, specials and themed menu nights
  • Tell the story of how your restaurant got started
  • Introduce subscribers to the restaurant owners, chefs and staff members
  • Give tips on food preparation
  • Show off interviews, reviews and positive coverage
  • Celebrate your customers
  • Provide discounts, deals and coupons
  • Ask customers for reviews and to send in ideas for new menu items

Another idea is embedding a video that shows how you create a recipe in your kitchen. On this surface, this may seem like you’re giving away secrets, but most people don’t visit your restaurant because they are incapable of cooking for themselves. They come for the food, convenience, atmosphere, and quality service. Recipes get people thinking about your restaurant, and eating there.

Emails should always point people to your website and information about your location, operating hours, how to order online and make reservations, as well as details about private dining or catering, gift cards and loyalty program. In addition, don’t forget to create an irresistible subject line that compels people to open your emails, otherwise it will be dead in the water.

Timing is everything

Develop a predictable email cadence without being spammy. Today, 87 percent of customers prefer to receive restaurant email marketing messages at least monthly – and 63 percent want them weekly. For a happy medium, send 3-4 emails per month. The time and day you send email marketing matters, too. Research finds that late mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best time to send emails. The worst day and time are Sunday afternoon.

Pay attention to email marketing analytics to see which emails work best and when you’re getting the most opens and clicks, then use this information to tweak your approach.

About Heartland

Heartland provides entrepreneurs with software-driven technology to manage and grow their business. The company serves more than 400,000 merchants nationwide, delivering trusted solutions for payment, payroll and human resources, point of sale, customer engagement and lending. Heartland is a leading industry advocate of transparency, merchant rights and security. Heartland is a Global Payments Company (NYSE: GPN). Learn more at heartland.us.

Preemption and Home Rule: Why Businesses Need Both

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Lately, the fight between Floridians promoting home rule and those advocating for statewide preemption has been as hot as the late-summer afternoons. Preemption is not a dirty word, and home rule should not be considered profane either. These concepts appear to be mutually exclusive and opposite, but there is space for both. Without diving headlong in Ecclesiastes or The Byrds’ most hummable tune, I posit to you that there is a time for both of these approaches. Businesses will flourish when there is a good balance between preemption and home rule.

The Case for Preemption

You will often find statewide business advocates appealing to our state legislators to enact a statewide preemption on a particular topic. Is it because we hate local government? No. It’s because we are an increasingly interconnected economy. Local businesses serve as the economic backbone of our communities. When it comes to doing business, the factors and variables impacting local businesses do not heed to the jurisdictional boundaries of 400+ cities and 67 counties. If the impact is felt across jurisdictional boundaries, then the policies we adopt need to cross those boundaries as well.

When the topic of preemption comes up, you will often hear concerns about the “patchwork of regulation.” This refers to several different localities adopting regulations to address the same issue but not in the same way. It’s not just a talking point. When companies operate across jurisdictional lines and those many jurisdictions regulate things like sustainability or human resources differently, I assure you the struggle is real. Consistent and predictable regulation makes a big difference as local businesses try to operate efficiently, effectively and responsibly.  And yes, profitably.

Breaking the law and flouting regulations is no business owner’s roadmap to meaningful and sustained success. Our members want to comply and be good corporate citizens. The patchwork can get in the way and excessive regulatory burdens can hinder a business from flourishing, growing, hiring more people, and living its best life. And “best life” doesn’t just mean profit for the owner: It means greater economic prosperity for a community and its citizens. In some circumstances, preemption lays the groundwork for consistent regulation and prosperity for all.

Why Home Rule Matters

But there is absolutely a time for home rule. Nothing so clearly demands and requires local direction as the issue of zoning. Local government should not tell us how to do business, but it certainly has the authority and responsibility to tell us where to do business. Whether designating commercial zones versus residential zones or deciding where manufacturing or agricultural activity should take place, these decisions shape communities. While a local government should not abuse its zoning authority as a front for regulatory overreach, the decisions about where particular activities take place within a community create the structure for communities. Citizens rely on these designations as they make important decisions about their homes and livelihood.

So here’s to preemption and home rule. May we work together to find ways to responsibly and effectively apply both of these necessary concepts.

 

Samantha Padgett is General Counsel of FRLA.

Reputation Equals Revenue

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A few keystrokes on social media can have a powerful effect on your business.

Did you know:

  • Over 80 percent of potential guests read local business reviews before deciding where to eat. Nearly 70 percent trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations.
  • A positive review makes 68 percent of consumers more likely to visit a business. Meanwhile, 87 percent of people won’t consider a restaurant with low ratings.
  • A 1-star increase in online reputation yields up to a 9 percent increase in revenue.

This makes regular monitoring of your online reputation mandatory. These five tricks will ensure your social presence isn’t driving your customers to competitors.

1. Run a search
It’s been said that your brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what Google says it is. Online search results are today’s digital storefront, and you need to make sure you’re creating a good first impression. Run a Google search on your name and your restaurant’s name. What types of comments, news, and images pop up? If you don’t want customers to see things that should have stayed in Vegas, don’t post them on your social media pages.

2. Help customers find you
Make sure your name, phone number, menus, URLs, and operating hours are consistent across all of your online touchpoints (website, social media, local listing sites, etc.). This ensures that when someone searches for your business online, they can find you—as well as accurate information about what you offer.

3. Respond to reviews
A 1-star difference on Yelp between you and a competitor represents about $90,000 in lost sales each year for restaurants earning $1 million annually. So it’s important to nurture good reviews.

Over 50 percent of customers leaving reviews expect a business response within a week. Thus, whenever someone sings your praises, go out of your way to thank them. Positive reviews are a more important purchase consideration for consumers than discounting or business location.

If a customer leaves a negative review, don’t ignore it. When you respond respectfully to a negative review, people are more likely to visit your business. Meanwhile, online complaints that go unanswered make consumers distrust your business. Instead take a non-defensive attitude and apologize publicly to the customer. Offer to find a solution, and invite the individual to contact you to resolve the problem together. When a business tries to make things right, 89 percent of consumers are willing to change a review.

4. Make your website current, mobile friendly
More than half of consumers view websites with their smartphones. Is your website mobile-optimized? No one wants to squint to read a menu or scroll 10 times to find your phone number. Also, when was the last time you updated your site? Does it showcase your current specials and menus? When consumers see old, stale content, they are less inclined to visit.

5. Auto post and monitor content
If you aren’t already using a social media management platform, you may want to start. It’s a time saver by consolidating all of your social media site content in one place for you to review. It can show you which posts are popular, shared, liked, and commented on. It also empowers you to post to multiple social channels at once.

Everyday consumers are window shopping your digital storefront. How you manage your social reputation either invites them in the door or sends them someplace else. Use these simple steps to build a positive online presence.

About Heartland

Heartland provides entrepreneurs with software-driven technology to manage and grow their business. The company serves more than 400,000 merchants nationwide, delivering trusted solutions for payment, payroll and human resources, point of sale, customer engagement and lending. Heartland is a leading industry advocate of transparency, merchant rights and security. Heartland is a Global Payments Company (NYSE: GPN). Learn more at heartland.us.

Introducing the August Member of the Month

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Our August Member of the Month entered the hospitality industry at a young age and has worked his way from the ground up. He has traveled near and far gaining experience in the industry and has made it a point to capture the beauty in each place with his passion for photography.

Introducing Ron Wichowski. Today, Ron is the General Manager of the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center. In addition to being an involved FRLA Palm Beach chapter member, he also serves on the board of directors of Discover the Palm Beaches. When asked about his passion for the industry, a colleague said “Ron makes it his personal mission to develop those around him each and every day.” To Ron, a successful day is seeing his team succeed.

We are proud to have Ron as our August Member of the Month. Be sure to check out his highlight!

Let the Beer Shine – Understand Beer Consumers to Increase Sales

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While beer consumption across the globe seems to be stagnant or even slightly declining, there are certain markets within the beer industry that appear to be thriving. There is the old saying of consumers are “drinking less but drinking better.” Premium and craft beers seem to be responsible for this attitude.

Craft Breweries are small, independent operations. They produce roughly 6 million barrels of beer a year (or less) and are responsible for roughly 3 percent of annual U.S. sales. That last sentence should tell you they are the polar opposite of the major breweries in America.  The big brewers have been around for what seems like the entire history of this country and have survived prohibition.  To think that our craft breweries can topple these behemoths is unrealistic, but they can and do, carve out a very nice profitable piece of the market.

With over 7,000 breweries contributing to U.S. sales in 2018, the next question is “what do these craft beer drinkers look like?”

Craft beer drinkers are predominantly male, between the ages of 21-34 and typically earn between $75,000 and $99,000 annually. They drink craft beers weekly. This is a good start, but a survey conducted showed the above group is less than half of all craft beer drinkers. The remaining percentage consume craft beers several times a year, just not as regularly. The good news is under half of the individuals surveyed said that they are drinking more craft beer, while a third of the craft beer drinkers said they are drinking more in general.

How can you capitalize on this growing market? The following tips might be a good start!

  1. Invite New Beer Drinkers with Promos & Events

Many beer drinkers are intrigued by the idea of craft beers, but might feel a bit intimidated to explore and order something that they have never had before. Create events that allow beer drinkers to explore new flavors. Beer and bites perhaps? The launch of a new craft beer?

  1. Add Beer Cocktails to your Menu

Cocktails are fun and very friendly to the palate. Cocktails also allow you to play with different flavors that might be more approachable for some people.

  1. Market to Beer Lovers

Some of your customers already love craft beers, knowing and understanding what they are about. Make sure you are also creating opportunities for these beer lovers to visit your restaurant or bar more often. Happy Hour could be replaced with “Craft Beer Hour” certain days of the week, or you might just add a special menu for craft beer lovers during Happy Hour.

  1. Make it Easy!

It might be time to take another look at your menu and make sure you have enough craft beers to please all palates, but not so long and complex that it becomes a task to read the menu.

  1. Take it to a New Level

Place craft beers under a different light by creating beer and food pairings or by pairing local food with local craft beer. This approach will not only open the door to non-traditional beer drinkers but will also enhance the experience altogether.

Understanding as much as we can about a new market developing within the beer industry and the types of consumers who are interested in purchasing these products, we can make informed decision and begin to see the benefits of adding more choices for our guests.  Just in time for end-of-summer fun!

See more articles like this in the FR&L Magazine – Beverage Edition.

Human Trafficking Awareness: A Year Long Fight

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The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA) is proud to be a part of fighting human trafficking. Although popular belief is that human trafficking occurs in seedy hotels in crime-ridden neighborhoods of border towns, the reality is that human trafficking can and does occur in many kinds of businesses at every price point. Efforts to spread awareness and much of the media coverage about this horrific crime tend to focus on sex trafficking, which is undeniably important. However, an equally problematic aspect of trafficking is labor trafficking. Essentially modern-day slavery, labor trafficking typically involves crews of workers like those frequently found in maintenance, agriculture, landscaping, construction and cleaning. A better understanding of the ways humans are trafficked and the ability to recognize the signs will help businesses and individuals alike work to fight this atrocity and make a difference, and FRLA hopes to raise awareness for this crime.

How Can We Help?

Florida is the third-highest state for human trafficking in the nation, and it is imperative that we all work together to ensure that our state is a safe and welcoming place for all who visit. That’s why FRLA worked with subject matter experts to develop an online training course designed specifically for hotels and restaurants to educate hospitality workers about the signs of human trafficking and help them know the steps to take should they suspect trafficking is occurring. Because we are so committed to helping spread awareness, we are offering the course completely free to anyone. The response to our course has been overwhelmingly positive, and I am proud of members who have taken the lead in the area by taking this course. Additionally, I commend those who are taking and implementing other human trafficking awareness training. Their dedication to understanding human trafficking will undoubtedly make a difference in the community and help keep residents and visitors alike safe.

While January is a month dedicated to raising awareness about human trafficking, we must continue to discuss this issue year-round. Awareness and education are critical components of fighting human trafficking, and FRLA is committed to continuing the conversation in a variety of ways. We work with organizations across the state to hold and participate in panel discussions and to advocate for training. I am proud of Florida’s hospitality industry for recognizing the threat that human trafficking poses and for taking a stand to say the Sunshine State is no place for traffickers.

Join FRLA and the rest of Florida’s hospitality industry as we work to raise awareness and fight human trafficking in our state.

To learn more about this free human trafficking training, visit https://frla.org/human-trafficking/

This opinion was written by Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.