4 innovative problem-solving strategies for bars

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The last two weeks (8/31 & 9/7) we've shared some outside-the-box points from Nick Wendowski from Stone's Beer & Beverage Market.

This week I wanted to surface another important aspect of Nick's operations philosophy: how he thinks about solving problems at his business.

Though he uses these strategies at his beer store/distributor, they're just as relevant to bars, restaurants, snd breweries. Honestly, they're relevant to us here at Brave New Bar/BeerMenus as well.

Here are 4 takeaways from my conversation with Nick:

1. Use data—not anecdotal evidence—to drive decision making.

Though it can be tempting, avoid making investments and decisions based only on anecdotal evidence. Relying only on anecdotes leaves you likely to waste resources on things that aren't actually impactful.

Instead, make space and set up systems for you and/or your staff to rely on data. Mine your POS. Track how often customers raise certain complaints. Ask distributors for helpful sales data. Even the smallest amount of data is worth a whole lot of anecdotal evidence.

2. Pump the brakes to mitigate risk of waste.

The desire to urgently make a change is very real sometimes, especially if the folks bringing the issue to your attention are urgent about it.

But you shouldn't act on big changes until you have reliable data.

This will prevent both distractions and waste, 2 things you don't have bandwidth for.

Example: When a server or customer comes to you with a problem they position as urgent, remember that the sky isn't necessarily falling. Move slowly and understand the problem before you act.

3. The problem you hear about isn’t necessarily the root problem.

Keep asking questions to make sure you understand the problem fully. Often as not the problem you start with is not the thing you need to focus on in order to solve the problem.

Example: Customers aren't ordering a new menu item, so you may think there's a problem with its preparation. But don't necessarily turn to the kitchen first—could there instead be a problem with the menu and customers aren't seeing the new item?

4. Once you've identified a problem, talk to your people about it and how to solve it.

This will not only help you understand the problem in a deeper way, but it could bring related or additional problems to light. And an outside perspective can surface other solutions that you may not have even considered.

Check out the interview clip for more from Nick on how to solve problems at your business:

Why worry about menu design?

Imagine this: you've done the significant work to have an always-up-to-date beer menu. Every single time a keg kicks or a new can arrives you update the menu accordingly. And that happens multiple times a month/week.

But you're not seeing an uptick in beer sales. Why? The up-to-date menu should be helping. You're starting to wonder if maybe it's not worth maintaining the menu.

If this is the case, your issue might be with the design of your menu rather than the content. A poorly designed beer menu can flatline your beer sales. But a well-designed menu can:

• Make your customers want to spend time with your menu.
• Help customers figure out what to order more easily.
• This puts customers at ease: coming back to the menu to order another beer isn't a daunting task. It's a pleasant one.

How can I get a well-designed beer menu?

You could do it manually. How you'd implement it depends on what works for your budget/team, but it could look like this:

• Locate a graphic designer, ideally one who has experience with menu-making.
• Work with them to create a well-designed editable menu template. Make sure they understand the use case—you'll be editing this often, so it can't be a fragile design that breaks if a beer name is too long, etc. It also needs to be editable in an approachable software program, not a difficult-to-use design program.
• Train all necessary members of your team (managers, bartenders, etc.) on how to edit the menu template file. Make sure they practice so they know where to locate it, how to edit it, etc. You don't want them to be handcuffed on a Friday afternoon.
• Anytime your beer selection changes, you/a team member visits the file to delete the beer(s) that's gone and add the new beer(s).

It certainly takes some effort to track down a talented graphic designer and to train your team, but doing it manually like this could be worth it if that's your only option.

• Bell's announced the release of Oberon Eclipse, a fall and winter counterpart to its popular summer seasonal Oberon. Differences include: slightly higher ABV and a brewing process involving orange and coriander. Sounds a lot like Blue Moon to me.
• The Distilled Spirits Council—aka the liquor lobbyists—recently opened a new office in Washington. Perks include a view of Capitol dome and a sleek 200-person cocktail bar. Very glad they'll be schmoozing in comfort.
• A Milwaukee bar struck marketing gold on Monday when they offered free bar tabs if the New York Jets lost. Of course, the Wisconsin folks wanted the Jets to lose because star QB Aaron Rodgers departed their Green Bay Packers for New York this offseason. Though Rodgers got injured very early in the game, the Jets wound up winning, so everybody had to pay their bar tab.