Pizza Today - October 2021 - 12

MIKE'S MONTHLY TIP
MIKE BAUSCH
and then you'll have a record of when they've
visited. If you don't do this, your proactive payment
for these techs might be for work that
never occurs.
If possible, have a backup plan for everything
Repairs & Maintenance
Keep up so you don't break down
D
ealing with repairs and maintenance
is a pain; nothing is exciting
about it. It's just something we all
need to deal with. How you handle R&M
indicates how you approach this job, either
as a business career or a hobby. Suppose you
wait until the last second, living off hope;
then this is a hobby to you. If you create a
proactive plan to keep everything functional,
then you are a business professional. When
you don't deal with maintenance or let repairs
drag, they sneak up on you at the worst possible
time, typically on a Saturday night when
you need that equipment the most. It then
costs you time and a half to get the one technician
willing to work the weekend to slowly
drive out to your pizzeria. To avoid this, have
a preventative maintenance plan.
Preventative maintenance means a technician
comes to check out your refrigerated
and prep equipment every quarter. Th ey
perform maintenance checks, do some deep
cleaning, and verify everything is in working
order. In addition, you need a standardized
deep cleaning schedule that your store abides
by to make sure equipment is maintained
correctly. You can get a lot done yourself by
watching resource videos on YouTube, but
certifi ed technicians are trained to look for
things you won't be able to catch. Th at's why
you need both yourself and the technician
consistently tending to the equipment that
allows you to operate and create profi t.
Make sure your preventative maintenance
plan is scheduled out with dates from the
technician. Set it in a calendar every year like
you would a dentist appointment. Make it
crystal clear when the techs should come out,
in your store. In other words, what would you
do if your walk-in goes down? Move items to
the pizza prep units? Bring in a generator? Load
up coolers with ice? Whatever you choose, have
a plan for it that staff is aware of. If something
breaks, do you have a second store you can use
for mixers, slicers and fryers? If not your store,
perhaps a restaurant friend's store? Possibly a
school cafeteria or a church kitchen. Suppose
you have no idea, then start making friends and
create a backup plan. Again, it's a lot easier to
avoid all of this and maintain the equipment
properly in the fi rst place ... but equipment
failures will occur.
When techs come out to do repairs, treat
them like gold, give them a slice of pizza, get
them a soda or water because you want them
wanting to come to your store, especially when
it's an emergency on a weekend night. When
the chips are down, they'll work harder to get
you operational faster if they dig you and your
store. Some technicians are unethical; to be safe,
always acquire the broken part they replace, so
you know you're dealing with a reputable technician
who isn't pulling a fast one on you.
Do your research. Understand how long each
piece of equipment should typically last. Learn
this from other industry experienced people or
the manufacturer themselves. You might be able
to squeeze 10 years out of a fi ve-year item, but
don't expect to, and certainly budget for replacing
these items. You don't want to fi nd yourself
at year fi ve doing tens of thousands of dollars in
replacements that you never budgeted for.
Avoidance of pitfalls is not luck. Avoidance
of pitfalls comes from planning and being more
proactive than reactive. Th e devil is in the details
on repairs and maintenance. If you don't spend
money now, seeking to get by, you will eventually
lose tenfold more when you take the hit on
having to replace items at the worst possible
time. You'll also deal with not being able to
operate at 100 percent as you search out and buy
new replacements. Never be reactive with repairs
or maintenance; proactive is always cheaper.
MIKE BAUSCH is the owner of Andolini's Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Instagram: @mikeybausch
Image via Kadmy/stock.adobe.com
12 / PIZZATODAY.COM / OCTOBER 2021

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Pizza Today - October 2021

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