Filta just launched its FiltaBio service. Once the cooking oil has come to the end of its life, Filta can collect the oil and immediately remove it safely from the site… in most cases with no waste oil drums or containers continually attracting rats and other unwanted issues.

From there, the oil is purified and the majority sent to be made into biodiesel, the safe and environmentally friendly alternative to petrochemical based diesel.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States spends about $475,000 a minute on foreign oil – a staggering number when you stop to think about it. The annual total spent on crude oil imports is approximately $250 billion. The U.S. uses approximately 20 million barrels of oil a day (that’s about 3 gallons a day for every person in the country), more than half of which is imported. By 2025, demand is expected to rise to 26 million barrels a day – about 60 percent of which will be imported.

Consider this: In addition, China’s rising oil demand and imports have made it a significant factor in world oil markets. China is second only to the U.S. in consumption, surpassing Japan for the first time in 2003. Transportation sector ranks first in consumption. Roughly 67 percent of all U.S. oil consumption is in the transportation sector.

About 37 billion gallons of on-road diesel are used each year in the U.S. According to the EIA, reducing demand for oil in the transportation sector will have to be the central component in any serious effort to reduce the overall demand for oil.

Professor Bob Ashley of the Rosen School of Hospitality and Hotel Management talks about the FiltaFry service.

See what people who have been to a Filta Discovery Day say… you may be surprised.  Here they talk about the day, the people they meet and the FiltaFry business.

Having completed the February training course, new Filta Franchise Owner Paul Casarotto speaks about his experience with joining the Filta team.

Definition: a person or thing that leads. A guiding or directing head, as of an army, movement, or political group. – Websters

Recently, while thinking of ways to better myself and my business, I decided to Google the term “Becoming a leader” and the search provided an amazing 48,800,000 results. WOW! It would take a really long time to read through all this, so I began thinking of my own experiences. Although I have only been in business for myself for a year, I have experienced a great deal in my 15 years in the work force. Unfortunately, I have seen more bad than good and it’s a sad reminder of how far we still need to go as humans. My experiences have left me with knowledge of how I would not like to treat employees and what I believe will produce the best results when employing people. By no means am I promising a magic solution to employment retention, but I have found a few key elements that seem to work really well and I want to make sure you have these tidbits I like to call jewels.

Employees are Assets
Treating an employee as an asset is typically the furthest from a manager’s mind. Actually, they are sometimes thought of as a “number” or a “liability”. If you are examining a balance sheet or performing payroll I would tend to agree with you, every employee is a number as well a liability. But when your balance sheet becomes part of your vocabulary, and employees are referred to as replaceable, there’s a fine line that has been crossed and problems will begin to occur. Resentment fuels the desire to sabotage and eventually quit. No one wants that. So what do you do? Well, know this. Everyone wants to know they have value. Not only in business, but in life. It is a fact, we spend one third of our lives working. Why not you as the owner create an environment that makes it the most enjoyable time of their life! Talk with them about where they see themselves in the next six months or year. What do they like to do? Fish, hunt, golf, etc.. Basically, get to know them and see how close the business goals are to there’s.

Create and Adhere to Strict Guidelines
Although I believe strongly in the way an employee is viewed and treated, I equally believe that there are guidelines that must be followed and adhered to. If not, then it disrupts the flow of owner to employee relations and some employees may even find themselves thinking you’re a push over. That is why you should immediately put in place a set of guidelines for the business. Your guidelines should encompass areas such as proper procedures for performing service, van cleanliness, client interaction, language, attire, etc. Make sure each employee is properly trained on these guidelines and two copies of the document printed. One for them to keep for reference and one for them to sign and return back to you. The signed agreement should be placed in their personal file. The guidelines also help to establish a baseline for them to follow, and shows that you will not accept anything less. Lastly, its equally important that you follow these guidelines as well. When everyone is on the same page, taking your business to the next level of growth becomes easier to accomplish.

Generate Purpose
If you were like me I started this business with enthusiasm beyond control. The world was (and still is) my oyster and all I needed to do was make it happen. I had pinpoint accurate purpose. Everyone wants to have that level of purpose in the job they perform each day. That’s what makes it worth getting up every morning at 4am, or going after the business that said “check with me next week” for the fourth time, or cleaning the van and machine after a 60 to 70 hour week. The same applies to your techs. They look to you for not only guidance, training, etc. but direction into the future. No one likes to take a road trip that has no destination……do they? I adhere to a quarterly meeting with my team. We meet first thing in the morning on Saturday around 7am. It is mandatory and they do get paid and feed. I keep them for about 1 hour. I figure my cost to do all this is around $50. That is a drop in the bucket when it compares to time spent replacing a tech.

Be Considerate
These guys you call technicians are no different from us when it comes to exhaustion. They are not robots (although at times I wish they were), they are humans also carrying with them emotions and feelings. I’m by no means asking you to have a kumbaya session each week around the family campfire with them, but I am asking that you be thoughtful of what they are going through. It wasn’t too long ago that I ran all the services and demos. 20 hours a week quickly became 50 to 60. At times I was physically shot and my emotions were less than desirable (ask my wife). This job is hot and dirty, especially in the summer months in the South. Ouch! So be considerate.

Show your Worth
Allow your employees the opportunity to show their worth. I know for a fact that if managers would stop micromanaging their employees they would see a better product. Most people want the opportunity to excel and be the best they can be. But they have to be given the opportunity. As a owner/manager take the time and listen to what your team has to offer. Sometimes they are totally off, but other times they may provide some serious value. Take everything said into consideration and decide if it can provide value to your business. Let your team help you be a leader in environmental kitchen solutions.

Be a Servant
Last but not least, serve. Serve not only your employees, but your community. Sure you can make a lot of money and sit back and receive a check, but what about your duty as a citizen of the human race? We are all here for not only our own purpose but the purpose of others. Although that may sound deep, its true. We have the responsibility to assist others in their time of need, to educate, and the list continues. Things that you can do include charities, teaching, helping at a shelter, etc. one activity I took on this year involves teaching at a local school once a week. It’s a fantastic opportunity to speak with younger people who want to be successful in business. Another involved a shoe collection for the people in Haiti. My family and I went around and asked neighbors and friends to give their shoes as well a dollar for each pair given. This in no way is intended to boast or brag about my accomplishments but an opportunity to empower you and see that it is the little things in life we do that make such a massive difference to others. Reflect on this quote and see what you can do tomorrow for others.

“Life is a place of service. Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

Recently I was chatting with a current customer about business. He was astonished as to how quickly the Filta name was getting out and around the Birmingham area. His immediate response was “you must be doing a lot of advertisement?” For a second I had to think about how to answer that question. Let’s first define advertisement. Conventional advertising is: a paid announcement, as of goods for sale, in newspapers or magazines, on radio or television, etc. – dictionary.com.

This is all good, but as you can see this involves money and I don’t think you need to spend one cent. Instead, I am a firm believer that the best advertisement is simple, its you.
Yes, you are the best advertisement and its priceless. How do you become that type of “priceless” advertisement you ask? I’ll tell you.

1. Get to know your customers. Your business is meant to be a long term relationship with each client. You should be deeply interested and equally knowledgeable about their business and their industry they compete in each day. My background has been Information Technology for the past 13 years. When I got into this industry I was an infant. Forget about crawling, I was doing my best to just roll over! A lot of reading and a lot of time speaking with each client about their business actually gained me an amazing amount of insight into this industry. But I gained so much more. Respect. Friendships. And the list continues. As business owners our job is to yes grow our business, be profitable, etc.. but its also about the client. Having the best interest of your client first and not your bank account will make you more profitable than you can imagine.
2. Get to know your product. Don’t just clean fryers, be a freakin madman expert of it!! Know about cooking foods at different temperatures, learn about oil structure…..know it all! I don’t think I need to go any further, but if you need some help in this category youtube.com has a pile of videos on everything from deep frying and how good it is for you if done right to how oil breaks down. The Internet is your Oyster!
3. Be one of the team! I was speaking with another customer about our service. He laughed and said “ I don’t know what to do with the fryers, you make this so easy we don’t have to do anything but cook in them!” He continued to tell me how “awesome” this service is and that if he had his own restaurant he would have us service immediately. He also noted, that although “Filta service cost them in the short term” in the long term it saves them on costly insurance hikes due to burns, workman comp, etc.. Of course I was grateful for the kind words and am genuinely excited that they get, well..…excited! During that time we discussed proper cooking of french fries and I spoke with one of his cooks about low oil level in a fryer and to it would be best to just turn off the fryer and use another. My point: Im one of the team! They all look up to me, not down on me. AND, I don’t wonder when I might lose them as a client, instead I think about what great service I can offer them next. (Matter of fact, this one client is currently demoing FiltaCool. If all goes well, I will be installing about 100 panels by the end of the month.)

Bottomline: be a team player and you won’t need to advertise, your clients will hand you business.

Enough said.

Its been almost a year since I became a Filta franchisee and the experience has been nothing short of superior. But I believe that my thoughts of joy have been created and did not happen by chance. Anything in life takes time, determination, and a will to succeed. Although that may sound a bit cliché, its true. Over the past year I have accumulated what I believe to be a few secrets to a successful franchisee and I want to share the wealth. Here we go!

1. Set Goals. Life is not life without some goals. Think about it, if you are planning a trip from Seattle, Washington to see a friend in Virginia Beach, VA a bit of planning must take place. Sure you could just say “ Im gonna head east to where the sun rises” but that wont work. Reason being, there’s a lot of east coast and “VaBeach” is a small speck on the coast. So, best bet is to look at a map (Paper, Internet, etc..) and chart your coarse. Although you may take a few scenic routes along the way, you ultimately know your final destination. Well guess what, our live’s are no different! Question is: how do I get started? Yearly I make a list of 10 goals. I then take each and work backwards. That’s right, backwards. The idea here is to determine what things must be set in place in order to get as close to that goal as possible. Take for instance; I want to add $10,000 per week to my FiltaFry business. WOW! That’s a lot! But if you break it down its not so bad. 10k divided into 52 wks is about $192 per week. If your average weekly account is $75 that tells you that you would need to add 2.5 new accounts per week. Right now you may be saying, “JJ, there is no way I can do that”. Well, if that is so, then change your end number to 5k or 3k or whatever you think you can obtain. Remember, be creative. That’s your job, you’re a business owner now.
2.  Just do it!. Yeah, that’s Nike’s, not mine, but is absolutely true. If you have to go do sales calls; Just do it! If you need to email a customer; Just do it! Don’t wait til some day, do it today!!!!! Its easy to get wrapped around the axle doing things that provide no true benefit to your business. Benefits to your business include, but are not limited too: sales calls to net-new clients, current customer interaction (referrals), reviewing technicians service, and Im sure you could add a few more. Bottom-line: If you have a goal know that the only way you will obtain it is by doing the things that are necessary to make it a reality. Just do it!
3. Let go. One of the hardest things I had to learn quickly was that I can’t do it alone. A close friend and very successful businessman told me when I was getting started “JJ, a time will come when you are going to have to lay down the MFU, vacuum, and oil and become a business owner”. At first that didn’t make sense, but it sure does now! In order to have a successful growing business I need a team. As the owner (Leader) my job is not about being in charge and doing the work. It’s about proper training and then letting go of that service and watching my employees run it for me. I know to some that may sound ludicrous, but its true. Let me give you a tidbit of info. Statistics show that upwards of 60% of Americans hate their job. Why’s that? Not enough money? No. Its about lack of growth opportunity and mostly about having meaning and purpose. If you try to do it all, your employees find that you just don’t need them. There is no reason for them to stick around, no purpose. If you let go your techs become your greatest asset. Its because of them that you will have the freedom to sell, meet with customers, and grow your business. Train them on what you know, empower them, and then let your employees play a vital part in the growth of your business, they won’t let you down.

I think that’s a good enough start. Too much and you might pop!
Take a deep breath……….. now dive in. The water is fine! ?

Ryan Johnson stood in front of the camera in North Carolina.  Here’s what he had to say.

The duties of a restaurant manager are varied and this career requires a great deal of multitasking and quick thinking. Depending on where you work, you will find that each and every restaurant manager has different duties in each food establishment worked in. In most, the restaurant manager is assisted in duties by sub managers, or assistant managers and crew leads. On occasion you will have larger restaurants who do have an executive chef that handles most of the kitchen management duties and takes care of the back of the line. However, for a general restaurant manager, there is a great deal of hard work and time put into the job that makes this a very broad range description.

For the most part, the restaurant manager’s duties begin with a heart of customer service. Yes, at times the restaurant manager will be the one that takes care of customer complaints, resolves issues and often, you will see the manager of any establishment out amongst the customers, helping the staff. A real hands on approach is always a benefit to being a great manager, and being able to be cautious and set a good example for the rest of your staff will enable you to do the work that is needed. There is also a great deal of organizational skill needed in this, as managers are more often than not responsible for taking care of inventory, stock, and doing everything from making schedules to analyzing trends in various sales to make sure that protocols are followed.

Being able to have a keen eye for detail is another area where managers must excel. Being able to keep accurate records of foods served, costs, losses, profits and sometimes making sure that a tip pool is accurately distributed is key. Also, being able to ensure that there are enough staff on at all times, and not an over staffing is very important to making sure that losses are kept under control and that customers are kept happy. A big part of this means being able to hire quality staff, from kitchen help to wait staff, to make sure that the employees on crew are reliable, friendly and helpful and that they can do the jobs that they are hired on to do. In keeping with high standards of quality, sometimes a manager may have to conduct certain interviews and disciplinary practices, and this can be something that requires a great deal of strength. Being able to discern when it is most appropriate to take action, and what those actions may be is another area where many managers have to take care to pay attention to detail.

On the whole, the role of a manager in a restaurant is a critical one, and a career path that is very carefully considered and worth working towards. Being able to be self motivated, hard working and committed to the continuing excellence of your restaurant are traits that all effective, efficient and forward moving managers posses.

A Look at FiltaNet
As you may have already heard, The Filta Group offers a vast and strong support network for all Filta franchises to help assist them in operating and growing their Filta franchises.

This expansive support base includes complete in-field training in the operation and administration of a Filta mobile business, as well as intensive instruction in marketing and promotion. Filta franchisees are also privy to ongoing support whenever it is needed via the toll-free Filta support line. As of June 2004 Filta franchisees have access to an even easier and more comprehensive means of 24 hour support through the innovative FiltaNet online support venue.

What is FiltaNet
FiltaNet is the online Filta Franchisee Support Intranet exclusively available to U.S. and Canadian franchise owners. The Intranet offers franchisees the tools and resources necessary to stay up to date on all of the latest exciting developments within the Filta Group. Franchisees can also participate in group discussions, contributing concepts about how they would like to see the brand grow and getting useful knowledge and support from other experienced and successful Filta franchisees.

The Filta Group views its independent owners as a part of their ever growing and rapidly expanding family, and wants its franchisees to feel the same. The FiltaNet helps to achieve this goal, making it possible for franchisees from across the North American continent to come together to exchange hints, tips and general support. Through the use of the Intranet it is easier than ever for franchisees to access one of the greatest benefits of franchising: the experience and knowledge of a strong network of peers.

How Does FiltaNet Work?
FiltaNet offers a valuable researching tool for franchisees working to grow their businesses. For instance, let us say that a franchisee has booked a free demonstration with a Brand X Restaurant location on Friday. The franchisee would be able to access the Intranet and do his homework well before the scheduled appointment ever takes place. FiltaNet will be able to supply the franchisee with information as to how many Brand X Restaurants are being serviced by Filta, what those locations are being charged for services and which franchisees are providing the services to those locations.
The franchisee is then able to post messages and confer with other franchisees about their successes and failures with Brand X Restaurants and get valuable advice. The franchisee can even ask around to see whether an existing Brand X Restaurant manager would be willing to give a verbal recommendation to the manager of the location the franchisee is going to be offering the demonstration to. Once the franchisee has landed the Brand X account, he can then seek advice on the Intranet as to how best to provide service for specifically tailored to Brand X Restaurants’ needs.

Other Features
FiltaNet also provides Filta franchisees with a number of other valuable tools. Franchise owners can access a secure internal e-mail system, a comprehensive topic-oriented discussion forum, a helpful Q&A section, regular news updates, polls and surveys. There is also an extensive online library for franchisees, complete with all documents relating to the Filta business. FiltaNet also provides a number of useful business links, a method of simple online monthly reporting, as well as complete and up-to-date lists of all chains being serviced around the country.