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Sales Goals, Slices, and the Therapy of Pizza

Hello, pizza lovers.

About fourteen years ago, I owned a couple of bakeries on the East Coast. I also had a website, and on that website I had a blog. The blog was supposed to be for “business,” but honestly, it was more like therapy. I wrote about everything except business. I blogged about a race I ran, some political beliefs I had, and I even blogged about opening the door to my wife’s dance studio—which nearly got me jailed.

Anyway… with all this new technology, I feel like I can blog again and maybe even increase business while still getting that therapeutic release. So here goes.

This year, I’m looking to increase our sales by 10% over last year. Piece of cake, right? Well… I’m not so sure how easy it will be, but I’m going to try. After all, I was a director of sales in a former life.

So how do we increase sales by 10% without raising prices? After all, we’re all struggling financially.

Here are my thoughts.

First, I need to find more places to work. There are always festivals, markets, and events happening—I just have to find them. My wife used to help me with that, but now her t-shirt business is taking off and she doesn’t have the time. (By the way, if you need a t-shirt, hoodie, or tank top, check out her store at dancethoughts.net—she’s got you covered.) See what I did there?

Another idea is adding items to the menu, like breadsticks or slices. People ask for slices all the time, but we don’t do them for a couple of reasons. First, the price point. Slices are usually $3–$4, and when your pizzas are $13–$17, that’s a big difference. Then there’s the logistics—prepping and holding pizzas, extra packaging, and managing the flow. It’s just easier to make a 12-inch pie and be done with it.

But what if I sold you two 12-inch pies for $25 instead of $31? That’s a good deal, right?

Then there are breadsticks. People ask for those too. But again—who’s going to make them? If my pizza maker already has seven or eight pies on the rail, do we really want to slow him down with breadsticks? How much would we charge? How many would you get? What about dipping sauce?

Honestly, sometimes the thought makes me want to burn the trailer, collect the insurance money, move to Mexico, and think about opening a pizza place there.

Nah… I think I’ll stay here and figure it out.

Besides, I like when people see me and call me Papi. I like hearing how much they enjoyed the pizza. Or when a school calls and asks me to come back because the pizza was such a hit. Maybe I’ll just use the tools I already have to let people know where we’ll be each day and hope they make the trip for a pizza—and a hello.

Thanks for reading my ramble. Tell everyone you know about Papi’s Pizza. And when you find us and grab a pie, tell us what else you’d like to see on the menu. You never know.

— Papi

📞 443-579-6045

Click the website to see where we'll be papispizzaaz.com

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