A STORMY START

INCREDIBLE CATERING TEAM

and drink industry doesn't suffer as much so I’m currently investigating the commercial viability of this idea.

‘I’ll be visiting New Start Scotland for business support. It’s a great opportunity to get advice and meet new business contacts. I think I might also enter my new snack company into the Bright Business Competition.’

‘OPERATIONALLY, WE’VE BEEN FOCUSING ON IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE STAFF WE HAVE, HOPEFULLY WITHOUT ANY REDUCTION IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. WE FOUND A DEGREE OF WASTAGE WITHIN THE BUSINESS THAT WAS UNACCEPTABLE. BY ADDRESSING THIS, WE HAVE IMPROVED OUR PROFITABILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISING ON QUALITY.’

PATRICK BYRNE - INCREDIBLE CATERING The past three months have been a bit of a rollercoaster for Incredible Catering. While enjoying a boom in business, the fledgling company has faced cash-flow problems as their clients delay payment. Patrick believes this is an increasingly common problem facing many SMEs, but one that ‘just has to be dealt with by ensuring we keep on top of our debtors.’

Staff numbers have been reduced, but Patrick believes this has been offset by an improvement in the company’s processes.

He said: ‘We are continuing to see steady growth of the business, but it’s also important that we are as streamlined as possible at the moment to cope with fluctuations in the economy.

‘Operationally, we’ve been focusing on improving the efficiency of the staff we have, hopefully without any reduction in customer satisfaction. We found a degree of wastage within the business that was unacceptable. By addressing this, we have improved our profitability without compromising on quality.’

And while the festive season didn’t bring as much business as Patrick would have liked – the company’s ‘Incredibly Cracking Christmas Day Dinner’ wasn’t a big as hit as predicted - it did give the company time to prepare their biggest order to date.