One of my first jobs, was to sort out the newspaper boys and girls.
The previous owner had worked in the bus industry for a number of years and to be honest, the routes designed by him weren't ideal.
Most of the newspaper boys and girls, tended to follow each other, often they set off in twos or threes.
More often than not, traffic led to delays.
Sometimes, parts of their routes would be missed out by the newspaper boys and girls, meaning customers didn't get the service they had been promised.
Often, the newspaper boys and girls would turn back towards the shop, before getting to the end of their route. Again, this meant customers didn't get the level of service that they had been promised.
- In an effort to appease my customers and build the business, I have split the longer routes in two. They used to be like that years ago and it did work.
- The newspaper boys and girls don't all follow each other now, because I have sent some of them down roads that weren't served in the recent past. They used to do that years ago and it did work.
- I have reduced the amount of 'fingers in the pies', by getting rid of investors only wanting a share of the profits and not being interested in the business. It used to be like that years ago and it did work. This will mean more profits are reinvested into the business, benefiting staff and customers.
- The cheaper, but less popular lightweight bags have been replaced by more expensive heavyweight bags. Although they cost more in the short term, the quality is better, they last longer, are much comfier and are much more popular.
- Over the Christmas period, when customers don't get a service, they don't get charged for one. Ditto when bad weather means we can't give them the service they have been promised.