Blog posts tagged with 'restaurants'

National Event Supply is proud to be a member of many different organizations that help improve many of the industries that we serve. One organization that we are part of that is not industry specific however is the CFIB (Canadian Federation of independent Business). The CFIB is an organization that represents over 109,000 small business owners across Canada. They are responsible for policy changes including increasing the Small Business Corporate Tax threshold to $500,000, increasing the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption to $750,000, and defeating the proposed mergers of four of Canada’s chartered banks. While these are exceptional accomplishments in their own right, what are some of the benefits for a small business owner like you?

Lobbying

Lobbying is something that is generally reserved for large companies since they are the only ones that can afford to lobby in a meaningful way. Large corporations are happy to lobby on their own or through industry trade organizations that are made up almost exclusively of large companies. The CFIB however gives small business owners like you the power to lobby the government. Individually we are very limited by time, money, and experience, but together we represent a significant part of the Canadian economy. As a result when the government helps small business owners, they help the government and Canada as a whole. Since the CFIB has the strength of all their members behind them, they are able to watch for unfair practices and policies that adversely affect small businesses. They also help influence the budget to make sure small business is considered. Finally, don’t be afraid to tell them about an unfair practice in your industry, they may be able to help.

Business Support

Another great benefit of being a member of the CFIB is getting access to their business support. Many small businesses do not have the time, money, and staff to make themselves aware of all the legal changes constantly happening around us. We focus all of our time and effort on our business and its customers, making sure our business is profitable and our customers are happy. Many of us are not likely to realize that the government has made changes to a law that affects our business. A great example is the change to the accessibility laws for people in Ontario with disabilities. These changes are important for our businesses to be aware of and compliant with for not only our own sake but more importantly our customer’s sake.

Savings on Services

The final great benefit that I would like to touch on is the CFIB gives you the opportunity to save on some services. You can save on services ranging from credit card processing to telecom to insurance. While saving money on services is always great, they also give you the opportunity to save on business skills training. Things like the Small Business Human Resources Certificate, Small Business Management Certificate, and Small Business Health and Safety Certificate. This goes hand in hand with some of their business support as it allows you to ensure your business is compliant with all of the required government legislation.

This past weekend, I spent some time in our kitchen going through our cupboards and making plans for Christmas. I found out that I'm hosting part of my family for Christmas this year, and have been hunting down family recipes, making schedules for cleaning, baking, and cooking, and generally just making plans. I know that I'm going to have to hunt down a turkey for the big day, make perogies for the day before, and bake enough scuffles, shortbread, butter tarts, buns, and stollen to feed an army. I find making plans is a good thing—it keeps me sane.

While I was going through the kitchen, I realized that I don't have a platter that would hold a turkey. The last time I cooked a turkey, it was just me and a roommate and we picked what we wanted off of an 18 pound bird (which is WAY to much turkey for 2 people, lesson learned) before we cut the rest up and put it in the freezer. That won't fly this year. I'm going to need a platter to serve the bird. I'm also going to need a way to deliver the delicious desserts that my family desires and deserves to the table. That calls for another platter. Luckily, we sell platters.

When you see a turkey on tv or in a movie, it's always a golden brown bird on an oval platter. National Event Supply sells three sizes of oval porcelain platters: 18 inches, 20 inches, and 22 inches. They're made of the same high quality porcelain as our Quadrato and Hotelier Dinnerware, and are perfect for a commercial setting. They are the perfect platters for delivering a turkey to the table.

Sometimes though, you want to shake things up. You want to be a little edgy, yet still have elements of the traditional. If you're looking to go a little unconventional, we have 3 large rectangular platters that could easily handle a turkey or a nice roast. The largest of these platters is 12.5"x19", the medium sized platter is 12"x18", while the smallest is 11"x17". While they don't have quite as large of a lip as our oval platters, they'd still be awesome for bringing the bird to the table.

For delivery the goodies to the table, I'm thinking about grabbing a round porcelain platter. We currently have three sizes of round porcelain platters (14", 16", and 18"), so you can pick a round platter that's just the right size for whatever you're serving. Our round platters are just as strong as our oval platters and are also perfect for a commercial environment.

Sometimes though you need a larger platter. If you're looking for a larger platter, take a look at our Melamine line. With round, square, and rectangular options in a variety of sizes, these platters are perfect for serving a large group. They are also dishwasher safe and work well in a commercial environment. The one thing to keep in mind, however, is that you can't cut anything on the Melamine platters as you will leave knife marks.

Top Image courtesy of Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So everyone, we have an announcement: we’re starting a new series on the last Friday of the month, to offer up a different kind of blog post.

Every month, National Event Supply stumbles across articles and blog posts that we think are fabulous and could add value to your business so we thought we’d share them with you on a regular basis!

With social media a mainstream marketing tool to reach new markets, it’s no longer a marketing channel to ignore. But without the right tools and no idea where to start it can be an overwhelming project to tackle. Check out this article on Social Media Marketing for Caterers—which gives you a lowdown on the lingo—and practical tips to help you avoid a social media breakdown.

Via Catersource Magazine

The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) created an awesome and inspirational video entitled “I AM A RESTAURANT.” For a little pick-me-up and entertainment in your day – regardless of whether you’re a restaurant or not – check out this new film telling the story of the CRFA industry and the many ways in which restaurants nourish communities across Canada.

Via The CRFA

There’s nothing better than your phone ringing off the hook but to ensure that you’re customer service skills and phone techniques it never hurts to brush up on your skills – especially as it helps increase customer loyalty, build a better business and increase profits. Rental pulse has a valuable webinar on December 5th – Oh Darn! It’s the Phone Again! – Nancy Friedman, president of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training helps us get back on track with our customer service in 90 minutes.

Via Rental Pulse

It’s a lot of work keeping clients for a lifetime – so often we focus on the new clients and can sometimes be complacent about the existing clients. This article explains how event rental pros keep longtime clients utilizing a range of enticements and strategies.

Via Special Events Magazine

Check back in a month for the next favourite finds! Until then, have a great weekend!

We often get asked what our most inexpensive (cheapest) dinnerware line is. There are many reasons that someone might be looking for cheap dinner plates. Sometimes it’s a rental company looking to do a large event without breaking the budget; others are organizations looking to purchase dinnerware for their lunchroom; others still are restaurants looking for cheap plates for large occasional events. Whatever the case may be, when a customer is looking for a cheap dinnerware line, our go to product is our Pearl White Dinnerware line. For years now we have offered our Pearl White Dinnerware line as our entry level, everyday value, dinnerware line. With the Dinner Plate starting at $1.80 and other dishes having a similarly attractive price point, it is easy to see why Pearl White is such a great choice for large events. If you are interested in adding an inexpensive dinnerware line like pearl white things that you need to consider are the quality of the dinnerware, and growth potential that it offers to your business.

Quality

One of the key features beyond price is the quality of porcelain that Pearl White dishes are made with. Our Pearl White Dinnerware is all made of A/B grade porcelain. A/B grade porcelain is the porcelain grade that many high end brands. Even our more expensive dinnerware lines use A/B grade porcelain. So then what’s the difference and why is Pearl White so much less expensive? The first reason is that Pearl White porcelain is missing the additives that our Quadrato, Hotelier, Ovali, and Polar White porcelain have. Porcelain additives like aluminum oxide make the porcelain stronger, more chip resistant, and therefore better suited to a commercial environment. As a result, Pearl White is closer to houseware quality, and it might not be the best option for a restaurant to use on a daily basis.

Growth Potential

One of the greatest features of Pearl White Dinnerware is the growth potential that it gives you. If you receive a request for an event with 500 people but you only have 100 Steelite plates, it may be financially difficult to justify purchasing 400 additional plates to win the event. If on the other hand you have the same scenario but with Pearl White Plates, suddenly it is an investment that you are able to make. This flexibility allows you to take on events that you may otherwise not be able to simply because the cost of the dinnerware is too high. It is also great for your customers because if a plate breaks, it is only $1.80 versus close to $20 for a Dudson or Steelite dish (depending on your supplier). This potential for growth is perhaps the most valuable asset of the Pearl White Dinnerware line since a relatively small investment goes a long way.

National Event Supply has been selling our NES Reliable Resin Chiavari Chairs and NES Reliable Crystal Chiavari Chairs for over two years now. We've loved them since we first set eyes on the sample chairs from the factory, and our love has not ebbed as time has passed. From the simple elegance of the white Chiavari chairs to warmth of the Mahogany Chiavari chairs, there's a lot to love. It's not just us that loves these chairs; Visitors to our trade show booths in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Toronto, and Montreal have also taken a shine to them.

Recently we wrote a little about the history of the Chiavari Chair (quick summary; They're old and Italian), and did a comparison between wood Chiavari chairs and resin Chiavari chairs. In this video, the last of the three videos from the Canadian Rental Service show in Toronto, Dennis talks about our Chiavari Chairs, explains why they're so awesome, and shows off a stunt he's been doing at trade shows since we got the NES Reliable Crystal Chiavari Chair.

This is the last of our Canadian Rental Service trade show videos. If you found this video interesting and informative, and you have seen our other two vides, you can watch Dennis talking about tables here, and talking about National Event Supply here. We'll be doing some more videos that show off the strength of our Chiavari Chairs and other products again in the neat future. In the meantime, if you have any questions about our NES Reliable Resin Chiavari Chair, our NES Reliable Crystal Chiavari Chairs, or any of our other products, please don't hesitate to ask us any questions that you may have!