Struggling Snacko...

[ViperStud]

OK a little off topic here but this thread should generate some good ideas. I have just been tasked with taking over a hurting Snacko operation. We are basically broke since we owe our shirt dude more than we have in the checking account. Leadership has mentioned that we should just buy more shirts and sell them but I don't think the answer is just to go more in debt, especially since no one buys t-shirts unless you have to or it's Christmas and you're out of gift ideas.

I'm curious what good ideas you've all seen Snackos in the past use to drum up cash. We have the standard snacks in the bar and Friday burger burns, but money goes out fast too since we're running two kegs now and generals are approaching $40 a bottle. Since every shop in the squadron has their hand in the pot, we're struggling. Any good ideas from the old dudes on how to turn a Snacko operation around? Thanks for the help...

[Hacker]

Callsign auction - If your squadron gives individual flight leads unique callsigns to fly with, then convince your DO to make everyone *pay* for their callsigns. You have an auction and *nobody* (even the SQ/CC) gets to keep their callsign unless they pay for it. Not only will guys pay for callsigns they want, they'll pay to make sure their bros *get* crappy ones.

Generates a truckload of cash and costs the squadron nothing. Plus, you can regenerate cash after a year or so by making the new guys fight for callsigns that have been left by dudes PCSing out.

Calcutta - The Calcutta is basically a Turkey shoot, except people in the squadron bet on who they think will perform well and who will suck (like betting on a horse race). You can bet on yourself to do well, or bet on someone else to do well. Winners get ca$h prizes and the snacko takes 30% clean off the top. Again, costs the squadron nothing.

[ 20. March 2006, 10:00: Message edited by: Hacker ]

[Beaver]

Airshows are the best place to make cash selling stuff. Don't sell Bad Dude T-shirts. Get some Korea specials so you can turn a profit.

[F16Deuce]

How about collecting dues?

[Toro]

FINES!

Fine for any sort of buffoonery - appropriate for your squadron ($5.55 fine for anything stupid done at the 555FS, for example). Most fines are for minor infractions like not signing out a flight plan or not erasing your boards after brief/debrief. It's cheaper if you're somewhere like the 494th, but the price gets hefty for more serious offenses - my last squadron commander imposed a $49.40 fine on four aircrew who left classified materials unsecured -- and they paid without one bit of complaining.

Not only do the fines raise money for the squadron (with an aggressive Top 3 who has an eye for detail, we can get about $100 in $3.33 fines on any given week), but they make aircrew keep a little closer attention to detail.

The fines are generally maintained by Top 3 and logged in a book that resides behind the Ops Desk. They are read at the weekly roll calls, and the snacko tallies them up and adds them to the monthly snacko bill. These are in addition to the fines given at roll call (not wearing Friday shirts or patches, not having an RMO, or other breaches of etiquette).

[Guest Hoser]

In our squadron, everyone (minus attached dudes)pays a monthly dues (I think its like $8).

Everyone is also included in the beer fund and coffee fund. If you don't drink either of those, you just tell the Snacko and he takes you off that monthly fund.

Snacko bills are due on the 15th of each month. If you are late, you get a late fee ($3.33). The Top 3 also assess fines for things like not signing out prior to your brief, or not filling out the bird book after a flight.

Hoser

[Mambo]

Foosball tournament - Players pay a small entry fee ($5-$10) to compete top honors. We created a WWF style belt that the winners got to keep.

Pie in the Face - $1 a vote, top 3 vote getters can buy thier way out but others can match it to keep them there. We made around $900 on one of these.

Chili cookoff - folks pay $3-$5 a bowl (with drinks and chips) and winner gets a prize.

[ViperStud]

Thanks for all the replies so far and keep 'em coming! We're doing monthly dues and are coming due for a callsign auction but some of these are totally new and good ideas. I'm looking forward to getting sh!t on tons for the next few months but this could be a ton of fun too...

[M2]

Sell A-10 patches...

Cheers! M2

[Guest Hydro130]

Originally posted by Toro:

FINES!

Fine for any sort of buffoonery - appropriate for your squadron ($5.55 fine for anything stupid done at the 555FS, for example). Most fines are for minor infractions like not signing out a flight plan or not erasing your boards after brief/debrief. It's cheaper if you're somewhere like the 494th, but the price gets hefty for more serious offenses - my last squadron commander imposed a $49.40 fine on four aircrew who left classified materials unsecured -- and they paid without one bit of complaining.

Not only do the fines raise money for the squadron (with an aggressive Top 3 who has an eye for detail, we can get about $100 in $3.33 fines on any given week), but they make aircrew keep a little closer attention to detail.

The fines are generally maintained by Top 3 and logged in a book that resides behind the Ops Desk. They are read at the weekly roll calls, and the snacko tallies them up and adds them to the monthly snacko bill. These are in addition to the fines given at roll call (not wearing Friday shirts or patches, not having an RMO, or other breaches of etiquette).

"2"

That's the way to go. Top 3 should dig it!

Hydro

[Scooter14]

Crewdogs dig patches.

[schokie]

My squadron was in a similar situation about a year ago. A couple things you can do come to mind:

1) Jack up the price of the beer fund. Most people in the squadron only care if you have beer and snacks on hand. If they drink beer and they care about the state of the squadron's slush fund (which the snacko account is), they shouldn't complain about paying more. Increase your prices across the board for everything as a matter of fact. You're not running a charity.

2) Airshows. This is where you make your money as a snacko. Gouge the hell out of those people. Airshow visitors want your crap and they'll pay whatever you want to charge them. You'd be suprised with the price gouging you can get away with. Sell hats, shirts, patches, lithos, whatever crap you have on stock back in the storage closest. Travel around to airshows in the area. When a jet goes TDY to a show, have it take some of your crap to sell.

3) Don't let anyone but you have their hands in the snacko fund. If you have to, go to the bank and tell them to only allow you and you only to access the account. Tell people you don't have any money to spend. Folks that aren't responsible for that money will bleed you dry if you give them the chance. Don't lie to your CC about the money you have of course, but it someone wants money for their pet project for the bar or whatever, tell them to screw themselves.

4) Buy everything in bulk from Sam's Club or somesuch place. Bargain shop.

5) The snacko fund belongs to the squadron. If the snacko is in debt don't be afraid to take up a collection.

Just general financial good sense is the key. Run it like the business it is.

[Toro]

Originally posted by ViperStud:

Since every shop in the squadron has their hand in the pot, we're struggling.

Ditto schokie - tell everybody who wants money to pound sand. Our snacko started to go into the red because everytime somebody organized a first friday, squadron social event, etc, they demanded the snacko pay for it. We changed the mentality on that: first Friday food = task flight members with bringing the grub. Having a squadron BBQ? Snacko might foot the bill, but then the bill gets split between everybody in the squadron.

[Flare]

"But I'm not sad

It ain't all that bad....

And, at least, I can say

I'm not the snacko!"

[busdriver]

here's another idea, when you have that burger burn charge some small amount from everyone to eat, two or three bucks isn't that much but would probably pay for the damn thing. We had a problem about a year ago with people taking IOUs, basically they didn't have the cash on them so they figured they'd pay later, and of course forgot. Basically we announced that the snack bar was closed until we got our money, less than a day later all our dough was back. Figure out were all the money is going and decide what the snacko is really responsible for paying for. Set up a seperate beer fund for the keg.

[Guest KoolKat]

Bus...

That post sounds like your hittin' that keg right now, or at least just stopped.

At least your not bitter about having to pay for your own keg, that's respectable!

Snacko's are priceless...I agree we need to stop F*cking with the snacko's.

BENDY

[Guest bargiel20]

I work in the phase hangar with a bunch of civilians and enlisted folk. We have a civilian that runs the snack bar, but I help every once in a while. But where we make our money is with sodas and water. He gets the arrowhead water from costcos, the huge pack and sells them for $.50. Everyone that comes in is so surprised that it's only $.50, that they buy 2. The cost per water for him is like $.22. So we make some good money there. We also sell milk, which we buy for $.58 and sell for $.75. He also has a whole line of hostess. He doesn't make much from it, but people love it, and it gets them to buy drinks. We also have the monster energy drinks from costco, and we sell those for $1.50, but the price we pay per can is like $1.00. So my advice to you is get good stuff at costco. Oh, I forgot, we also buy lunch meat, like the 2 lb packages for about $5 at the commissary. We charge $1 to make your own sandwich. So as you can see, 2 lb of sandwich meat adds up to a lot more than just $5. If you need anymore advice, you can PM me, I have a lot more info on this. As an enlisted crew chief, I kind of know the food that people want and like.

[gimmeaplane]

Start a rumor that you have a hidden camera watching the snack bar. Less ganking = more profit.

[Dupe]

Our squadron has an "honorary squadron commander" who happens to be a guy who runs an aviation museum that operates one of the few remaining flying Spitfires in the world. He donated an hour flight in the Spit to our snacko fund. Our snacko then auctioned off the ride for $20 per ticket. We made about three grand on it. Maybe if you know or run into someone with a similar hook-up, you can work it.

[Toro]

Today the B-course Lt who runs the squadron snacko closet sent out the following e-mail

As you may have noticed over the past two months, the Snacko closet has been getting thin on supplies and is not making the amount of money it should be. This is due to two main factors. 1) Various amounts of money have come up missing after they were paid, and 2) Each week we have over $300 in receivables and only take in around $100-150 for restocking.

The bulk of the amount collected each week goes to replenish the drinks in the fridge first, followed by breakfast pastries and candy, and lastly the frozen lunch items. Every weekend I make a Sam’s Club run and I am constantly cutting out items I would like to buy due to insufficient funds. My solution is this: Please pay any and all outstanding debts ASAP, but NLT 1700 on 31 Mar. This should permit a full restock and allow me to determine if other measures are needed, such as raising prices.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

That was followed promptly by this 'Reply All' from the Squadron Commander.

Let me translate what the Lieutenant said: “This is miserably UNSAT for a Fighter Squadron. If you walk out of the Shoppette without paying, the cops arrest your thieving hide and your career is over. Big Hint: Stealing from your own squadron puts the burden of discipline on the commander who is a whole lot meaner and knows a lot more about the UCMJ than the services guy who decides your punishment from AAFES. So a few simple, incredibly simple rules:

1 - Pay for the shit you grab out of the snacko bin.

2 - If you don’t have the exact change – overpay or mark it up.

3 - If you are dishonest and cheap – mark it up on my bill. I'm not a fan of paying or making the Lt’s pay to keep your blood sugar up, but it’s either pay your way or spend the time to hunt you down and ax murder you. I don't have the time.

4 - If you are so f***ing stupid that you can’t follow #1, #2 or #3 above, don’t walk in there. Don’t look in there – Don’t ask what’s in there. Get it at AAFES and put it in the fridge in the bar. If you do use the fridge, be careful, someone might steal your $hit.

That’s what the Lt meant to say. Snacko, you are cleared to completely shut down the snacko bin the next time you are missing a cent.

See me for any questions.

Solid support from the boss for the snacko.

Strong.

[ClearedHot]

We need a few more your boss.

[Batman]

Let me translate what the Lieutenant said: “This is miserably UNSAT for a Fighter Squadron. If you walk out of the Shoppette without paying, the cops arrest your thieving hide and your career is over. Big Hint: Stealing from your own squadron puts the burden of discipline on the commander who is a whole lot meaner and knows a lot more about the UCMJ than the services guy who decides your punishment from AAFES. So a few simple, incredibly simple rules:

1 - Pay for the shit you grab out of the snacko bin.

2 - If you don’t have the exact change – overpay or mark it up.

3 - If you are dishonest and cheap – mark it up on my bill. I'm not a fan of paying or making the Lt’s pay to keep your blood sugar up, but it’s either pay your way or spend the time to hunt you down and ax murder you. I don't have the time.

4 - If you are so f***ing stupid that you can’t follow #1, #2 or #3 above, don’t walk in there. Don’t look in there – Don’t ask what’s in there. Get it at AAFES and put it in the fridge in the bar. If you do use the fridge, be careful, someone might steal your $hit.

That’s what the Lt meant to say. Snacko, you are cleared to completely shut down the snacko bin the next time you are missing a cent.

See me for any questions.

Are we sure Rainman retired? That was perfect.

Batman

[Guest KoolKat]

Nice. Very Nice.

EDIT: Maybe Rainman is a consultant now?

BENDY

[ 24. March 2006, 00:20: Message edited by: Bender ]

[Guest Hydro130]

Rainman working for Blackwater these days? What's that?!?

Hydro

[Hacker]

Originally posted by ClearedHot:

We need a few more your boss.

+1.

Was that from Grace, Toro? My hero...