Frequently Asked Questions

About Bevinco Franchises

How long do your clients keep using the service?

Many of our Bevinco franchisees are still providing weekly audits for clients that started seven years ago. Keeping clients for the long-term is one of the keys to the phenomenal success of Bevinco, and our most successful franchisees go to great lengths to keep their clients happy. Like any service business, when you don’t give your clients top-notch service, you will lose them. Technically, our job is simply to give an owner a report showing exactly how much is being lost on each brand. However, our real job is often to help the owner solve these problems and eliminate the losses – and we have lots of ways to do this. If a client continues to have large losses, and you neglect to take this extra step, that client may eventually terminate the service after concluding that it doesn’t work.

After you fix the problem, do they terminate the service?

Not if you have explained the whole concept correctly from the start. We always compare our inventory count to the cash count that every retail business must do regularly. An owner would never dream of stopping this cash count just because nobody was stealing. Everybody understands that the cash count is really a deterrent. The staff know that it is counted and that they are accountable for missing cash. Therefore, they don’t take any cash. If the cash count was discontinued, you can bet that cash would start to go missing – and nobody would know about it. Our service works exactly the same way. If our clients don’t inventory accurately on a regular (weekly) basis, how are they going to know if liquor is disappearing?

Why don't owners do their own inventory control?

Of course, they do try to do so but their methods are usually hopelessly inadequate. The count once per month simply to work out a cost of goods sold percentage. They never actually match up usage to sales. Often these same owners think that their method works – which is our biggest challenge. However, it’s easy using the Bevinco system to prove that every bar operation has a problem. Bevinco has conducted tens of thousands of audits and found that the average loss is around 20%-25%. We have even encountered losses as high as 50% or more! Even in these cases, the owners originally thought they did not have a liquor loss problem. That pretty well sums up the effectiveness of the industry’s standard inventory control efforts!

How much money can be made with a Bevinco franchise?

Obviously, that depends entirely on your efforts. Our average audit fee is about $190 with $14 of that going to royalties and marketing fee. That means that you keep $176 per audit. There are very few costs to this business. Probably the biggest expense is paper and parking! Most people can do 10-12 audits per week after gaining some experience. If you do the math, you can see that one person can make a very good living. Having said that, however, our top franchisees have found that this business is much better and more lucrative once a few employees have been hired. Some of our franchisees have 3 or 4 employees and are doing 20 to 30 audits per week. When you go out on an audit, we will take some time to show you how much money you can expect to make at that level.

What do I get for the Bevinco franchise fee?

• Our proprietary software program that makes the whole thing work
• A month of combined classroom and “hands-on” training
• Ongoing toll-free support from a Senior Partner in your area. Many of our Senior Partners also own and operate a franchise themselves so you are receiving help from someone who understands every aspect of the business, from personal experience.

What is the hardest thing about Bevinco?

For a new franchisee, the hardest thing is actually getting a potential client to agree to meet you to hear what Bevinco does. Most restaurant and bar owners are inundated with people trying to sell them things, from toilet paper to hamburger buns. At first, they just think of Bevinco as another sales interruption. It takes time and patience to change that perception. As you progress and get more and more clients, this challenge becomes much easier. Your business will really take off when you start getting regular referrals from you current clients, too!

How is the service sold?

As our franchising operation grows, we are constantly analyzing what works and what doesn’t. We’ve found that the best approach is to use several marketing strategies simultaneously. Telemarketing and direct mail have proven very effective. Bevinco has a number of direct mail pieces, including Bevinco’s BoozNooz, an industry newsletter that is supplied to all franchisees to send out in their territory. In fact, our head office is launching a program to coordinate all direct mail for every franchisee. They will do all the work for you! Personal calls, either by phone or in person, are a tried and true way to get clients. This method involves some work and effort on your part – not to mention patience and persistence – but it will absolutely pay off. Bevinco will teach you what works best. In fact, we have a training video specifically targeting this task. Most franchisees also exhibit in local restaurant trade shows. This is especially effective if you can get an invitation to be a featured speaker. Another great way to meet potential clients is to join local trade associations connected with the hospitality industry.

Why are there no similar businesses competing with Bevinco on a worldwide basis?

Probably because a potential competitor would need to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop a software program and database anywhere near as effective as ours, and also invest substantially more to hire and train employees to service bars in their target markets. Anyone considering doing that will realize rather quickly that they would be better advised to become a Bevinco franchise! There are great franchise territories still available in most markets.

What objections do you hear from bar and restaurant owners?

By far the most common objection is: “I don’t have a problem, so I don’t need to cut shortages”. We call that the “ostrich approach” to business management, and our task is to convince owners that they have an opportunity to increase their profits by a multiple of our service fees. Because our services are unique, unprecedented, and extremely cost-effective, our task is to educate the market rather than sell our services. This is why so much of our business comes from referrals: our clients see dramatic profit improvements that they wouldn’t have believed possible. Other objections have to do with confidentiality (you will need to emphasize that our services are always strictly confidential), cost (often our franchisees offer a money-back guarantee that the Bevinco system will save them money or the service is free), and Labor “peace” (actually, the majority of honest employers are happier when the dishonest colleagues depart or “go straight”).