This podcast is for multi-unit managers, new and tenured. You're always on the road between stores and cities. Why not put your critical thinking and creativity to work during this time? Let's drive down this road together.
The Fool Didn't Know It Was Impossible, So He Did It
Hello, everybody. Welcome to C-Store Center. My name is Mike Hernandez, and I will be your host. If you are listening, you found this podcast. That makes me happy. Please let your coworkers or colleagues know about C-Store Center. While there are other podcasts, you will not find job-specific content for the different employee positions related to convenience store operations anywhere else. C-Store Center is an original.
This first episode will be different from the ones that follow in terms of content, writing style, length of the episode, and even how my voice sounds. I plan to leverage my experience, knowledge, and education, along with the available technological resources, to accelerate the learning and development of store-level employees worldwide. I aim to provide you with as many helpful episodes as possible in short bursts so you can listen on your way to work or while taking a smoke break.
About Me
Now, about the experience and tools. I started working in the convenience store industry in June 1992 for Stop-N-Go in the San Antonio, Texas market. It was on the graveyard shift, where many employees usually start. It was supposed to be a job until I could get a better job. It didn't work out that way because I got pulled in deeper and deeper.
Everywhere I turned, I saw unbelievable amounts of opportunity. A person just had to be willing to put in the work. I certainly was. For the first twelve years of my career, I operated with the mindset of "Just go out and take what you want!" That's one of the things I love about the industry. There are plenty of opportunities. I want to prepare you to seize them!
I worked up through the ranks, as many people have. When I reached the level of District Manager, I set my sights on attaining the position commonly called Division Manager/Operations Manager. Four years into my quest, things changed, and I had to pivot. Companies started asking for/requiring a college degree to advance. I didn't have one. Although I first attended college in the Spring of 1987, I had yet to finish, and it returned to haunt me.
Up to this point, I had enrolled at various colleges and completed a semester at a time. Work and life always seemed to get in my way. Can you relate? In 2009, I committed to earning my Bachelor's degree online at Ashford University when I worked for Flying J in Joplin, Missouri. I completed the Business Administration program at the end of 2012. That's right! It took me 25 years to earn a degree. I always tell people I was on the Lucas plan.
I would go on to earn an MBA specializing in Human Resources while running a group of 11 stores in Eastern Tennessee for a company called Roadrunner Markets. It was there that I met a man named David Hite. He had been hired on as a training manager for our organization. David had earned a similar degree many years earlier, making for great conversations and brainstorming sessions. This was in 2015.
I understood that a Masters's degree qualified me to work as an adjunct professor at a university. I learned that when I volunteered on the Tsaille Community College Advisory Board Council when I worked on the Navajo Reservation between 2011 and 2013. The thought occurred to me. Why not become a Professor of Convenience Store Retail Operations and give back to the industry by helping to develop talent for it? Sounded easy. It's been anything but.
To do this properly, I sought additional training and the proper credentials. My goal was to design, develop and administer training by understanding adult learning theory and utilizing the latest technology to reach as many employees as possible. Also, the training needed to set the benchmark for the industry.
I left the industry and invested in a master's degree in teaching and Learning with Technology. I became a high school teacher to gain experience developing learning objectives and creating lesson plans for different learning styles. It's what I currently do now.
So why am I sharing all of this? I want to make sure that every person, employee, and decision-maker in every country where convenience stores operate understands that I have put a lot of thought and effort into this endeavor. I'm not jumping in on the current fad of TikToking. This is not a fly-by-night attempt to grab as much cash as possible, another trend.
This is my purpose in life, and I am committed to happily developing global convenience store talent until I keel over and die. This is about being prepared to help others, giving back to the industry, and making a proactive attempt to change the sink-or-swim approach that consistently results in an industry average turnover of around 120%.
About the Industry
As of the time of this writing, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACs), there are 150,174 convenience stores in the United States. Ninety thousand four hundred twenty-three of these locations are single-store operators. From my personal experience, there are always stores down a manager. There are always stores that still need an assistant manager in place, and there is always, and I mean always, an employee in every store that wants to learn more to get promoted and earn more money.
Before Covid, convenience stores grew by 1 to 1.5% annually. If this trend stays true in 2023, there should be close to 152,000 C-stores by the end of the year. Granted, changes in the economy and the geopolitical landscape could blunt that growth. Time will tell.
If the trend continues, attracting and retaining employees will get more challenging. More stores mean more employees needed to operate them. Another variable to consider is the trend of people choosing not to have children. According to Statista, the population of 0-14 has dropped from 19.74% in 2011 to 18.24% in 2021. Yes, Mike. But what about self-checkouts?" you ask." Touche!" I say.
They will help differentiate your offering from your competitors, but you'll still need employees to help your customers, stock your shelves, and stock your talent bench to keep up with the growth in the industry. While we can't always predict the future, we can become experts in our field. We can stay up-to-date with industry trends and technology to get out of the gate faster and stay ahead of the field.
About the Training
In 2003, I was interviewing for a Food Service Territory Manager position. I was not the most qualified concerning food service knowledge, but I was confident I could close the gap. The most qualified person worked for me. Despite my efforts to talk him into taking the position, he wasn't interested because he didn't want to travel.
I was interviewing with the Senior V.P. of Food Service Operations, and he asked me something to the effect of "How will you make sure that all of the kitchen ladies in all of the stores are going to be trained to execute directives properly?" Without hesitation but with plenty of conviction, I answered, "By training and developing each of them during my visits, including the kitchen manager. That approach would ensure that everyone was getting the same message. Accountability and results would improve." He told me that was the wrong answer. The Food Service Territory Manager was supposed to work on training and developing only the kitchen manager. I did not get the position but I knew I was onto something then. I was already doing that in my district and consistently getting good results. Time has since proven that this approach will work.
Soon after that interview, "somebody" had this idea that district managers needed to review important information with every store employee to personally, you guessed it, ensure that everyone was getting the same message so that results could improve. People interpret and learn differently. Fast-forward to the present. Everything is personalized. Everyone has access to everything. Well, almost everything. There needs to be more job-specific training information for employees who work in convenience stores. There's about to be.
Investing in Job Skills Reduces Turnover
In my first role as a store manager for Stop-N-Go in 1994, I stumbled upon a realization after finally getting staffed. My first promotion was to a 24-hour store with one employee. I quickly understood that people love doing things they are good at. The better they get at something, the more they love it. It's a cycle. The opposite also applies. Untrained employees hate their jobs. Train your employees to improve their job performance, and they will love grow to love their jobs. Within six months, all my employees were trained and capable of doing the assistant manager job. I had time to work on the details of my business, which quickly catapulted me past all the managers in my district. When I moved into a bigger, busier store, it did not create hardship for my boss or my old staff. Someone from my team filled the position well.
Smoke Break Sessions
Working in a convenience store keeps everybody busy. Who has time to sit at a computer and watch computer-based training modules for hours? Employees, assistant managers, store managers, and even district managers should have access to training content that they can read while they grab a quick smoke break or restroom break. They should then be able to go back into their work enivronments and apply it so that the knowledge transfers into something measurable and beneficial. Isn't that the point of training? Isn't that what you are hoping for when investing in training?
Informal Learning
Most of the learning we do as adults comes from informal learning. We do not have to sit at a computer for hours and take a test. This type of training can lead to cognitive overload, distraction, and boredom. Reading, watching, or listening to short bursts of content can help avoid those obstacles. When used with actionable steps that can be executed immediately, knowledge is more likely to transfer into skills. Skills, when practiced regularly, become habits. Habits produce outcomes.
Supplemental Training
I want to make something very clear to all decision-makers listening. In many cases, the training content I provide will be supplemental. It will not conflict with your policies or procedures. In equally as many, the content I provide will be the primary training program. Many C-store companies offer excellent training programs for their employees. Not all do. The challenge for employees working for those organizations is that several obstacles/gatekeepers must be cleared before an employee can access said training.
Companies need to have training programs aside from compliance. Budgeting for training isn’t always a priority because the results are sometimes difficult to quantify. In many cases, there isn’t a budget. Time and resources are other obstacles. Organizations expect their leaders and managers to train and develop their employees. As much as those leaders and managers would like to, they don’t always have the time, patience, or ability to do so. Employees working for these companies can’t get access to training from good companies. Nobody wants to train their competitors.
This is where I can help. I will provide job-specific training content daily in digestible pieces for sales associates, assistant managers, store managers, district managers, and independent convenience store owners. This will be in the form of a daily no-thrills post. At times, there will be an accompanying checklist or exercise the person can print and complete. At other times, a short video demonstrates using Word, Excel, or PowerPoint to collect, interpret, and utilize data to make better decisions or effective presentations. Think P&L/Business Reviews Multi-Unit and Operations Managers.
Also, I will utilize audio files for the drive to and from work. Audio files can be an effective way for managers to learn or stay informed while doing paperwork or counting money in the back office. Oh, and D.M.'s, it’s a great way to learn, reflect, remind, reinforce, and give you something to focus on as you drive between locations to make your daily rounds. To everyone listening, let me take care of your training needs so that you can focus on getting better results.
Dive for Sales Associates
Dive is my entry-level program. It is meant to help new employees and sales associates dive in and learn the business. As such, the focus will be on the role and responsibilities of the position. Many new employees start working the graveyard shift. They rarely have access to training content. I'm thinking about that employee working the overnight shift at a convenience store anywhere in the world. I'll always have something for you to learn or think about. Something that will push you closer to being confident in your ability to do your job well. Something that will move you closer to earning a promotion much sooner.
For just $9.99 a month, you will receive a piece of content daily that will increase your value. That’s a little more than just .30 cents a day. If you stay in the program for a year, you will spend $120. If you get a .50 cent raise when you are promoted to assistant manager, over the course of one year, your annual income will increase by $1,000. Your return on your investment would be 733%. If you received a $1 raise, your return would be 1566%. Your employer may pay the fee or reimburse you when you've demonstrated what you learned. That would be the smart thing to do. Did I mention that you can interact and network with others in the industry?
Survive for Assistant Managers/Struggling Managers
Survive is for assistant managers who want to be promoted to store managers and for new managers struggling to stay afloat. Too often, employees wanting to help get thrown into positions without proper preparation. This is a sink-or-swim industry. Despite their best efforts, they get frustrated and quit or overwhelmed and fired. Often, people are unwilling to step up because they know what happens to store managers in their company.
For $19.99 a month, you can take your time and learn the necessary skills and knowledge to get a store manager position and keep it. You will receive a piece of content daily that will increase your value for a little less than just .70 cents a day. If you stay in the program for an entire year, you will spend $240. While providing a specific return on investment without knowing your current rate and your company's starting salary for managers is difficult, your return will be as astronomical as that of a sales associate investing in Dive, especially if your organization reimburses you. You will also unlock medical benefits and bonus potential in most cases.
Thrive for Store Managers
The great American poet Maya Angelou once wrote, "To survive is necessary. To thrive is elegant." Thrive is for store managers who want to learn how to run their stores smoothly and establish work/life balance. It's about leveraging your resources and spending time on the details that will maximize your bonuses and position you to get promoted to a supervisor/district manager position.
For $29.99 a month, you can learn the necessary skills and knowledge to drill down into the details and take your performance and leadership to another level. You will receive content daily that will increase your value for $1 a day. If you stay in the program for an entire year, you will spend $360. While it is difficult to provide a specific return on investment without knowing your current rate and your company's bonus program or starting salary for district managers, the return on your investment will be measured in more than just dollars.
Drive for District Managers
Drive is for district managers, new and tenured. It's quite the challenge going from being responsible for one store to multiple stores. Like bugs to a windshield, everything will come at you fast. You'll have much to consider and react to as your drive from location to location. I hate learning curves so I want to help shorten those for as many people as possible.
For $39.99 a month, you will get access to content specific to your daily challenges. You'll learn new things, develop your critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills, and improve your presentation skills for those nerve-racking P&L presentations/Business Reviews. The drive will help you get out of the starting gate faster and stay at the head of the pack. Build your network and start to carve out your name in the industry.
Arrive for Independent Store Owners
Congratulations! You've arrived. You are now the proud owner of your first convenience store. The question is, how do you operate it efficiently as painlessly as possible to maximize profit? Pretty daunting, right? Especially when you do not have access to the tools and resources that the big companies use. It doesn't have to be. Let me guide you through the daily operations so that you can enjoy the benefits of ownership.
For $49.99 a month, you will get daily content to make you aware of the different aspects and considerations of convenience stores daily. That's about what a 15-minute session with a consultant would cost you. Properly executing one of the daily posts will cover the entire annual membership cost. You'll have 365 opportunities a year to perform and recoup your investment.
Strive for Independent Store Owners
You had a vision when you bought your first store. You got your feet wet and mastered managing one location. Now, you want more. More sites, more employees, more knowledge, more leverage, more brand recognition, more of the C-store pie. You'll have processes, procedures, uniformity, and consistency in place so that you can scale and acquire more stores.
For $99.99 a month, you can access daily content that will prepare you to grow and manage multiple locations. I'll introduce you to content in areas such as Strategic Planning, Leadership, Human Resources, Marketing, Information Management, Technology, and other topics similar to courses you'd enroll in at your local or online college. Finally, you'll have access to any classes, ebooks, documents, and forms as I create them, which you can add to your library. I can watermark documents and forms with your company logo or add your company name at the bottom or top of the pages.
Conclusion
If you are still with me, thank you. I would like you to know that this is unchartered territory. There is nothing like this in the world of convenience stores, and I am just getting started. I have a lot of ideas that will positively impact careers and industry. I am one person. I don’t have investors or sponsors. I need your support to be able to do this full-time. I think the pricing structure is affordable and equitable for everyone.
If you're an independent owner, I've provided much content in my private Facebook group called C-Store Center. There is much content to look at before you decide if this is right for you. It is a no-brainer. Remember, I'm a little guy like you and would appreciate your support. You have the most to gain in terms of return.
If you are a store-level employee, I will post an entire month's content for all store employee plans in a public group called C-Store Trainer. Feel free to check it out to see if you find it helpful before committing to the plan.
District Managers can find me as Mike Hernandez on LinkedIn for a sample. I walked in your shoes for years. I know the challenges you face. Truth be told, you are the reason why I decided to pursue this. Let me help develop your employees to be better prepared to succeed when you need to fill positions.
Corporate employees, vendors, and anyone else involved or related to the convenience store industry worldwide, please keep an open mind and think about how this can help your organization. Share this with others. This represents a long overdue paradigm shift. Here's your chance to be innovative.
I am working on a website and intend to have it up and running soon. In the meantime, I can be reached on Facebook through C-Store Center, C-Store Trainer, on LinkedIn as Mike Hernandez, or through email at admin@cstorecenter.com.
I am one person operation with an incredibly colossal vision. I have the plan and the determination to execute it. Five percent of every sale will be donated to an organization we know as an industry. Another five percent will go towards an Employee Development Program because not everybody wants to attend college—more about that at 11.
Again, thank you for joining me on this journey into the convenience store world we love and live in. I hope you found this podcast insightful and empowering. As you perform your role for your organization, I wish you all the success in providing exceptional service and experiences for your customers and employees.
This concludes the first C-Store Center Podcast. Stay tuned for more valuable insights and best practices in the convenience store industry. Until next time, this is Mike Hernandez saying happy learning!