the pizza dude: Give A Gift of Fairness

Ho, Ho, Ho … Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all
my fellow pizzaiolos. I sincerely hope that this holiday season will
bring us plenty of business so we can all enjoy our holidays with our
families. May you all sell lots of pizza and make lots of money.

Ho, Ho, Ho … Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my fellow pizzaiolos. I sincerely hope that this holiday season will bring us plenty of business so we can all enjoy our holidays with our families. May you all sell lots of pizza and make lots of money.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, as I wish everyone well, there are a few things I would like to say to all the honest pizzaiolos out there – competition is good, but it is not good when certain competitors find it necessary to go behind our backs and take business away from us that we’ve worked so hard to get in the first place. It’s hard enough as it is to have customer loyalty, but if you cannot succeed on your own, find a new career.

There is absolutely no reason for someone who is having difficulty building their business to go out and steal business from their competitors – unless done with honesty, integrity and good business sense.

In other words, we need to stop with the undercutting of the prices. In a price war everyone loses.  All of us put in our time and work our butts off. The day that I let someone take business away from me through scheming and dishonesty will be a cold day in hell. Unless that customer tells me the product they are receiving is far superior to mine, I will not accept, nor will I tolerate, undermining competitors.

So, for the fly-by-night, wannabe pizzaiolos, I have this advice for you: success is built on your own merits and accomplishments. You either have it or you don’t. A lot of us spend day and night building a business and when someone new comes around trying to sell a knockoff pizza, that’s not cool. In order to succeed you must be able to climb your own mountains and learn to respect the business of others. Lying, cheating and stealing are not part of the everyday life of any business, and the ones that do will eventually pay for it in the end. No one likes dishonest, back-stabbing people.

This business is about more than just making pizza. It’s about the adults and children that love pizza; that want to feel comfortable at the place they decide to purchase their pizza, and be able to trust the pizzeria. Without these customers there is no business, and without this business there is no market for the pizzaiolo.

And that’s why I emphasize that there shouldn’t be price wars in any city across this great country. 

Millions of people immigrated here over the last century in search of a better life for themselves and their children. Some have started their own businesses and succeeded; others have not. So let’s not forget our roots. Remember that we live in a country where freedom reigns and pizza will always be the number one food. Let’s not decimate the industry that puts food on the table, clothes on our backs and pays the bills. If you’re in this market to make money, earn it like the rest of us or find something else to do.  Anything short of honest hard work gives our industry a bad rap.

I’ve always wished my competitors and fellow pizzaiolos well and I will continue to do my part in making this market a profitable and prosperous one. But if everyone does not play on the same level, this market will diminish and only the big chains will be left. We independents will soon find ourselves without a job.

Put yourself on Santa’s nice list, not his naughty list, this holiday season.

Again, I wish all my fellow pizzaiolos a very happy holiday and a very profitable new year.

I’m The Pizza Dude.•