Lisa Balz was sitting at a Woolworths coffee shop when she noticed that the shop’s production area was too large. If they reduced the production area by three square metres they would be able to fit in another table with four chairs. After a quick calculation she realised that this simple change could mean an extra R400 000 a year for the coffee shop. This would mean pure profrt because to serve one extra table no additional staff is required. She approached Woolworths and was hired to help them redesign their space. “I successfully ran a canteen with 1 000 customers for lunch every day. In the first three years we decreased production costs by 30%. From my own experience I know the impact of badly designed kitchens.
“In most cases you can save time and money by just re-arranging furniture. The first thing I do is consider the workflow and photograph the movement of people within their space and their actions. If people are stumbling over each other, or if you have constant workflow problems, then you will have increased staff turnover because people will be unhappy.”
When Balz has established where the problems are, she makes recommendations with a hands-on approach. Her work extends beyond kitchens and production areas. She works on any problems that she identifies. In one case a restaurant had a storage space which was in the basement and two staff members wasted half an hour every day transporting things from the basement to the first floor. Balz added in-house storage and saved an hour a day of unnecessary work.
In another case she was involved in the space design of a sports bar on a university campus. She assisted her client in redesigning the menu according to the desires of its student clientele. The agreed menu then determined the kitchen equipment needed. On checking the already existent kitchen layout it was revealed that 30% of the suggested equipment was unnecessary. Thus Balz saved investment costs, reduced the production area and increased the seating area – all this resulted in higher turnover.
While space design is her main focus, Balz also looks at making businesses green. “Waste management is often neglected. A simple thing like having a food crusher next to the sink will allow you to reduce your waste volume by 20%. Even adding something like a water saving device will save money and is environmentally friendly.”
Despite her expertise her biggest challenge is that people don’t think of space design as something necessary. The result is that she has to demonstrate how space design can result in extra income or money saved. “I thought that franchises wouldn’t need my services, but I went into a Primi-Piatti in Cape Town and realised that they could use my help because the “dirty-dishes-flow” was inadequate. When I showed them the savings they could make they hired me to help redesign their kitchen.”
Her clients are restaurants, coffee shops, staff canteens, food factories, game lodges, etc. When asked for the secret to her success her response was: ”The success of my business over the last three years is a result of perseverance, hard work and unique skills.”
For more information please contact Lisa Balz on 084 363 8072, email inbox@ /isabalz. com or
visit www./isabalz.com
