Summary
• A professional development programme aimed at experienced licensed retailers • The portfolio comprises units which address a range of management and business skills vital to licensed retailing • Widely recognised for making a huge difference to the turnover and profitability of candidates' businesses.

Details
The BIIAB Profitable Business Portfolio is a professional development programme for experienced licensed retailers and key staff who want to improve their skills.  Consisting of 13 units and covering all aspects of running a licensed hospitality operation, the BIIAB Profitable Business Portfolio delivers real business benefits, key to running a successful business. 

Each unit is a stand-alone qualification and will be individually certificated.  Each unit has been designed to be completed in one day supported by self-study, and candidates may take any or all units in whatever order they wish.  However, the BIIAB Profitable Business Portfolio is a nationally accredited series of qualifications and on successful completion of specified units, candidates may achieve the following nationally recognised qualifications: the BIIAB Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Licensed Hospitality and the BIIAB Level 3 Diploma in Licensed Hospitality.

"Taking the Professional Business Portfolio [PBP] units is largely responsible for a 31% increase in turnover including a 154% in food sales."

• Unit 1 - Profit & loss and budget control - aims to de-mystify profit and loss accounting, and enable candidates to become more conversant with financial terminology, construct profit and loss budgets, and monitor performance.  It will help candidates to plan and budget effectively, and improve management controls in order to increase profitability and improve their negotiating power with line managers, external clients and accountants.

• Unit 2 - Understanding your market - aims to help candidates establish a clearly defined and marketable vision for their business.  By understanding how to apply a range of market research data and techniques, candidates will be able to identify potential customer groups and clearly define those customers’ needs in order to create an appropriate offer for their business.

• Unit 3 - Motivating your team - aims to help candidates apply motivational theory to the operation of a licensed hospitality business, and develop an understanding of how to build and lead an effective team.  The unit shows candidates how staff performance can be improved by understanding more about their own style of management, and how they are perceived by employees.

• Unit 4 - Customer service procedures - aims to help candidates focus on their customers, identify what customers want at different times, and learn how to provide that extra service element that exceeds customer expectations.  This unit provides the knowledge required to implement and evaluate customer service procedures, analyse customer service opportunities, and implement an effective action plan.

• Unit 5 - Training design and delivery - aims to develop candidates knowledge and skills of training, and help them review the training needs of their business.  It helps to show how training can be a powerful motivational tool in improving staff performance and how this can increase business profitability. Candidates will explore how to design, prepare and deliver training.

• Unit 6 - Sales promotions - aims to help candidates promote their products and services to customers.  Using a range of recognised industry approaches, the unit aims to coach candidates through the development of an action plan tailored to their own business needs.  The action plan will help to increase impact and influence customer choice so as to maximise margins.  Candidates will be able to successfully apply the benefits of personal selling, motivating staff, and developing a cohesive team approach to their own business, all culminating in an increase in their sales and profits.

• Unit 7 - Business planning - aims to give candidates essential knowledge, and a working template on which to develop a business plan for their own operation.  Using finance, marketing and business development knowledge, candidates will be able to construct and analyse business plans that will provide the basis for effective business decisions.

• Unit 8 - Merchandising and selling - aims to help candidates promote their products and services to customers through appropriate selling and merchandising techniques.  Using a range of recognised industry approaches, the unit aims to coach candidates through the development of an action plan which will help increase profit margins by manipulating the sales mix in order to influence customer choice.

• Unit 9 - Introducing a new catering offer - aims to help candidates who are thinking of introducing catering into their business to capitalise on the growing market for food. This unit takes them through the planning process step-by-step: identifying the market; determining the appropriate offer, and establishing the business’s unique selling point.  Candidates will then be able to complete dish specifications, calculate gross profit margins and set selling prices.

• Unit 10 - Managing Capital Expenditure - aims to help candidates develop ways of gathering and analysing financial information and to understand the tools and techniques needed to measure potential benefits and risks to the business before making an investment.  Candidates will be able to manage suppliers, understand basic legal requirements, evaluate and market their new capital expenditure successfully, to ensure its profitability.

• Unit 11 - Stock control - aims to help candidates improve their understanding of implementing effective stock control procedures, how to carry out stocktaking, and use the analysis of stock results to measure the success of the procedures. Candidates completing this unit will be able to analyse and correctly interpret a range of manual and EPOS generated business information that can then help to identify problems as they occur.

• Unit 12 - Improving your catering operation - aims to help candidates undertake a detailed look at their existing catering operation, including areas such as: kitchen design; equipment selection and use; purchase specifications, and the review and management of suppliers.  The unit focuses on maximising potential profit by developing food promotions, applying menu design and carrying out sales mix management techniques. 

• Unit 13 - Recruitment and employment practice - aims to help candidates implement robust and appropriate employment and operational procedures to ensure staff are managed effectively within current legislation.  This unit will help candidates develop policies and procedures that encourage the effective recruitment and selection of key staff, and to develop contracts and written policies that ensure fair treatment of employees. 

• Unit 14 - Accommodation control - helps candidates to assess the market position of their current accommodation offer, with a view to increasing efficiency and profitability.  The unit will help candidates apply the principles of human resource planning, and analyse the administrative, financial and legal requirements necessary to ensure effective and profitable management of the accommodation operation.  Candidates will learn about the impact that accommodation has on the other areas of the business, and help them develop a range of packages and offers that can be used to promote the outlet and increase profitability.