The Root Causes of Alcohol and Tobacco Non-Compliance
When it comes to owning a business that sells age-restricted products like alcohol and tobacco, compliance with local and federal laws must be the top priority. In the absence of adequate compliance, business owners can find themselves facing legal, financial, or branding issues.
Why doesn’t every business owner have flawless compliance with local alcohol and tobacco laws? Why are there so many instances of minors purchasing age-restricted products? How can communities ensure their neighborhoods are safe and that businesses are enforcing compliance?
There are many root causes of alcohol and tobacco non-compliance: lack of awareness, financial costs, misguided priorities, resource constraints, etc. Thankfully, there are solutions that can be quickly implemented by business owners to uplevel their compliance and benefit the communities in which they operate.
Lacking Awareness of the Current State of Compliance
Many business owners do not have the appropriate awareness of the current state of compliance amongst their staff. For example, a business owner may be far removed from his or her business and relies solely on local management roles to enforce compliance. Alternatively, a business owner may not have thorough knowledge of the necessary behaviors to ensure compliance.
This lack of awareness, whatever the reason, severely limits a business owner’s ability to correct any behaviors that put the business at risk due to non-compliance. As local law enforcement agencies routinely run sting operations to ensure businesses are checking IDs, it’s imperative that business owners close the knowledge gap quickly and understand exactly what is needed to become compliant in the eyes of the law.
Business owners should be able to answer the following questions:
Are all employees adequately trained to check identification of all customers purchasing age-restricted products?
Are my employees checking IDs for all customers 100% of the time?
Are my employees over-serving customers to the point of intoxication?
Are my employees trained to identify fake IDs? If so, are they rejecting the sale?
Are my employees selling to customers where others in the group are clearly under the legal age?
Are products being sold during the lawful hours for the sale?
If management lacks the ability to answer all of the above questions with confidence that compliance is being upheld, steps should be taken to gather an awareness of the current state of compliance. Gaining an understanding of the areas for opportunity help to reduce risks associated with non-compliance by offering more training to employees, correcting behaviors through disciplinary actions, or removing employees that do not uphold policies.
Financial Cost of Compliance
Many times, business owners see the enforcement of alcohol and tobacco compliance as too costly. Unfortunately, these business owners and managers may not fully grasp how costly non-compliance can become if allowed to continue uncorrected.
Alcohol and tobacco compliance is an investment. Whether a business owner invests in additional training resources for staff, private stings using services like Stinger Compliance, more management oversight, or simply losing out on sales by refusing sales to minors, the investment is much more cost-efficient than failing a municipal sting. Failing a municipal sting (that is, a sting operation run by local law enforcement) can cause legal issues, fines for employees or business owners, or the suspension of licenses to sell alcohol and/or tobacco.
Let’s look at the investment of private stings as an example. If Corner Market sells $20,000 dollars worth of alcohol each month, losing the ability to sell alcohol can be devastating to their business continuity. Booking private stings with Stinger Compliance costs $120 dollars per sting and compliance is now top-of-mind for all employees. If a business owner books one sting per week, the total monthly cost comes to $480 dollars, saving the owner from a potential loss of $19,420 dollars for the first month of suspension and $20,000 dollars for any subsequent months.
The return on investment into compliance is business continuity and safer communities. Further, investing in alcohol and tobacco compliance practices provides more confidence to managers to understand the problem areas and solutions.
Prioritizing Short-Term Gains over Compliance
During busy seasons, owners may be tempted to forgo compliance in favor of quicker service and increased sales, prioritizing short-term success over long-term compliance practices.
Here are a few real-world examples of ways owners prioritize short-term gains over compliance:
Selling to minors instead of refusing service to meet sales quotas.
Not investing in the creation of an alcohol policy because enforcing the policy is too time-consuming.
Pushing new employees into their role without adequate training to save operational costs.
Hiring employees without inquiring about their compliance mindset to close staff vacancies instead of intentional hiring.
Hosting large and rowdy events to boost sales without thought to the community’s safety.
Not seeking a thorough understanding of local regulations for the sale of age-restricted products because it is seen as unnecessary and a huge endeavor.
The long-term compliance mindset allows business owners to create a culture of compliance amongst their staff and ensure excellence and business continuity. For example, long-term compliance practices could include investing in compliance training and private stings, providing incentives for compliance excellence, and creating alcohol policies for new staff members. A focus on safety over quick sales will always pay off when it comes to alcohol and tobacco compliance.
Begin a Root Cause Analysis with Stinger Compliance
Business owners may not know where to begin as they do not yet have an accurate understanding of their downfalls in the area of alcohol or tobacco compliance. An excellent root cause analysis practice is through private stings with Stinger Compliance.
When a private sting is booked with Stinger Compliance, our trained team of 21+ secret shoppers conduct confidential visits to the scheduled business. During this visit, our Stinger helps to identify any areas of concern such as not checking IDs, not posting the required signage, or not following company policies.
Business owners can begin their investment into alcohol and tobacco compliance by booking their first sting today! Simply create an account and schedule a private sting for one or many business locations in Birmingham, AL, Chattanooga, TN, or Metro-Atlanta, GA.
Following each sting, business owners will receive a detailed report highlighting compliance strengths and any areas for improvement. Adopting a long-term compliance mindset before issues arise is the best way to reduce business continuity risks. Partner with Stinger Compliance today for peace of mind and confident alcohol and tobacco sales today!
Ready to get started? Book your first Sting with Stinger Compliance!
