The professionals at the top of your successful multi-unit independent restaurant company are critical to your success, but they are not irreplaceable. In some cases, replacing them will actually propel you forward. Experience in the restaurant industry is very important, but there’s also a lot to be said about the role of fresh ideas in propelling … Continued
G. “Jim” Hasslocher — my client, who was founder and chairman of Frontier Enterprises in San Antonio — passed away back in November, 2015. Known to all as “Mr. Jim,” he began his hospitality career in 1947. Today, Frontier Enterprises operates 24 restaurants (most of which have been operating for decades) over four concepts. You … Continued
On January 8, 2016 David Bowie released his 25th album, Blackstar, which debuted on the charts at number 1. Two days later, he died from a cancer that, it turned out, he had been fighting for a year and a half. Blackstar was literally his pre-planned farewell to the world. You can’t go out any higher than number … Continued
We have all seen the forecasts. They are all the same: In the coming years there will not be enough employees to staff our restaurants. The idea of an ample labor supply is as archaic as phones connected to the walls by wires, 13-column pads, and the onion-skin booklets the credit card companies sent us … Continued
In this month’s QSR Magazine, I’m quoted in Kevin Hardy’s article — “For Restaurants, What’s Changed Under Trump?” — in which industry experts discuss what has changed for them during the Trump administration and how the upcoming midterm elections might affect them. With an election coming up, this piece is very timely. If you have … Continued
Eric Cacciatore recently stopped by my house to record an episode of his incredible, segment-leading podcast “Restaurant Unstoppable.” He was on a cross-country mission to talk to interesting, informed, creative, and significant restaurant people from coast to coast, and he was here to record episode 518. And that is not a typo: he has already … Continued
Too many successful multi-unit restaurant companies budget like people who go to the grocery store and take a list of what they ate last week without any thought for what they might enjoy in the future. The result? They get good things, but not great things — nothing new, interesting, or life changing. Many companies like … Continued