It wasn’t long ago that my car dealer was sending me letters every week, asking me to sell them back my car for a crazy premium. I should have done it – because the price of used cars just fell off a cliff. Car dealers have cars in their showrooms again. Their factories are … Continued
When you found out that KFC had formed a partnership with the online Western Governors University to offer employees 100% paid tuition to earn a college degree, you probably rolled your eyes as an independent restaurant operator. Or maybe the shock was so big, you simply choked. But KFC is simply following the lead of … Continued
Have you driven by any of those restaurants with expensive dark and empty dining rooms, waiting a little longer to open – because their management team has not been fully populated? Finding great restaurant managers has always been a challenge. These days, though, many owners I talk to feel like that challenge is becoming more … Continued
Sought-after young restaurant brands can brag that they don’t even have to advertise. When I hear that claim I smile – because I know, one day, they will start advertising. They inevitably cool off. Someone else will own the hot new brand that everyone loves to be Insta-ing about. The most recent examples of this? Shake … Continued
Walt Disney did not say, “If you can dream it, you can do it” – no matter how many Web posts and truckloads of World Market, hardware store and Etsy-sold canvas wall art attribute that to him. The saying, “If we can dream it, we can do it” appeared at the entrance of Epcot Center’s … Continued
I’ve gone back and chosen five especially popular or meaningful posts from 2022 – a year of adjustment to new challenges and, on the whole, a successful year for the restaurants I work with. My clients and my readers told me that these messages turned out to be the ones that most helped them and … Continued
Often (unfortunately), when they’re asked to solve problems, too many management teams don’t have the information or education they need to solve them. If your managers remain P&L illiterate, don’t defend their P&L in a meeting of their peers and then go right back to their stores to make the next one better, you’ve failed … Continued
When you spend your whole day dealing with rising costs and a soft market, leadership development might be the last thing on your schedule. That’s a huge mistake. Why? Because leadership development applies to everything you do in operations. Restaurants really live in the branding business, while operations exists in the leadership development business. Matthew’s … Continued
The less qualified people available to work in your restaurants earn more money than ever before. So you only have two choices: I can’t make this any simpler. Matthew’s 5 Key Training and Education Concepts Recently I wrote to you about planning for 2023 and the five critical topics to handle next year, with … Continued
Don’t waste another year not handling chronic issues in your organization. Look at your calendar. The end of the year dictates that you have a plan in place for your company for next year. In a world that’s rapidly changing and uncertain, shorter ranges of strategy – quarterly and annually – become even more meaningful … Continued