When you reach a certain level of success, it’s OK to run that victory lap and settle in to being an owner, not an operator. One multi-unit owner I know has done this so well they consider their job “playing restaurateur.” Be more like them. This transformation is critical for professional restaurant group owners; unfortunately, … Continued
Last week I ran my Ultimate Restaurant Culture Workshop at Texas Restaurant Marketplace in Houston, the second largest gathering of industry professionals in the country. I took attendees through the same process I use with my clients to identify, document, and systematize culture—tools we use to literally scale culture so it remains pure as my … Continued
For successful restaurateurs, there was a grueling period at the beginning when they really did have to work all the time. The most debilitating mistake people make? They don’t even notice when that time ends, so they keep running that schedule out of habit. Life is full of compromise. If you marry, have a family, … Continued
If you are anybody in our business in and around Texas, your usual mid-July habit is to head to Texas Restaurant Marketplace. That is where you’ll see new products and hear a wide range of speakers (including me) present new ideas about how to operate your company. Or you might even learn the most by … Continued
Underperforming locations? They’re facts of life in the growth of any brand. And sometimes they’re just born that way. That’s because site selection has become more science than art, but still has some artistic qualities – and can create a maternity ward for underperforming stores. Then, when owners feed those locations, there’s pain. Nobody lulls … Continued
How do you do that? Simple. Make sure all your managers get better every year. If you want to run great restaurants in the current labor market, you have no other choice. “We all strive to be better every day, and that includes me.” When I start working with successful owners of multi-unit independent restaurant … Continued
Sitting in the dining room of one of my clients, we tried to figure out what this super-successful business leader had in common with some of my other clients. Then it hit me – he had never worked in a company he didn’t own! I’ve been running my business for almost 30 years, and it … Continued
In the past I have proven why culture provides 100% of your profits. That’s a lot. I constantly work with my clients – successful owners of independent restaurant companies – to define their culture in a permanent way. This lets them direct the behavior of their people (i.e., everybody) who serve guests and the people … Continued
Proof of concept. Knowing your restaurant brand has legs – that its single-unit economics can be repeated and repeated and repeated – is like that can’t-fail feeling Hillary Clinton felt the night before the election. In the end, proof of concept doesn’t prove that success will follow, because no concept has permanent proof. That’s … Continued
Break old habits. Start new ones. That first day back from vacation offers you an incredible opportunity to do both – to adopt new behaviors and see breakthrough ideas and initiatives you definitely want to take advantage of. If you tend to rush into a skyscraper-sized group of e-mails, and don’t stop and think about … Continued