One of the many beautiful things about owning a successful independent multi-unit restaurant company is that revenue is in your control—and it can always be going up. But many restaurateurs don’t act that way. They have become me frustrated with next year’s industry forecasts that say traffic is going to be essentially flat, and increases in … Continued
It turns out you can have your cake and eat it, too. In fact, you owe it to yourself! My clients prove that every day, when we improve their businesses and lives. After all, there is no point in being successful if you cannot enjoy your time at work as well as your time away … Continued
Do you know what a “five-tool baseball player” is? It’s someone with speed, arm strength, good fielding ability, and the ability to hit for both average and power. Put all those tools together and you have a player custom built for success. To succeed as a restaurateur, though, five tools just won’t cut it. There … Continued
Most of my clients, who are successful owners of independent multi-unit restaurant companies, do not have an MBA. And they never even cut their teeth in the corporate world—they just opened a restaurant and it went from there. Many of them are unconventional leaders. I have come to appreciate and admire unconventional leaders for their … Continued
When you look at expenses on your P&L, you are typically making sure numbers are low enough. On the other hand, when you look at guest comp expense, you ought to make sure it is high enough. If it is not, you are under-utilizing one of your greatest marketing tools. Experience tells me that most … Continued
All the growth in the industry is spending growth through PPA. Guest counts are going down. My advice to you and to my clients — successful owners of independent multi-unit restaurant groups — is to be good to yourself and forget all that. Put it out of your mind as if it does not exist. … Continued
As an owner of a successful multi-unit independent restaurant company it is important to understand what motivates you so you can be intentional in that regard as you develop your business. If you don’t know that, you could be working randomly — or, worse, against your own self-interest. Before you get into your day and … Continued
Why are restaurateurs better to their guests than they are to themselves? If you know me well, you know that is the question I suggest you ask yourself every day. The great Debi Saltzberg recently interviewed me for her podcast, Just Forking Around, and we talked about many aspects of that big question. You can … Continued
One of my clients owns six restaurants, serving a combined million guests every year. Working together, we figured out how to raise their PPA by $1.00. That raised system-wide sales $1,000,000. And $650,000 dropped to the bottom line. Annually. My clients and I have done this time and time again. I have talked about it … Continued
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