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
One aspect of my work focuses on allowing restaurant owners to leave when they want to – getting their companies to the point where the owner’s hands-on attention isn’t relied on too much. To do this, we supercharge the time they are at work, bringing them to their point of highest use, and have other … Continued
With the COVID crisis on the wane, guests are becoming open-minded about their dining choices again. Reclaiming these lost guests (and having at least 20% revenue to-go and delivery) requires your managers to continually improve. An elite group of independent restaurant company owners – each with enviable companies – talked about this recently at one … Continued
With today’s decreased labor pool and increased wages, most operators think the way to manage labor is to concentrate on the cost of that labor. They are wrong. Today’s top operators forget all about labor cost (for a while) and instead examine hours and productivity. With escalating rates of pay (and the corresponding menu price … Continued
Your vaccinated guests feel safe, and your unvaccinated guests feel bulletproof. Sales remain strong, and top operators prepare for that to continue, as well as for an uptick in to-go, delivery, and curbside. I sat in one of my clients’ restaurants the other day, looking at the beautiful partitions between the booths with their tastefully … Continued
Chains beat the cr*p out of independents on technology during the pandemic. You must now have a technology adoption plan that addresses three areas – guests, unit-level operations, and your office. The only people who did not learn that in the last year, distracted themselves just coping. I used to want to take a time machine … Continued
Imagine it is one month from today: The voting part of this election has (thankfully and finally) ended – even if the counting part may just be beginning. Whichever candidates or political party you support, you can do the right thing for your country, your company, and your people by offering your employees flexible scheduling … Continued
When a new restaurant opens: For the first few weeks, everyone runs around chaotically excusing every misstep saying, “We just opened – things happen!” After a while, though, that excuse rings hollow and gets in the way of progress. Typically three or four weeks into operations, I walk in and say, “We are not going … Continued
The past few weeks have been a violent wake-up alarm that ended fleeting dreams of “best-case” COVID-19 scenarios. Negativity and challenges can be overwhelming. Like me, do you have strong feelings about the missed opportunities that have made this crisis much worse than it could have been? Instead, focus on the indicators that tell you … Continued
The COVID-19 crisis has spread chaos throughout your top line, bottom line, life’s work, savings, and future. While you think deeply about repairing those things, never forget how this has impacted the managers and staff who make your business go every day. What you say to them – and how you talk to them – … Continued