When was the last time you gave yourself a raise? The one you earned for increased performance. I meet a lot of well-known restaurateurs who proudly and confidently identify their businesses as “great.” They’re so great that, at first, they don’t even know why they are talking to me – someone who works to improve … Continued
It’s Labor Day – the holiday dedicated to the American worker. Many people don’t think about the meaning of the day (if they ever knew it in the first place). And that’s what happens to a lot of our holidays. They morph into days of general relaxation and fun. They lose their meaning. And they … Continued
People think that what got them started will continue to be a foundation of their future scaled success. Those people are wrong. When you add something you did not have at the beginning – when everything was new and exciting – you create phenomenal success in your life that you may not even be able … Continued
Are you overly dissatisfied – feeling things could be better, but not quite sure how to make them better? Or are you overly satisfied – so happy with the great life you have built for yourself that you don’t pay enough attention to making your restaurants even better? Essentially, both suffer from the same problem: They don’t … Continued
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
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
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