If you get 100 restaurant consultants together and ask them what they do, you’ll probably get 100 answers. So, if you are considering adding one to your team, how do you even know what you are looking for? What do you do? First, you probably worry about hiring the wrong person. Let’s get the bad … Continued
“The restaurant business is one of the hardest jobs…the early-morning-to-late-night days have taken a toll — along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours.” Sound like you at your worst moment? Those are the words of Marian Harper — owner of the legendary Carnegie Deli on Seventh Avenue in New York — during her announcement about closing … Continued
Nobody ever opened a restaurant aiming to be average. Unfortunately, though, plenty of restaurants use average interview techniques, onboarding processes, and training — a sure way of ending up stuck in the middle. The best successful multi-unit independent restaurant companies recognize this and hire only the people they are looking for, designing interview techniques that … Continued
People hate airlines — or, at best, tolerate them. But, even with their product quality and customer service ratings plummeting, their profits are at record levels. That’s sustainable in the airline business, which is essentially closed to competition, but would be catastrophic in the restaurant business. Just ask the casual dining chains. A recent New York … Continued
Capability is the first key factor to having a business that allows you to maximize its value, your net worth, and the quality, flexibility, and enjoyment of your life. My research shows that when you add capability to the other key factors, opportunity and strategy and surround that with an atmosphere of trust, you can … Continued
When you’re successful, you don’t have to do what many families do every spring: figure out who will take care of the kids once the school year is done. Instead, you get to think about where you are going to go as a family. For a month. Or the whole summer. Summers with the kids … Continued
Who is the only person to whom you should give control of your successful multi-unit independent restaurant company? The person you just sold it to. Other than that, no one. While you are at your company, keep control. No matter how tempting the offer, control your brand, concept, company, and IP. Period. Ensure You Keep … Continued
Successful people continue to be successful during lulls in their business, it is all a matter of degree — and that may cover up the need to address opportunities that, if they could talk, would be shouting for attention. • “After the election, my sales will go up.” • “My sales problem will self-correct.” • … Continued
I was recently interviewed by Howard Riell for a cover story for Restaurant Startup and Growth Magazine titled, “Help Needed — How to Compete for and Retain Employees in Today’s Job Market.” If you want to know what I think about that topic, Howard really nailed it. To summarize: owners of multi-unit independent restaurant companies … Continued
What’s changed? The guest has made a decision for convenience over quality — like they have in many other aspects of their life. It has taken many restaurateurs too long to realize and accept that the guest does not share the depth of their concerns about “how food travels.” As much as a heresy as … Continued