Turns out that guiding a restaurant company today is different and more complicated than at any time I can remember.
Today, simply following industry-wide practices won’t move a company to the next level; instead, your approach is connected to the level of success you currently create.
Recently I wrote to you about the three categories of operators I see in this challenging market:
- The Winners are at the top of the heap. These brands have cracked the guest code, taken care of business, and enjoy revenue increases of 6-8%.
- Stable Companies reside in the middle. They “stand still in a gale-force wind” – an achievement of its own. They experience revenue up maybe 1 or 2 points, but not more than their menu price increases.
- Floundering Companies occupy the bottom group and have sales declines in the high single digits and feel worried-or worse.
Like I said, knowing which group you fall into will lead you to the crystal-clear awareness of exactly what you can be doing now and planning for 2026.
If You Are One Of…
1. The Winners – and you intend to stay that way, you feel like a magician at the end of their act: like you’re starting to run out of tricks.
You comp against yourself! The pressure you feel now to continually increase 6-8% every year in a static market might even be as high as what Floundering Companies are feeling.
Keep listening to guests. Continue a steady stream of innovations that support the initiatives that make you a winner in the first place. If you don’t, you’ll be experiencing a 2026 where you fall into the StableCompanies group: up only as much as your menu prices increase, or less.
2. TheStable Companies – you are trying to become one of The Winners. Identify all the things you know you ought to do (improve service, tweak your menu, update social media, motivate managers, handle cost management) – issues you never handled and you vow to start.
The difference I see between being one of the Stable Companies and one of The Winners lines up this way because today’s margin of error is thinner than that new iPhone Air.
3. TheFloundering Companies – you are trying to become Stable. The first thing to do? Think big without any barriers and assemble an understanding of all the major moves you could make to significantly improve guest experience, brand message, and your fiscal practices. This methodology in these times can scare people.
If you feel that way, allow me to remind you that using your imagination contains no risk whatsoever. When you do this correctly, you will see a path to implement to improve your condition.
So which leap will you make, and when do you start?
