How to Conquer My 3 Stages of Restaurant Business Growth

For my best clients, it doesn’t matter what curveballs life throws at them.

They stay on a strong growth curve regardless—remaining in control of their destiny and putting the right information to work.

And when you do that, great things happen, like jumping from 5 units to 21, or reinvigorating revenue at a brand that has become tired, or creating a life changing amount of earned personal freedom.
 

Growth

This is the second of my series of things to think about for 2024. The first one last week showed how to create success. The next two—coming in January—will be about senior management and ownership freedom and flexibility.

Take me up on my offer of free downloads on each of these critical planks of success, and keep reading for the link to the second one.

Right now, a lot of people are pondering sales growth and guest count growth, considering the right timing for unit growth.

I get it. When my career started, ever since the time when I started working on a second unit, the idea of growth rented out a space in my mind, but in a positive way every day.

Understanding growth and accelerating successful growth remain top things my clients look to me for advice on.

Matthew’s 3 Stages of Restaurant Business Growth

If you spend your days and nights in the restaurant business, you exist in one of these three stages:

• Stage One: The Adrenaline/Espresso Years. At the beginning of your brand, when you feel highly motivated, you stretch yourself as far as (or further than) you personally can to make things work. You prove your business model.
   
• Stage Two: Chill Out and Reflect. But you can’t live on adrenaline forever, so you prepare for the long run and perfect your brand and organization.
   
• Stage Three: Should I Stay or Should I Go. At some point, however, you come to a fork in the road and decide to either sell or keep building yourself.
   

Set Yourself Up for Optimal Success

The only smart way to know whether you should spend 2024 proving, perfecting, or deciding is to know the stage you’re in—and figuring out how to arrive at the next one.

Once you know that, the steps you should take in operations, branding, culture, and strategy (and your lifestyle) become crystal clear and you don’t have to ponder anymore.

So, how do you find that out? This week’s free download is my “Guide to Pushing Through Expansion Barriers.” Click here to get it and focus on the smartest places to expend your energy in 2024.

Now, how will you refocus your energy in the right places in 2024? Do you live in the Adrenaline/Espresso stage, Chill Out and Reflect stage, or the Should I Stay or Should I Go stage?