How Top Restaurateurs Look Back to Q1 and Ahead to the Future

Take a look back all the way back to the beginning of the year.

With the first quarter just ending, my best clients take stock of what they’ve achieved. Then, they adjust to ensure they have a great 2023 – no matter how they started the year.

Did you exceed plan? Did you fail to meet plan? Did you even have a plan to measure against? 

So, while you still have the power to impact restaurant results in 2023, use it.
 

Do You Exceed Your Own Expectations?

If so, then congratulate yourself! 

But also realize we never stop improving. 

While signposts (like end of a quarter) exist, when we do things right, it’s not about a finish line. 

If you’ve exceeded your Q1 expectations, then take a short break and celebrate your success – but then adjust your goals upward to make sure you stretch and don’t coast. 

You’ll see new revenue, service, and profit possibilities.   

Remember: Simply lifting a quarter of a point here and there adds up to real money and unimagined success. 
 

Did You Come Up Short?

Then take a realistic, sober look at why your plan failed, and then adjust. 

Smart operators consider adjusting leadership structure and people, responsibilities, procedures, and methodology.

But don’t adjust goals – just figure out a better way of attaining them, because doing the same thing without producing the desired result is a painful, unhappy way to live. 

The worst thing to do? Keep doing what doesn’t work. 
 

Did You Lack Clear Goals and Accountability?

If you didn’t start the year with clear goals, you’re like a hamster on a wheel – on an endless journey to nowhere. 

It’s time to start paying attention (to me, to this, or to logic) and become more specific about your goals and areas of responsibility.

Do that to deliver success, hold your people accountable, and give them credit and a bonus when good things happen. 

If you’re mentally kicking yourself because you know you could be more focused, well…even though that feels like a permanent way to live, it’s not. 

I have a system to cure this condition.

Are you celebrating a first-quarter victory and stretching? Or are you adjusting because you’re lamenting missed opportunities? Or are you just vague and venting? Identify which category describes you; that will immediately connect you to the sort of action that increases sales, profits, and guest, employee and ownership happiness. I work on these things with my clients every day. When do you start?