Restaurant Owners: Act Like the Lottery Winner You Are

As a successful owner of a multi-unit independent restaurant company, you truly have won the lottery — with your company set up (or able to be set up) so you can make more money than you ever thought possible.

Truly, I recommend you think of it that way. Why? Because being at the head of a successful restaurant company — just like winning the actual lottery — allows you to think of more important things. You don’t have to think about things you need, because your material needs have all been taken care of.

But what about your non-material needs?

You Won the Lottery. Now What?

Success gives you the luxury to fully focus on what you believe is best for you, your family, and the people who work in your company and dine in your restaurants.

Increasingly, my clients prioritize making their lives better while they are making improvements to their companies.

I think you ought to have the best of both: the best company you can have and the fullest enjoyment of your life allowed by your success.

Four Key Factors to Follow

To guide you, here are the four most important factors I always focus on when working to make all possibilities real for people like you.

Enjoy It Now. Too many people plan their bucket list for “when I retire” or “when I sell.” So they wait for the things they want to do, people they want to spend time with, or places they want to go. Don’t wait! Create a flexible life for yourself and you’ll be able to live your dream now.

Realize Influencing People Is Your True Calling. You can have a whole lot of money — and all the greatest systems and product in the world — but, without great people, it will not matter. Start looking at your business and your life that way.

Find Emotional Rewards in Your Dining Rooms. Be grateful you are in this industry. Greet guests and employees. In a modern economy, you are one of the few remaining people who can see their end user every day.

Operate at Your Highest Use. At work, you should not spend a minute of your day doing what someone else can do — unless you really enjoy that activity. And, when you delegate these duties, someone else grows. Practice this constantly.

Restaurant company owners who treat themselves like lottery winners experience much more in life than those who get bogged down in details, focus on the negative, or postpone the flexibility and pleasures of success. That is why I say, “Be as good to yourself as you are to your guests.”

Freedom and flexibility guide for restaurateurs.

What’s the point of owning a successful restaurant business if you don’t have freedom?

Download Matthew Mabel's Freedom and Flexibility Guide for Restaurateurs to learn how to...

  • Step away for extended periods of time
  • Contribute to your community in a unique way
  • Spend more time with friends and family
  • Travel for weeks at a time
  • Split your residence at a vacation home for several months a year