Proof of concept. Knowing your restaurant brand has legs – that its single-unit economics can be repeated and repeated and repeated – is like that can’t-fail feeling Hillary Clinton felt the night before the election.   In the end, proof of concept doesn’t prove that … Continued

Break old habits. Start new ones. That first day back from vacation offers you an incredible opportunity to do both – to adopt new behaviors and see breakthrough ideas and initiatives you definitely want to take advantage of. If you tend to rush into a … Continued

Many restaurateurs sleepwalk through writing their budget every year – forecasting menu price growth, inflation, or market growth as a revenue target. The best ones choose to wake up, and do a lot better than that. Revenue can always go up – faster than you … Continued

You already know about the missing pieces in your organization. You experience nagging discomfort like a pebble in your running shoe or worse, a self-critical voice that hounds you about addressing them. This will impact you especially if you have a lot of pride in … Continued

Most of my clients guide teams in their multi-unit organizations through their next stage of growth, management development, concept development, branding, or culture. However, a few still are hands-on operators of their own restaurants. When that changes – when we improve everything by hiring the … Continued

If you are in the restaurant business, you have to pay attention to the problems (and solutions) at Subway. You can learn two gigantic things from this amazing business story. First, for those of you on the top, pay attention: When there’s innovation in your … Continued

The smartest restaurateurs know that they are not in the restaurant business—they are in the branding business. According to the Forbes 2018 World’s Most Valuable Brands list, the top five brands are Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon. However, these brands all experience a red-faced love/hate … Continued

What do your experienced eyes see when you walk through your dining rooms? The staff fastidiously on task? Dreaded empty tables when you’re on a wait? Your trusted long-time expeditor making sure food does not sit in the window too long? Craving data and KPIs, … Continued

Most of my clients are in a conscious evolution phase – having realized a portion of their growth potential when I start with them. But some – high volume single units ready to start growing – are anticipating that exciting and initially mysterious time. One … Continued

Google the term “work life balance.”  You will get two billion results. That’s fast—and a reminder of why we need work/life balance. Forty years ago, when the term “work/life balance” began to pop up in our conversations, people lived in a telex, mainframe, and WATS line world. … Continued

We’re used to talking to management teams about store-level profit, restaurant profit, restaurant operation profit, or whatever term we use. You know, the number before occupancy, A&G, depreciation, and amortization. It’s what these people master, your bonus program may be based on, and something they … Continued

“Can you believe my company? I bet you’ve never seen anything like it.” I hear that all the time. “We have things we have not addressed for years. We are successful, but we could be doing so much better.” After almost three decades advising owners … Continued

When you use one of my many suggestions to improve your business and your life, that makes it all worthwhile to me—and extremely gratifying. If you are regular reader of this newsletter, you are appreciated! Thanks for following my work, keeping in touch, and sending … Continued

If you really want to make progress, grow your company, preserve your free time, and build wealth and happiness for yourself and others, pay attention to the big decisions. In Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism, one graphic I really like illustrates how one big decision can … Continued

It turns out you can have your cake and eat it, too. In fact, you owe it to yourself! My clients prove that every day, when we improve their businesses and lives. After all, there is no point in being successful if you cannot enjoy … Continued

Do you know what a “five-tool baseball player” is? It’s someone with speed, arm strength, good fielding ability, and the ability to hit for both average and power. Put all those tools together and you have a player custom built for success. To succeed as … Continued

Most of my clients, who are successful owners of independent multi-unit restaurant companies, do not have an MBA. And they never even cut their teeth in the corporate world—they just opened a restaurant and it went from there. Many of them are unconventional leaders. I … Continued

As an owner of a successful multi-unit independent restaurant company it is important to understand what motivates you so you can be intentional in that regard as you develop your business. If you don’t know that, you could be working randomly — or, worse, against … Continued

Why are restaurateurs better to their guests than they are to themselves? If you know me well, you know that is the question I suggest you ask yourself every day. The great Debi Saltzberg recently interviewed me for her podcast, Just Forking Around, and we … Continued

G. “Jim” Hasslocher — my client, who was founder and chairman of Frontier Enterprises in San Antonio — passed away back in November, 2015. Known to all as “Mr. Jim,” he began his hospitality career in 1947. Today, Frontier Enterprises operates 24 restaurants (most of … Continued

On January 8, 2016 David Bowie released his 25th album, Blackstar, which debuted on the charts at number 1. Two days later, he died from a cancer that, it turned out, he had been fighting for a year and a half. Blackstar was literally his pre-planned farewell to … Continued

We have all seen the forecasts. They are all the same: In the coming years there will not be enough employees to staff our restaurants. The idea of an ample labor supply is as archaic as phones connected to the walls by wires, 13-column pads, … Continued

In this month’s QSR Magazine, I’m quoted in Kevin Hardy’s article — “For Restaurants, What’s Changed Under Trump?” — in which industry experts discuss what has changed for them during the Trump administration and how the upcoming midterm elections might affect them. With an election … Continued

Eric Cacciatore recently stopped by my house to record an episode of his incredible, segment-leading podcast “Restaurant Unstoppable.” He was on a cross-country mission to talk to interesting, informed, creative, and significant restaurant people from coast to coast, and he was here to record episode … Continued

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 … Continued

When you own a successful multi-unit independent restaurant company — or any company, for that matter — that company becomes a reflection of you. What you do well, it does well. Your challenges are its challenges. One of my clients told another one of my … Continued

Your company is organized functionally. That sounds efficient, but it’s actually the exact opposite of what will get you the best result. Instead, organize by what your guests want. You have servers, cooks, bussers, hosts, general managers, managers, shift leaders, marketers, trainers, group salespeople, and … Continued

Before you read, I wanted to share a free resource with you because you’re part of this community.  Learn the 4 ingredients your restaurant business needs to maximize success.  Download “Matthew Mabel’s Toolkit for Creating a Dream Restaurant Business“.  No strings attached! Now – let me share what High … Continued

Build your business, talk to your peers, and have some fun while you are at it — this weekend in San Antonio. Texas Restaurant Association Marketplace, the second largest industry event in the country, has morphed into part trade show, part conference, part party. It … Continued

Imagine going to Whataburger and being told, “Your burger will be really good in a tortilla!” Some of the biggest news in the industry in this part of the country came a week before last when supply chain quality control issues shut down 33 In-N-Out … Continued

We all work so hard on our food. But the truth of restaurant success is that, for most independent restaurant companies, food just gets you in the game. The guest experience, the price/value relationship, location, atmosphere, hospitality level, and even seemingly small things like parking … Continued

Reaching a certain level of success gives you the ability to create even more success. Recently, a restaurateur came to me and said he would like to figure out how to work less and make the same amount of money. I challenged him. I asked, … Continued

Trade shows are dead. I can do it online. We have all heard about that. But, in the digital world, there is no substitute for occasionally tearing yourself away from your screens and meeting actual people in the physical world. One of my clients had … Continued