What will the rules be when our dining rooms, partially at first, open? We don’t know. But we’ve got to be ready. Whoa! Looks like an exercise in planning from business school. Correct. This pandemic schools you.    Public Health Comes First I watch California … Continued

During this crisis, how well you connect to your active and furloughed employees will define your culture for years.  It will make the difference between having a bonded and enthusiastic workforce rather than one that feels bitter and neglected – and then looks elsewhere for … Continued

When the day comes – when you can legally operate your dining room again – you’ll be relieved, exhausted, and excited. Focus on that day now. Really. Now.  The Opportunity of a Lifetime  How you re-open your restaurants will dictate how much success you experience … Continued

It started with the feelings we share with people around the world about the COVID-19 threat: shock, grief, disbelief, and fear. And it continued with the undercutting of our belief that working hard, staying smart, and continually improving our businesses would mean continued success. It … Continued

Here is what I am telling my clients now about surviving this crisis and keeping people working when it passes.  If you operate in an area where you can only offer to-go and delivery, take a short period of 10 days (over two weekends) to … Continued

In normal times, we avoid talking about safety. After all, why would we want to take guests’ mindset away from the positivity of their experience in our restaurants? But now, with no basketball games? No flights to Europe? And your college kid learning online because … Continued

I have never met a restaurateur who does not want people to take more ownership, action, and responsibility. But I have met plenty who sabotage themselves every day by actively working against that goal. Many owners of successful independent multi-unit restaurant companies do not yet … Continued

You don’t win an NBA championship without superstars. You don’t expect a movie to open strong and gross $500 million or more without the most popular actors. And you won’t ever own the best restaurant company without a few superstars of your own. Only the … Continued

The best way to run your second (or third of fourth) concept? Not the way you ran your first. The number one thing restaurateurs get wrong when operating multiple concepts? They superimpose their original concept’s corporate team onto their new one – when maximizing the … Continued

In our industry, there’s a lot of talk about brands that grow too fast. I recently wrote about that here. Meanwhile, we don’t talk nearly as much about brands that have the opportunity to grow, but grow too slowly – or don’t grow at all. Those … Continued

When I was growing up, my family ate in a lot of restaurants. A lot. And to me, those restaurants were organized and efficient businesses where everyone knew what to do and things ran smoothly.  Like where my father, an officer in a Fortune 500 … Continued

What is it that kills great plans? Organizations with a lack of accountability. Restaurateurs often start off with big and exciting ideas, fantastic talent, and a great grasp of what they need to grow their business. Ideas, plans, and programs become the wish/vision/dream boards of … Continued

Since the Great Recession, we’ve seen over 10 years of economic expansion. That means there are a lot of successful operators out there who have never known anything but good financial times. But they’re like the doctors who graduate from medical school without a business … Continued

“Why isn’t my restaurant making 20 percent?” I hear this plaintive cry from many frustrated restaurateurs who have heard about that number and – since they’ve heard about it – think they must be entitled to it. Some of my clients’ own restaurants make over … Continued

You’re out over your skis – going too fast and getting ahead of yourself. You own a successful independent multi-unit restaurant group and your ability to sign leases is outpacing your organization’s ability to perform. Future projections? Dazzling. But you have zero track record at … Continued

Welcome to the 2020s!   If you want to make outstanding business decisions, you need to know what’s coming next. So, what will we be dealing with over the next 10 years? I have a few predictions.  1. Rent and Food Delivery Expenses Will Go … Continued

I’ve gone back and chosen five especially popular or meaningful posts from this year – the ones my clients, owners of successful multi-unit independent restaurant companies, said benefited them the most.   So, as 2019 turns into 2020, take a moment to see how they … Continued

My clients’ DNA must be filled with a longing for growth. At best, this growth adheres to a plan. At worst, owners act like hungry, unruly, science-fiction monsters who can never be satisfied, and grow haphazardly because of it. All of the best restaurateurs I … Continued

Restaurateurs often contact me, thrilled they have one or two promising-looking units. In their mind they have made a fantastic leap toward having a national group of franchisees that provides them incredible mailbox money with lots of zeros they no longer have to work for. … Continued

Compared to where restaurateurs from my generation were when they were in their 30s and 40s, today’s restaurateurs at that age are crushing it! When I work with them, I convince them to move with higher velocity and take advantage of all their ideas, experiences, … Continued

If the only way you prove your restaurant’s continued success and competitive advantage comes through using data, that’s perilous.    That’s because the most important things in our industry are hard to measure: Culture Morale Guest happiness Service Sure, we have spent a lot of … Continued

The thing about procrastinators, commitment-phobes, and last-minute people? They don’t know what they are missing. Many of my clients – successful owners of independent restaurant companies – take more than their time in making decisions. Some of them simply hate to make decisions, because making … Continued

Your grill cook – the person who prepares that steak exactly to temperature – has a better sense of balance on the grill than you do on accountability in your restaurant. To the visionaries who start their organizations and become the successful multi-unit independent restaurateurs … Continued

Always run your restaurants like you are planning to sell them. When someone sells their house, they prepare it to appeal to buyers. They touch up chipping paint, clean stains off the hardwood floors, and plant the nicest flowers in the front yard. That cracked … Continued

“Believe me: I’m extremely aware that I compete with everyone in my segment—and most of the people in the other segments, too!” I often hear those words from people like you: successful owners of multi-unit independent restaurant companies. They live their lives as if everyone competes with … Continued

If you worked a 30-hour week, what would you do with the extra 10 or 20 hours you just gave yourself?  “Oh, I have a big list – can’t wait to be there. And I’m thinking about calling Matthew so I can be there sooner.”  … Continued

When was the last time you gave yourself a raise? The one you earned for increased performance. I meet a lot of well-known restaurateurs who proudly and confidently identify their businesses as “great.” They’re so great that, at first, they don’t even know why they … Continued

It’s Labor Day – the holiday dedicated to the American worker. Many people don’t think about the meaning of the day (if they ever knew it in the first place). And that’s what happens to a lot of our holidays. They morph into days of … Continued

People think that what got them started will continue to be a foundation of their future scaled success. Those people are wrong. When you add something you did not have at the beginning – when everything was new and exciting – you create phenomenal success … Continued

Are you overly dissatisfied – feeling things could be better, but not quite sure how to make them better? Or are you overly satisfied – so happy with the great life you have built for yourself that you don’t pay enough attention to making your restaurants even … Continued

When you reach a certain level of success, it’s OK to run that victory lap and settle in to being an owner, not an operator. One multi-unit owner I know has done this so well they consider their job “playing restaurateur.”  Be more like them. … Continued

For successful restaurateurs, there was a grueling period at the beginning when they really did have to work all the time. The most debilitating mistake people make? They don’t even notice when that time ends, so they keep running that schedule out of habit. Life … Continued

If you are anybody in our business in and around Texas, your usual mid-July habit is to head to Texas Restaurant Marketplace. That is where you’ll see new products and hear a wide range of speakers (including me) present new ideas about how to operate … Continued

Sitting in the dining room of one of my clients, we tried to figure out what this super-successful business leader had in common with some of my other clients. Then it hit me – he had never worked in a company he didn’t own! I’ve … Continued

In the past I have proven why culture provides 100% of your profits. That’s a lot. I constantly work with my clients – successful owners of independent restaurant companies – to define their culture in a permanent way. This lets them direct the behavior of … Continued