Restaurant Unit & Revenue Growth
Restaurateur’s Investment that Consistently Out Performs New Units Every Time
Building restaurants is sexy. It is fun. It represents all possibilities. It gets your employees and your customers excited. Oh yeah — and it gets you and investors excited, too. And, if you invest all your money into new units, you will end up making … Continued
How Creating a Culture of Trust Benefits Top Restaurateurs
To be truly successful, owners of multi-unit independent restaurant companies must feel free to leave the office and their restaurants — either for a vacation or simply for a day for some creative brainstorming time — without worrying. They need to know that the people … Continued
Why Restaurateurs Need Strategy and Laugh at Themselves When it is Missing
Not long ago I had lunch with a respected industry leader who is well known in his market for his career-long success in restaurant ownership over two different brands. Over that time, he has experienced more than his share of peaks and valleys. We were … Continued
Does Your Independent Restaurant Company Really Have Opportunity to Grow?
Opportunity allows you to have a chance to successfully grow the multi-unit independent restaurant company you own, building your net worth and the quality of your life. When your organization is surrounded by opportunity, an element of excitement about the future permeates your organization. The … Continued
Why Capability is the Door Opener to Successful Restaurants
Capability is the first key factor to having a business that allows you to maximize its value, your net worth, and the quality, flexibility, and enjoyment of your life. My research shows that when you add capability to the other key factors, opportunity and strategy … Continued
How Restaurateurs Use Transformational Questions to Grow Beyond Their Wildest Dreams
People often ask me to explain the many issues that face owners of successful multi-unit growing independent restaurant companies. If I had to distill all the conversations I have had with restaurateurs over the years down to one question, my choice would be obvious: “What … Continued
How Restaurateurs Get Incredible Results When They Stop Procrastinating and Start Improving
Now is always the right time to put together and start acting immediately on a great plan to increase revenue, profit, and the overall value of your successful multi-unit independent restaurant company. You know what would make a huge impact in your business, because it … Continued
Words Smart Restaurateurs Don’t Use to Describe Their Guests
“Butts in seats”. There are a lot of things we don’t say any more. We don’t say “waitress,” we don’t say “smoking or non-smoking,” and we certainly don’t say “cash register.” Nevertheless there are people out there who still say, “butts in seats,” as in, … Continued
Don’t Let Fear of a Restaurant Bubble Divert You From Success
People always talk about a possible restaurant bubble. It is human nature to worry about things that may impact our livelihoods. Owners of independent restaurant companies wonder, “Does the bubble exist? Is it about to burst? What happens when it does?” A couple of years … Continued
How Restaurateurs Create Superior Results Through Understanding Their Segment
Every night, before my daughter goes to sleep, I tell her, “Always be yourself.” I know that — when she knows who she is — shiny objects will not distract her. I deliver a similar message to independent restaurant company owners. Oprah Winfrey made billions … Continued
Alert! Four Issues Impact Your Restaurant’s Growth
My brother from Seattle, visiting me in Dallas, once asked me, “Does anyone in Dallas ever open a restaurant that is not a prototype for expansion?” He was being a little critical, a little incredulous, and also, I think, just really wanted to eat at … Continued
What Restaurants Focus on to Ensure Annual Revenue Growth
There are always concepts that are growing, prospering, and building impressive results, outpacing the market. Yours ought to be one of them. For some others, something changed. Many long-time operators who had felt it was their birthright to see 4-5% annual increase every year got … Continued
Secrets the Smartest Restauranteurs Know About Targeting Guests
When you are the best choice for the guest’s occasion, your guest counts increase. But who is your guest? And what is the occasion? Why You Shouldn’t Panic When you think about how much competition is out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But don’t … Continued
Until infrastructure is in place, you can’t afford to grow.
Recently, a partner in a startup chatted with me in the dining room of his first unit. He has aggressive goals for growth and wanted to discuss his second unit. He asked, “What are the biggest mistakes you see groups like mine make at the beginning of their … Continued
Grow at your own pace. But GROW!
Growth. It is the impetus of capitalism. So how do you know you are growing at the right pace? Every restaurant company we work with has a growth plan and a growth strategy. There is no one out there standing still that we know of. … Continued
Want to know more about the industry? Ask the suppliers.
Growing sales? Growing units? Every entrepreneur I have ever known thinks about these things every day. And it turns out the people who sell to them are thinking about the same things on their behalf. In the B to B world, vendors and suppliers come … Continued
Beware success on a shoestring
The good news? There’s a low barrier to entry in the restaurant business. The bad news? Well, you know. Most people think inferior locations, service, food or atmosphere are the factors that most often doom a restaurant. While those are all important, having enough cash … Continued
Good Basics Make Great Habits.
The keys to building revenue in every business are understanding the lifetime value of a customer and learning how to turn occasional users into habitual ones. So I was glad to contribute to a discussion of that kind of success for the cover story in … Continued
The Sky is Falling? The Sky’s the Limit!
I recently read a great article in The New Yorker about declinism, the idea that things are getting worse and are about to get even more so and we are all going down the drain. It pointed out that the ability for this pattern of … Continued
What tasted good in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.
You may have seen Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop in Vegas. Now, it’s coming to North Texas. The Dallas Business Journal recently wrote about their entry into the market. Staff Writer Steven Thompson asked me about its prospects. The sandwich restaurant segment is becoming focused on menu … Continued
To franchise? Or not to franchise?
Many of our clients have asked me about franchising the brands we are helping them to grow. Who wouldn’t think about that? The idea of plenty of mail-box money and growing a business through capital from franchisees is very attractive. My advice is clear. The … Continued
Crazy? I call it conservative.
Red Mango to grow by up to 100 stores by Steven R. Thompson / Staff Writer Dallas Business Journal 8/26 – 9/1/2011 Last week, Steve Thompson at the Dallas Business Journal quoted me in his story about Red Mango‘s plans for expanding by 100 stores … Continued
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