In 2024 we learned how to operate successfully and improve results in a flat market. Not the most enjoyable subject, but one that will remain valuable for the rest of our careers. Forget this lesson at your peril.
I started out the year reminding you to focus on guest count and employee retention, and built from there.
Here are my greatest hits from the year – five especially popular or meaningful posts from 2024 that will help you as you prepare for activity in 2025.
The people who read this newsletter or my blog, the clients I work with, and my Restaurant Owners Success Club members have told me these messages resonated and made a difference in their companies, providing impetus for action and success.
- The Existential Path to Restaurant Success Taught by the New Starbucks CEO. Everyone loves a success story. Still, we learn a lot from failure. My clients have identified closely with the new approach at Starbucks: getting away from gimmicks, going back to basics, and being great at what made their brand successful in the first place.
- 10 Impactful Areas Restaurateurs Need to Focus on Now. What I do with clients now. Operating in a flat market forces people to look in many different places to make more money.
- How to Discover the Missing Pieces to Increase Your Restaurant’s Success. The fastest way for me to increase results in successful restaurant groups remains showing clients how to handle gaps in their business – in some cases, gaps that have been there from the beginning. Then, things really start to take off.
- Don’t Sell Your Restaurants – Retire in Place Instead. This one details the method for my older (and not-so-old) clients to still own their business in retirement (and no, that’s not an oxymoron). I help people enjoy permanent cash flow instead of selling when the multiple they would obtain in a sale looks unattractive. I’ll be delving into this more on January 28, 2025, as part of my talk in an upcoming webinar from the National Restaurant Association Show. Free registration here.
- How Top Restaurant Owners Enjoy the Freedom They Have Earned. Spring break? Summer break? Winter break? Friday afternoon? I spend more time improving lives and companies – so people can get away from their businesses – than I do urging people to work harder and longer hours.
My wish for you? Take these five concepts and prepare for breakthroughs in your organization and your life in 2025.
At year end, I want you to know that I appreciate the effort you make to keep up with my work and share it with your peers along with others in your organization.
My life’s work involves helping people like you. I always remember the opportunity you give me to make a difference in your life, and for the life of your employees, families, guests, and the communities you serve.
