[00:00:00] I have spent my Entire Adult Life, 22 years, working in restaurants. I love our industry. I love the relationships I built with the people in this industry, right? The owners, the chefs, the operators, all of the great people I work with. But more than that, I love being able to help those people build more profitable businesses. Businesses that work as hard as they do. I've worked with more than 200 restaurants over my career. First as an hourly employee, then as a manager, and now as a consultant and a coach. And I've gathered a list of the 10 cardinal sins, the biggest mistakes that operators make. The 10 biggest mistakes that keep those operators from realizing the profits they deserve. You want to know what they are? Stick around. You want to know how to fix them? Stick around all the way to the end.
[00:00:48] There's an old saying goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, and those who can see when shown.
[00:00:58] This is Restaurant Strategy, a marketing podcast for anyone who's looking.
[00:01:19] Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close and this is Restaurant Strategy, a weekly podcast all about helping chefs and operators build more profitable restaurants. Each week we toggle back and forth between a monologue style format and an interview, but the goal is always the same. To take complicated concepts, both on the marketing side and on the operational side, and make them both understandable and actionable. Why? Because, like I always say, information is only as valuable as the action it inspires.
[00:01:50] Now, despite easing restrictions, all of us are still strapped into the roller coaster ride of fluctuating food prices. That, combined with continuing staffing challenges, makes it more important than ever to control your costs to remain profitable. Margin Edge is a restaurant management software that uses POS integration and invoice data to show you your food and labor costs in real time so you can make informed decisions in the moment rather than weeks after the period ends.
[00:02:22] By automating your invoice processing and totally digitizing your back office, Margin Edge saves your team hours on paperwork and gives you instant insights to manage your prime costs. Take control of those costs with real time data. Best of all, listeners of this show get to try Margin Edge for free. Absolutely for free for 30 days. No contract, no setup fee, free and unlimited training and support. Learn more by going to margin edge.com chip again that show that is in the show notes the link again is margin edge.com chip Now I said we've got these cardinal sins, right? The 10 biggest mistakes that keep operators from making double digit profits. So when I work with my clients, I always target a 20% profit margin and everybody laughs at me. They sort of turn their nose up at me. But, but if we're not going to make money, why even bother, right? I'd rather try for 20, fall short and hit 15, rather than try for 10 and fall short at 5 or try for 5 and, and just be operating at a break even. You deserve a business that works as hard as you do. So I've got these 10 things, right, the 10 biggest mistakes that keep operators from making these double digit profits. It's, it's easy, it's simple, right? It's all about getting organized. It's all about focusing on the numbers. We're going to, going to get into it. I'm going to share you all 10 of these things, right? So let's get to it. Let's not waste any more time. The number one, the biggest mistake that I see restaurant owners, operators, chefs make, they don't have a budget now. I mean, a budget like a pro forma, right? Pro forma is a projection. It's looking at the month ahead or two months ahead or three months ahead and saying based on historical data, based on current trends, based on food prices, based on all of that, this is how much I'm projecting that we will make. Is that going to be right? No, never. It is never going to be right. It is a, it is a guesstimate, right? You're looking at all, taking all the information and making an estimate of what you think you're going to make. That's what a projection is.
[00:04:36] It's amazing to me how few people do this. The big, the big restaurants, right? The chains, the groups, anybody that's really serious playing at a certain level does this every single month. It's automatic. And you know what? You can't do all of the other things you need to do unless you have a budget. You got to do a budget. So you know what your, what the path is to profitability. If you know you want to make 20% profit, well then, okay, if you're going to project that you're going to make $100,000 in revenue, top line revenue next month, well, you know that turns into $20,000 in profit, right? Net income at the bottom of the, at the bottom of the statement. But if you don't know how much you're going to make, you don't know how much you're going to take away at the end.
[00:05:23] You need a budget. You have to estimate how much your labor is going to be Right. If you can build a budget and you get a sense of how many coverage you're going to do and how much, how much revenue per customer, all of that, then you can build a budget. Then you can build a budget for all the different departments so people know what they can spend on labor, on food, on beverage, on everything. If you don't have a budget, you are sunk from the start. And all you're doing is sort of managing with your gut and you're actually not managing at all. You're making sure the lights get turned on, the doors get unlocked, nobody catches on fire during the shift, and then the lights get turned off and doors get locked at the end. Congratulations. You don't have managers, you have babysitters. If you have a budget, then everybody knows what we're taught, what we're going for. Everyone's got a target to reach for. So the number one mistake, the number one mistake that I see restaurant owners make is they don't have a path to profitability. They don't know what their recipe is, they don't know how much profit they're, they're. They're aiming for. And they don't have a budget that shows them the path, the way to get to that profitability. That's the number one problem. You don't have that. You're sunk from the start. You don't have a chance.
[00:06:36] Now, number two, the second biggest mistake, it's, we're going to stick with the budgeting. They don't match that budget with the P and L after the period is closed. So I worked at a restaurant years ago, and the 15th of every month, it didn't matter what day of the week it fell on, if it was a Sunday. Everybody's got to come in because budget meeting happened every month on the 15th. We looked at the P L from the previous month, and then we looked at the budget for the month ahead again. The budget, the pro forma, is merely a projection, right? So you look at the P L from the last month. So here we are, right? So it's, it's March when I'm recording this. So we would meet on March 15, and you look back at the P and L for February and you match that up against the budget, the budget that you did for February before the month started. Your guess, your projection, you put that right next to the P and L and you say, how close did we come? If you do this, month after month after month, year after year, those numbers will get closer and closer and closer because you'll Be better at making a projection. You'll start knowing your restaurant better, you'll start seeing trends, all of that. Those will get closer and closer together. You will never be right. You're never going to pick it exactly right, but you're going to get closer, and that's going to help you manage better. So if you're not matching up your P and L with your budget after the fact, you're not learning anything from the P and L. Hey, this is what I thought we were going to do. This is the budget I built, the projections I made.
[00:08:12] But then what actually happened? And then you got to start to do a postmortem and say, great, what happened? And why do we think it happened that way? Is there anything we can learn from this? Could I have done this better? Could I make a better projection for next year? That's the first half of the budget meeting. We go back and we look at the budget that we built for the previous month, and we look at the previous month's P and L, we match them up and we learn something. And then we look at the budget, and the budget's already been prepared for for the month ahead.
[00:08:41] Now we might learn some stuff from February that can be applied to our April budget. So it's not locked, it's just a document that we can look at. And then we ask some questions of every department. We make sure we understand it, we make sure it's realistic. We lock it in. Whoever's responsible for building the budget goes back and tweaks the budget. And then after that meeting, usually like an hour or two after the meeting, issues the final one that goes out to every department who needs needs to see it. The second biggest mistake I see here, right. Number one, they don't have a budget. Number two, they don't match the budget with the P and L later to try to learn something.
[00:09:16] Now, number three, the number three problem I see is that then they don't manage by the numbers, right? Operators often don't manage by the numbers. There is something called prime costs. Prime costs determine our profitability more than anything else. What our prime costs? Prime costs are the cost of goods sold and your labor. Labor including benefits, taxes, everything. Right. Fees, everything. All in. How much does it cost to bring product in that you will then turn into product you can sell? And how much do your people cost? The people that are required to run your business? Cost of goods sold in labor. Together we call them prime costs. There is a relationship between those costs and the overall revenue. This is super important. And Nobody does this, right? We always talk about food cost. Oh, where's your food cost? Where's your food cost? Where's your food cost?
[00:10:10] But if a chef, for example, doesn't have a budget at the beginning of the month, they're just sort of winging on a prayer, right? They're ordering, they're guessing, they're kind of using last week's order or the week before, the week before, looking at last year's April to make their, to make their orders.
[00:10:26] But you've got to manage by the numbers. Again, if you build that projection, you build the budget for the month ahead and it says, hey, we got a, you know, we're gonna, we're projecting, we're gonna do a hundred thousand dollars in revenue. And you want to keep your cost of goods sold below 30%, let's say, well then, great, that's like $7,000 a week that you can spend on goods, on food, beer, wine, spirits, juices, whatever, right? That's really important because 7,000 times four weeks equals 28,000. And then you got $2,000 to play with, and that gets you to 30,000. 30% of a hundred is 30.
[00:11:06] So if you think you're going to make a hundred thousand dollars in revenue for the month of April, you can only spend $30,000 on your goods in order to hit your 30% cost.
[00:11:17] Same thing is true with labor and on and on.
[00:11:21] If you don't know your budget, you certainly can't manage based on that budget. That's why the budget is, number one, you've got to have a budget. Number two, you've got to match that budget with the P and L and learn from it every single month. Number three, you need to start managing by the numbers and you need to start showing your managers how to manage by the numbers. I can't tell you how important that is. So few restaurants in this country do it. And that's why we've got such a failure rate. That's why that's it. Hands down, those three. Even if you stop listening to this podcast right now, if you just do those three things, you'll win. You'll see an immediate, immediate change in your restaurant. And if you don't know what any of this is that I just said, a pro forma budget, A P and L prime cost. If you don't know what that is, then email me
[email protected] c h I p k l o s e.com chipclose.com we will walk through it. I will show you what is meant by prime cost budget pro formas PNLs. I will show you how to build it. That's. That's it. Those three altogether. Even if you switch this thing off right now, which I hope you don't, because there's lots of other good ones, but even if you stopped right there, you will. You'll tick up your profitability significantly if you just start doing those three. Those three things. Now, number four, the fourth biggest mistake that I see people making is that they open their restaurant and they have an undifferentiated product.
[00:12:48] Good food, good service in a cool space is no longer enough, right? Good is no longer good enough. Nobody cares. There are more restaurants in this country than there have ever been in the history of this country. And we've got better restaurants than ever before. We have more good restaurants than ever before. Good is no longer good enough. You need to have differentiation. You people put out some new version of something we already have, right? I'm going to open a. You know, somebody's going to open an Irish pub. Why should I go to this new Irish pub? I already have my favorite Irish pub. The bartenders are all known my name. They play the music I like, it's cool lighting. They already, they know what kind of beer I like. The wings are good, lots of TVs. Why would I go somewhere else when I already have a place that I know like? And trust me, you have to give people an answer to that question.
[00:13:39] The answer is not that we're better, right? Oh, we're better. If you tell people that, you know, hey, you should come to my new Irish pub. It's like, oh, I already have a great Irish pub that I love. And so, no, no, we're better.
[00:13:51] Nobody's going to listen to you. You've actually sort of insulted them because you've told them, actually, the one you like, the one you love, the one you've been going to for years, actually isn't very good. And. And you'd know if you came to ours because ours is good. It's bs. You need a differentiated product. The biggest mistake, the fourth biggest mistake I see people making, right, Is that they open a restaurant and they have an undifferentiated product. You need to tell people how you're different than everything else out there. Meaning why should I come to you as opposed to somewhere else? Why would I get your wings when I can get wings just fine at the place down the street? Oh, well, our wings are dot, dot, dot. Yes, that's how you answer that question. Ours Are different than the ones you're used to. You got to check them out. Oh, well, how come you're Irish? Well, we're. You've got to supply an answer.
[00:14:40] So many restaurants out there are just undifferentiated. I talk about this, right? Pizza places, sushi places, Chinese restaurants, right? They're undifferentiated. They've got the same general. So chicken, sweet and sour chicken, the same lo mein.
[00:14:54] You know, I can get my maki rolls, I can get my spicy tuna. It's the same.
[00:14:59] Why would I go to one place as opposed to the other? Because it's closer, because it's cheaper. Because maybe they got some special fancy roll. Different. That's. That's a differentiated product.
[00:15:09] If you've got a different fancy, quirky, interesting role that I can't get anywhere else, well, then that might be why I choose this sushi restaurant as opposed to another one.
[00:15:18] But there's so many restaurants in this country that are just undifferentiated. Irish pubs, dime a dozen, they all look the same. Pizza places, it's pizza. It's dough, cheese, sauce, toppings.
[00:15:32] They're undifferentiated. That's one of the biggest reasons that causes a place to fail. They say, oh, I know what I'm doing. My food's good. We're gonna have good service and we're gonna have a really, you know, really cool, you know, nice looking dining room. Fine. Who cares? We already have plenty of those places. We don't need just another anything. So give us a differentiated product. Something that is different from everything else out there. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Doesn't have to be quirky and weird and all that. It just has to be different. So when somebody says, oh, why should I go to your new place? As opposed to the place I already love, you've got an answer for them. It might not be enough to compel them to come, but I bet you it's going to compel some people enough people to come so that you can be profitable. That's it. Number four.
[00:16:16] Number five. I love this one.
[00:16:20] Operators talk about the importance of culture, but haven't made any real effort to establish a culture. Let me just tell you what happens, and tell me if this sounds familiar, right? Is that we all sit around saying, hey, guys, we need more teamwork.
[00:16:35] Teamwork doesn't happen by sitting at a meeting talking about how we need teamwork.
[00:16:40] Teamwork happens when you make that part of the culture. For example, when you make it part of somebody's job, right? If you want people to be positive, then find opportunities for them to be positive with each other. Again, if you want to promote teamwork, then you've got to make it part of their job. I always talk about this when I train bussers, for example. I always, you know, we talk about figure eights, if you've never heard that term.
[00:17:05] It happens when you say, what am I supposed to do? On the floor, Managers have figure eight. The server has a figure eight. A bartender has a figure eight. A busser, a runner. Everybody in your. In your restaurant, whether you formalized it or not, but they have a figure eight. Something that chain restaurants, it's a phrase that chain restaurants use a lot. So when I train bussers, and especially with bussers, because they're young, they're new, they don't have a lot of experience often. So I have to make it very bite sized for them, easy to understand because everybody's capable of doing a great job as a busser or as a backwater or as a server's assistant. They just need to be taught so I can teach them what to do. But one of the big things I have to teach them is the way to think, a way to operate on the floor. So when I train bussers or server assistants or back waiters, whatever you want to call them in your restaurant, I always say, this is what I want you thinking of over and over and over again.
[00:17:59] Bread, water. Clear. Reset. Help.
[00:18:03] Red water. Clear. Reset. Help. Bread, water. Clear. Reset. Help. I want you to look around your station, see if anybody needs bread. I want you to look around your station, see if anybody needs a water refill. I want you to see if anything needs to be cleared. Dead glassware, dead dishes. If a table needs to be cleared to be reset. And then does anything need to be reset or marked for the next course? Is anybody missing a fork, a napkin, you know, a plate, a share plate for the next course? Does anything need to be reset?
[00:18:31] Bread, water, clear. Reset. And then help.
[00:18:35] If you do all those things, everybody has bread, everybody has water. Nothing needs to be cleared, nothing needs to be reset.
[00:18:42] Then your next thing is that you see who needs help. You go ask everybody around you, do you need anything? Do you need anything I can get for you? Do you need help? Do you want me to help you clear that table?
[00:18:51] You ask somebody around you or many people around you if they need help.
[00:18:55] So all they have to think all night long is, does everybody have bread? Does everybody have water?
[00:19:00] Do I need to clear anything? Do I need to reset anything? Let me see if somebody needs help.
[00:19:04] So when we talk about teamwork, right, we can sit around in a meeting and say, hey, guys, we really need more teamwork. Yeah, okay. Okay. We need more teamwork. Make sure you're helping out each other.
[00:19:13] That's talking about culture.
[00:19:16] But to instill that into the culture of your restaurant, you've got to make it part of their job description. So when I've managed and I train bussers, that's how I train them. That's how I establish that culture of teamwork, for example, because every fifth thing they have to worry about is going to see if anybody needs help. Bread, water, clear, reset, help. That's what I talk to them and I say, that's all that's got to go through your mind. Okay, so that's the top five, top five things that keep restaurants from being profitable. Number one, operators don't have a budget. Number two, they don't match that budget with the P and L at the end of the period.
[00:19:57] They don't manage by the numbers. Right?
[00:20:00] So they don't have a budget. So they certainly can't manage by the budget. And even if they do have a budget, they don't manage by the budget. Number four, they have an undifferentiated product. Product. And number five, they talk an awful lot about the importance of culture, but don't know how to actually put in that into practice and create the culture they want. Those are the top five we're going to come down. Come back with the other five after a word from another one of our sponsors.
[00:20:25] Today's episode of Restaurant Strategy is brought to you by seven Shifts. Seven Shifts is a modern team management platform designed by restaurateurs for restaurant tours. Effective team management is more important than ever to ensure profitability and restaurant success. Just. Just like what we're talking about on this episode, right? Especially now as restaurants start to open back up and now start expanding their teams back to their pre pandemic levels. It's crucial. Trusted by more than half a million restaurant professionals, seven Shifts gives you the tools you need to simplify scheduling, to easily manage time and attendance, to communicate with your team, and to retain your talent. Best of all, seven Shifts integrates with the POS and payroll systems you already use, turning your team into a competitive advantage for your business.
[00:21:15] Right now, restaurant strategy podcast listeners can get three months absolutely free. Three months for free. To get started, go to seven shifts.com RestaurantStrategy. That's the number seven.
[00:21:29] S H I F T S.com RestaurantStrategy again to get three months of industry leading team management software for free. As always, that link is in the show notes.
[00:21:44] Now we're talking this week about the top 10, right? The 10 biggest mistakes that operators make that keep their restaurants from achieving maximum profit. Profitability. This is what keeps you in the red when you should be in the black. This is what keeps you hovering just above a break even when you should be making 10, 15, 20% profit margins. Again, the top five we talked about. Number one, operators don't have a budget. Number two, they don't match that budget with the P L after the period is closed. Number three, they're not managing by the numbers. Number four, they have an undifferentiated product. And number five, they talk an awful lot about culture, but they don't know how to create the culture. And we talked about how to start doing it now. Number six, they're not organized. Right. You've got to get organized. Having all the best ideas in the world doesn't matter unless you can communicate that and articulate that to the team around you. There are tools out there to get organized. I don't care what you use. You just have to get organized. Otherwise you end up doing the bare minimum or you end up running around at the last minute and that's not your best work.
[00:22:50] You have to get organized.
[00:22:54] And we're talking about marketing, we're talking about operations, we're talking about hiring, training, managing, about developing your staff, on and on and on. Get organized. You got to do the work anyway. You're going to have to do the work now or two months from now. Why not now? If you do it now, you're going to be able to do better work. Your team then is going to be able to follow your lead and they're going to be able to do better work. You're going to have to do this stuff at some point. Why not ahead of time, anticipate these problems. Get organized.
[00:23:24] Number seven, one of the biggest issues that I see operators make is they don't spend money on marketing. None, zero, Nothing. Right. We would never, never just hire someone off the street and put them in charge of the kitchen.
[00:23:36] Hey, do you, have you ever cooked before? No. You've eaten before? Okay. You've eaten before. Yeah. Come on in. Yeah. Create a menu. Yeah. Cost it out. Why don't you hire some people, show them how to do it? We would never do that. And yet we do that with marketing all the time. Does anybody here know how to do marketing, anyone? Hey, what do you. Hey, she's young. I bet you she knows how to do social media. Hey, everybody under the age of 25 is not an expert on social media. Everybody under the age of 25 is probably on social media, but that doesn't make them an expert on how to market your restaurant on social media. Also, PS Social media is not marketing. Social media is a tool available to the marketer, but there are two dozen tools available to marketers. Social media is not where it begins and ends. Social media should be somewhere in the middle. There's a lot of stuff you should be doing before social media and there's a lot you should be doing after social media. So it's one of the biggest issues I see. People don't spend money on marketing, they don't make it a priority. Right? And this goes hand in hand with number six, what we just talked about, right? About not being organized. Get organized. Look at all the channels that are available to you. Figure out where you want to spend your resources, both time and money and your human capital, right? You only have so many people on staff that can only do so much. Pick your targets in the aim, get organized and create a budget.
[00:24:55] I don't care if it's even just $1,000 a month on marketing. If you're driving 100, 200, $300,000 in revenue a month, trust me, you can spend $1,000 on marketing. Whatever that number is, it's got to be 500. Fine, if it could be 2,000, 3,000, better, right? Doesn't matter the number, it matters more that you're doing it.
[00:25:16] Number eight here, operators viewing technology as a burden as opposed to the solution they've been seeking, right?
[00:25:27] Everything is technology right now. Over the last 40 years, technology has disrupted every major industry in our world.
[00:25:34] Retail, healthcare, education, publishing, journalism, right? Look at newspapers, the music industry, movies, tv, right? TV is a great example.
[00:25:45] It's totally, it's totally upended.
[00:25:48] Same thing is happening in our industry. We sort of avoided it for a long time. The technology we got made things easier, but it didn't really change how a restaurant operates, right? We used to have a big reservation book at the front door and then we have a reservation software. Now we have the open table or seven rooms or talk or whatever you use, right? It's the same thing. We used to write down people's name and number in a book and now we write people's names. Name a number in a computer, right?
[00:26:16] Except now this technology has gotten so good that that the software Right. The reservation software, the table management software can actually help you keep better track your people, and you can use that to actually drive more business.
[00:26:31] So it's not just a useless piece of software. And now technology is being used in all kinds of extraordinary ways. Right? We've got two, two sponsors on this show. Margin Edge and Seven Rooms, absolutely revolutionizing the way we schedule, train and communicate with our teams. Margin Edge is totally revolutionizing the way that we manage our prime costs. It's, it's apropos that, that they're joining, that they're joining the podcast as sponsors now, because this is what we're talking about today, and we're going to be talking a lot more operationally over the next couple of months.
[00:27:03] It's all about using technology not as a burden, not as one more thing you've got to do, but as the key piece that's going to allow you to drive more revenue, that's going to save you a lot of other time. There's so many. There's so many ways that we can use technology.
[00:27:19] Start seeing it as the answer to your prayers rather than one more thing you've got to do. I promise you, if you just shift the way you think about technology and how it can integrate, it'll change. It'll change it all.
[00:27:32] Now, number nine, they don't have systems for staff, right? They don't have a system for hiring their staff. They don't have a system for training their staff. And mostly they don't have a. A system for developing staff. If there's anything we are really bad at, it's building systems. You need systems for everything in your restaurant. But right now I'm specifically talking about the people, right? We run a people business. We buy products from people, we hire people, we ask people to wait on people.
[00:28:06] People pay us so that we can pay our other people. Everything we do is about the people.
[00:28:13] So we need a system for everything and specifically for working with our people. You need a system for hiring your staff.
[00:28:21] How do you find your staff?
[00:28:23] How do you make a good first impression? How do you attract them? How do you convince them to take a job with you as opposed to another place?
[00:28:30] You need a system, obviously, for training your staff, right? Level one, level two and level three, staff development.
[00:28:36] Level one is the week, right? The first week they're hired. You need to teach them as much as possible so they're brought up to speed, at least as much as possible. So they can take a station, so they can take a section on the floor.
[00:28:47] Fine. But Then what beyond that, how do you check in with them at 30, 60, 90 days? Are you. Are you telling them what they're doing? Well, you're telling them what they still need to improve upon. Are you helping them grow in their role so that they're as good as they can be? So that they're as good as the best person on staff by the end of their first 90 days?
[00:29:09] That's a challenge. Nobody has that. I do that. I don't. I don't see any restaurants doing that. That.
[00:29:14] And then how do you develop your staff? You know, it's. It's like keeping a deep bench. This is what happens in most restaurants. Tell me if this sounds familiar.
[00:29:22] The manager, your floor manager, is caught drinking, makes a. Makes an idiot of himself. You got to fire him. There's no way you can keep this guy on board. You got to fire him. And you've got nobody else to replace him.
[00:29:35] Nobody else. You're totally screwed. You're going to have to work every shift from now until the end of time.
[00:29:40] So what do you do?
[00:29:41] You look around and you find your best person and you say, let's just. Let's just promote them.
[00:29:50] And that's great. Promoting from within is great. And sometimes that person is a perfect manager, but so often they are not. They're a great server, but they're not necessarily going to be a great manager. They're a great bartender. That doesn't make them a great beverage director.
[00:30:07] How do we get them to be a good manager, a good beverage director, a good bar director, bar manager? How do we get them?
[00:30:15] How do you develop your staff so that they're ready to go when they're called up to the big game?
[00:30:22] That's what you need.
[00:30:23] You need a system for developing your staff. Otherwise you're gonna have the same thing, right?
[00:30:29] It's like. It's like Einstein said, right? Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting different results is insanity.
[00:30:38] We have to stop doing things the way we've always done things. You do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. Tony Robbins, right? We've heard these cliches a hundred times, phrased in all different ways.
[00:30:51] You can't find staff. You're not developing your staff. You're not giving them enough reasons to stick around.
[00:30:57] But if they knew they had a good job, good pay, and there were opportunities beyond, I think you'd attract the right kind of people. So this is one of the big problems I see. One of the biggest mistakes, operators don't have a system in place for developing their staff.
[00:31:11] And then finally, number 10, this is a big one. And usually when I give this in person, when I give this some version of this presentation, have everybody raise their hands, right, here's number 10. And I get a lot of hands on this one. One of the biggest mistakes that I see operators make is that they think that they're the only ones who can fix the problem.
[00:31:32] And in order to fix the problem, they simply have to work harder.
[00:31:38] It's not about working harder, it's about working smarter. And I know another cliche, but guess what? It's right. We got to stop working in our business to free up ourselves up so we can work on our business. You are not the only one who can fix the problems. There are some problems that will fall on you. There are some problems that, yes, you are the only one who can address it. But guess what? I bet you you're not addressing those problems because you're busy covering all the other problems that can very easily be handled by other people.
[00:32:11] Simply working harder is not going to make you more money.
[00:32:15] It's not going to make it better.
[00:32:17] You have to change. You have. You got to work smarter.
[00:32:21] Now, again, I give this talk, or some version of it, all over the country. And though I can't see the looks on your faces, I'm going to guess that we're going to get similar results to what I see in conference rooms and expo stages all over the country. I'm going to guess that at least four, four or five of these resonated with you. Maybe some of you out there were nodding along with, like, all 10.
[00:32:46] I get it. At one time, I was sitting right where you're sitting, right. You don't know what you don't know.
[00:32:54] But if you're guilty of any of these 10 things, that's the answer. That's why your restaurant isn't profitable or isn't as profitable as it could be or as it should be.
[00:33:05] So now, if any of these sound familiar, then I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you. You are not alone. And yes, there are things you can do to turn things around. It's simply about acknowledging that, yes, you need help. And then it's about taking the necessary steps to fix the problems. Again, if you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always gotten right. Again, you're not alone.
[00:33:34] Know that. Simply acknowledge that you need help.
[00:33:38] And let's take the steps to fix the problems.
[00:33:41] So I'm launching a brand new program. It's called Restaurant Recharge. We work through all of these issues in a systematic way. Is it possible to turn a restaurant around in two months? Yes. Yes, I believe it is. That's what I've put together. I put together a program that helps you turn your restaurant around in two months. It's possible if you do exactly what I show you to do.
[00:34:03] Restaurant Recharge is an eight week program.
[00:34:06] Short videos. Monday through Friday. There may be 15 to 20 minutes each and every day. It's short, it doesn't require a lot of time. And then you got a short exercise that you do right afterwards that helps you apply that day's lesson to your business. Right? So you watch five videos every week. Monday through Friday you do that for eight weeks. There are 40 videos and in all. And then you've got weekly group coaching calls with me. If you are in this program, you get to meet with me as a zoom call every week. Everybody who's in this program where you get accountability, you get insight, you get all of my experience, you get the experience from all of the other operators on there. It'll be a room full of operators who are going through what you are going through. Again, I will be on those calls to answer any questions. I will be on those calls to help you work through whatever trouble spots you've got as you cover each area. Eight weeks, there are eight modules, right? So eight sections that you work through, five videos in each section for a total of 80 lessons. If you're ready to turn things around, then I want you to join me for the eight week course again. It's called Restaurant Recharge. It is a sprint all the way to the finish line. But I promise you will have a whole new restaurant by the end. It's one flat fee that gets you unlimited lifetime access to the course plus the eight weekly group coaching calls. It's an hour every single week where I get to help you implement the ideas into your business. You get to connect with me. I'll answer whatever questions you have. I will help you in whatever way I can. The program works. I know it does. It works if you show up and actually do the work. So if you're ready for a change, if you're ready to change the trajectory of your restaurant, then I want you to go visit restaurantstrategypodcast.com course okay. Or of course, you can simply click the link in the show notes. It's listed there. But RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com course. Make a change. Let me help you be part of that change. Join this incredible community of chefs, operators, managers, owners, all in the same place you are. This got a restaurant, it's just not doing what they want it to. They got a restaurant, it's just not as profitable as they know it can be. Let me help you. Restaurant Recharge is the program that is meant to help you. As always, I want to thank you for taking the time out of your week to listen in to this podcast. If you've got a few extra minutes, go leave us a five star rating and review on Apple podcasts. It really does help us improve in the rankings. Till next time, stay cool, stay creative, and remember, go, go join me for this program. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com course. I will see you there.
[00:37:11] Sam.
[00:37:37] Sa.
