Bad and Struggling

Restaurants are closing all over America and it might be something different than what you are thinking? Is it poor food? Bad Finances, or is it something greater than all of the above?

What if it was determined by the CULTURE of our restaurant. That’s right I said CULTURE. 

Bad culture is what is plaguing the industry and leading to the mass exodous from the industry. 

-        20% of all restaurants in your market

-       Some are already dead and just don’t know it, merely zombies going through their week, only providing just enough sustenance to get through to the next.

-        Ultimately they feel like they are living in a literal hell

Symptoms

-       Losing money or at best barely breaking even

-       Owners working long hours in restaurant

-       Do not know what customers want

-       No clue on menu profitability (not knowing your numbers)

-       Few systems in place

-       No consistency in marketing

-       No formal training or further education

-       No hiring systems

The owners are stressed, overworked, broke mentally physically and financially, and are consumed in pride and ego

Toxic Culture Traits

-       Gossip

-       Drama

-       High Turnover and Call Offs

-       Poor Sanitation

-       1-3 Star Ratings

-       Prime Costs at 65% or more

-       Cliques

-       Employee Entitlement

-       Excuses

-       Staff is mostly low performers

-       No leadership or management

-       PANIC MODE!

The Team Runs Your Restaurant THEIR way

Below Average Restaurant WANT to focus on : Product

What they NEED to focus on: SYSTEMS

You most likely need a restaurant coach. If you really had the mindset and capabilities, you would have already fixed your problem

Bad restaurants make poor hiring decisions: Hiring for Desperation produces poor results

-       Comments on Estelle

Action Plan:

-       Find where the bleeding is. Perform a cost analysis on menu, labor, and fixed costs. Find where the money is pouring, and plug the drain, 

-       Establish high standards. Raise the bar to what you will not tolerate

-       Quality recruiting is your new life and your livelihood depends on it. 

-       Get rid of toxic staff. They are a cancer to your Brand

-       Get a mentor, business coach, or consultants. 

Donald Burns drops a great truth bomb in the next chapter he says:

“Restaurants become better when the people in them become better people”

He is not only talking about the bad apples of our staff, but ourselves. We have to become the best versions of our selves.