Profitably is Priority #1 – Words of Wisdom
By David Scott Peters
I am a restaurant expert, teaching my SMART systems to independent restaurant owners all over the country (and the world). I teach through speaking engagements, training workshops and coaching sessions. What it all boils down to — I talk a lot!
But with all my talking, my single goal in life is to help the independent restaurant owner not only survive, but thrive, in the sea of chain restaurants out there.
With this in mind, I have a treasure chest filled with timeless stories and words of wisdom that I dive into almost on a daily basis. One story I seem to use regularly is the one where I show restaurant owners that running a restaurant is about making money. It’s not about winning a popularity contest or running a charity. It’s a business meant to make a profit.
So many restaurant owners get into the business because they have a passion for food, for service, and had a dream of creating the perfect restaurant. For these owners, making money was the side benefit, just so long as they could fulfill their passion for food and interaction with customers.
Whatever the reason for opening a restaurant, many independent restaurant owners are missing the fundamental tools they need to run a profitable business. They run their businesses by walking their floor and checking their online banking statement to see that there is money in the bank — with their fingers crossed.
I’ve seen restaurant owners who love their employees so much, they will go into debt or dip into retirement funds to make payroll. They don’t want their employees not to have a job, even though the business is losing money hand over fist and won’t be around for long-term employment anyway.
So here are my words of wisdom on this subject…
If you’re an independent restaurant owner, you have a responsibility to run a profitable business!
1) You have a responsibility to your customers, to whom you provide a product and service that fills a need in your community.
2) You have a responsibility to your employees to offer them gainful employment by which they feed their families.
3) You have a responsibility to you, your family and your investors to run a profitable restaurant, because that’s how you pay your bills, how you keep a roof over your head and create a strong financial future.
With this in mind, put systems in place that make your restaurant run smoothly and profitably. You need to make smart business decisions based on turning a profit.
This simple shift in thinking can put you on a path to restaurant success almost overnight. Is this how you see your business? Let’s make this post interesting and valuable to everyone. Please share with me how a shift in thinking propelled your business forward. Please take the time by posting your story in the comment section below. Inspire others with what you’ve learned.
David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in systems for independent restaurant owners. He is known as the SMART Systems guy who can walk into any restaurant in the United Stated and find you $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door … Guaranteed! Visit www.TheRestaurantExpert.com for more.
Please note: you can also find me on www.fohboh.com, where I am a FohBohist. Come join the community just for the restaurant industry!
