There is an old adage in the food service business says many a restaurant turnaround consultant that the way to tell “if a fish is going bad is if it stinks at the head first!” Using the analogy that your failing restaurant is like a bad fish, the problems usually start at the head of…
Face it, the cost of monthly rent is one of the biggest expenses next to labor costs to be reduced for both a tenant and a restaurant turnaround consultant charged with developing a strategy to save a food service operation. One of the key areas in order to save a failing restaurant business is to…
Two recent restaurant expert reports on the state of the industry for last year and the first quarter of this year show improvements in year over year sales. This is especially true in the quick-service and fast casual foodservice sectors. However, restaurant operators remain pessimistic as to whether sales will rise or stay flat. According…
There were two contrasting stories that talk about whether raising prices is a good idea especially if you are restaurant turnaround consultant. Of course, if you are charged with helping a failing restaurant regain lost market share, the first thought is to increase customers by way of lower priced promotions, specials and so on. However,…
After marketing, another key area of the four MMMMs to saving a failing foodservice operation that a restaurant turnaround consultant will target is to increase income and cash flow. This is focusing on the all important second one: Restaurant Dining RoomMoney When cash is tight and the restaurant is struggling to just meet day-to-day obligations…
Advice from many a restaurant management consultant would suggest one should write a comprehensive business plan prior to approaching banks, investors and others when trying to raise money. However, sitting down and writing a final draft will require a significant amount of time and effort unless you are hiring a professional to do some or…
The four key areas to saving a failing foodservice operation that a restaurant turnaround consultant will typically focus on are marketing, money, manpower and management. In any revival or repositioning of a once thriving restaurant, minding the MMMMs is a critical strategy and starts with the most important one: Marketing Restaurant Table SettingWhen customer counts…
Watching and adjusting manpower levels is probably the most important M that a restaurant turnaround consultant will evaluate. It can adversely affect your existing money and marketing significantly. However, many independent restaurant operators and those who lack prior restaurant management training will often overlook this key cost within a food service operation. DiningRoom Table SettingFor…
Restaurant expert reports from July 2013offer a mixed bag of news for owners of restaurants and investors in the industry. Though the short-term news is somewhat negative, the long-term outlook offers reasons to expect improvement in the near future. In the spring months, a period of positive month-by-month growth left owners and investors optimistic that…
Traditional wisdom suggests that when you write a restaurant bar business plan, it should be with the assumption you will be successful. However, according to many industry statistics, the likelihood of failure is more evident among restaurants than many other businesses. For example and according to the IRS, 1 out of 2 restaurants fail in…