Every day before your doors open for business, gather your team for a motivational huddle and go beyond the typical tasting of the night’s specials. Discuss exceeding guest expectations and a strategy for the service to come. One of my most effective exercises was actually based on a popular game that everyone has played – BINGO! Much like the real thing my version of the game is easy to execute in your restaurant. Here’s the idea…
I spent 20 years starting and operating restaurants. When I first began, I had virtually no experience, so I needed to give myself every advantage. The biggest advantage (I called it my “Secret Weapon“) was systems. I knew instinctively that creating systems would make all the difference between succeeding or becoming another statistic.
From the get-go, I decided to work on my business now so I could decide how I would work in my business later. This took some serious work up-front in creating the systems, but this ultimately led to freedom. Now, I could manage from afar (so many operators are so close to their restaurants, they’re missing a fresh perspective) and look at the big picture from 30,000 feet. These systems exploded sales, built my “Dream Team” staff, and created a dominant powerful brand that crushed my competition. They also allowed me to pay great people to run my business as “their own business,” taking “ownership” of the results. You have a system when you can leave your business for a week, a month, or a year, and it will be just as successful—or more so—when you return. I can show you how…