Dan … is a restaurant owner who enjoys cooking and avoids technology. Working side by side with his staff is very enjoyable and Dan believes in leading by example. There is no job in the restaurant he believes he is too good for.
Dan works 6+ days a week and has leaders in place but they work primarily as an extension of himself. Costs are in line and morale is stable since Dan is in the restaurant a majority of the time. Computers are available but he uses only the core basics of these technology tools for analysis and marketing. He would prefer by far to look someone directly in the eye in and measure their satisfaction by their body language and smile. Of course to do this, Dan must be in the restaurant.
Dan believes that if he takes care of people well enough and consistently offers value above expectations that marketing will take care of itself. (As people will say good things and spread the word on their own.)
Dan realizes that even though he spends many hours in the operation, since costs are in line and morale is stable with low employee turnover, he is not pushed to spend time and effort with hiring and training. In the past, poor staffing was the cause for many issues. This is absolutely not a scenario he wants to repeat.
Marketing is not his style as it involves “risk”. He did not go into the restaurant business to gamble and advertising is a form of gambling in his mind.
Recently it seems that his wife and family are becoming accustomed to doing more without him. He also finds sales are slipping a little more than usual but there are no apparent reasons as to why. He is a little more concerned because of a slight pain in his leg and Dan knows that “work harder, work longer” is not an option.
Potential loss over the next 12 months:
- Family time
- Alienated kids get in trouble.
- Relationship with his wife continues to erode.
- Hospital bill
- $50,000 in Sales Loss (or more)
For every restaurant owner, there is a different scenario. Each restaurant owner decides their priorities and what the acceptable risks are. Sadly, there is not usually a check and balance. Each restaurant owner makes choices and lives with the consequences. There is no push button answer for Dan nor does he probably feel that there is a dire emergency where he needs to make a decision. “Wait and See” is the mind set for Dan and if it gets worse, then he can decide what to do.
This is why it becomes too late and families are broken, restaurants close and pain happens.
The puzzle is this:
- There are restaurant consultants who offer FREE consultations with no strings attached.
- There are software programs available which have free trials along with training and support.
If only Dan and those like Dan would put one more task on their “to-do list”. That task would be to make one phone call per day. Either to a consultant, teacher, coach, software company, etc. “I would like to make a change in my business. How can you help me do so?”
The conversation begins. No commitments, just a conversation.
If the solution provides Dan the opportunity to spend more time with his family, increases sales, have opportunity to see a doctor without negative consequences to his business was readily available and a satisfaction guarantee was attached, would it not be almost insane to refuse to accept the help?
How much should Dan expect to pay to gain $50,000 in sales, have time with his family, a more flexible schedule, a team of leaders in place and opportunity to move forward?
$5,000? $1,000? $10,000? Dan is the one to decide the value of his family, health, future sales and profits.
Dan is also the person who has to make that tough decision since his confidence to overcome is still very high. “I can do it” is the mantra of every successful entrepreneur but I don’t remember many successful business owners who said “I can do it all.”
Software is pretty inexpensive and there are consultant services to help Dan with his restaurant business. I hope he calls someone tomorrow. It doesn’t hurt to have a conversation and I bet his wife would be very happy to hear that he is searching for solutions.
