RESTAURANT STRATEGY

#351 - Building a Better Restaurant with the Owners of Nashville Hotspot, Noko (ENCORE) ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: KICKFIN Thousands of restaurants across the country use Kickfin to send instant, cashless tip payouts, directly to their employees’ bank accounts, the second their shift ends. Get in touch today for a personalized demo and see how restaurants and bars across the country are tipping out with Kickfin. VISIT: https://kickfin.com/demo/ ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: POPMENU If you’re a restaurant owner you need a great website that not only looks beautiful, but helps drive more traffic and sales. Use POPMENU to take your business to the next level. Best of all, listeners of this show can lock in one, set monthly rate… and get $100 off their first month.  VISIT: https://popmenu.com/restaurantstrategy ***** This is a replay of Episode #289, where I chatted with Jon Murray and Wilson Brannock, partners at East Nashville hotspot, Noko. Having come up through the ranks they vowed that when they finally had the chance to open their own place they would do things differently... and that's exactly what they're doing.  Tune in to learn about: How they allocate merchandise revenue Why they give every employee an annual "travel fund"  Their goal of providing 100% free health insurance in the next five years Why they think "skyrocketing food costs" are total BS  These are two very smart, passionate guys who you can't help but root for. Oh, and guess what... we definitely don't see eye to eye on everything. It was fun doing a bit of sparring with them!  IMPORTANT LINKS: Website: https://www.nokonashville.com/about Noko on FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086515181359 Noko on IG: https://www.instagram.com/nokonashville/   ***** Grab your tickets now for the P3 Profitability Summit! This 3-day event is being hosted in St. Louis, MO July 14-16, 2024... Early Bird tickets now available; attendance is being capped at 100.  Grab your tickets: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit  

#350 - The 5 Best Ways to Control COGS (ENCORE)   ***** REGISTER NOW for the P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT (July 14-16, 2024 in St. Louis, MO): https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit ***** Of course, we're talking about the theoretical side of managing food cost, but this is where we should always begin. And if your COGS percentage is out of whack, there's a good chance your portioning and pricing is to blame. But the good news is that COGS problems are the best problems. Why? Because there are so many levers we can pull to fix the problem.  We can... 1) Renogiate with our vendors 2) Find a new SKU 3) Find a new vendor 4) Play with portion sizes 5) Increase the price Hopefully this episode helps pull it all into perspective!    ***** Join me at the P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT in St. Louis, MO (July 14-16, 2024). Attendance is being capped at 100 people. Use the link below to get your tickets!  REGISTER NOW: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit

#349 - 5 Simple Tips for Increasing Profits from 5 Industry Experts *****  This week's episode is brought to you by: MARGIN EDGE Take control of your costs with using MarginEdge. Best of all? No contract. No setup fee. Free and unlimited training and support.  VISIT: marginedge.com/chip ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: 7SHIFTS 7shifts is the team management platform for restaurants. From hiring, to scheduling, training and retaining, they’ve got the tools you need to help you run your business with ease. Better understand your restaurant, hit your labor targets, and keep your entire team connected. Plus, 7shifts integrates with POS and payroll systems you already use and trust! Join over 30,000 restaurants using 7shifts today. Restaurant Strategy listeners get 3 months free. VISIT: https://www.7shifts.com/restaurantstrategy/ ***** The P3 Profitability Summit is happening July 14-16 in St. Louis, MO. This is a 3-day event that's being capped at just 100 attendees. If you've got a busy restaurant but struggle to generate a consistent number to the bottom line, then you need to get yourself to to St. Louis!  On today's episode I'm not going to try to convince you... instead I want you to hear from some of the experts I've lined up to take the stage with me. These are CEOs, founders, and operators with decades of experience running successful restaurants.  You have questions... and we're going to answer those questions over the course of the three days. Best of all, we're going to send you back home with dozens of frameworks and playbooks to help improve the bottom line of your restaurant. This event is tactical and highly actionable.    IMPORTANT LINKS:  GET YOUR TICKETS - https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit  

#348 - Hospitality is Now About CONVENIENCE and EXPERIENCE *****  This week's episode is brought to you by: MARQII  Marqii is your one-stop-shop for listings management and reputation management. Collect reviews in one place to make responding easy and effortless and win the SEO game to land at the top of more search results. Win back guests and put more butts in the seats with Marqii.  VISIT: https://marqii.com/ ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: 7SHIFTS 7shifts is the team management platform for restaurants. From hiring, to scheduling, training and retaining, they’ve got the tools you need to help you run your business with ease. Better understand your restaurant, hit your labor targets, and keep your entire team connected. Plus, 7shifts integrates with POS and payroll systems you already use and trust! Join over 30,000 restaurants using 7shifts today. Restaurant Strategy listeners get 3 months free. VISIT: https://www.7shifts.com/restaurantstrategy   ***** I think the middle is going to get squeezed over the next 5 years. You have to pick a side.   ***** Join us in St. Louis, July 14-16, for the P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit

#347 - Big Time Profits with P3 Mastermind Member, Micah Goldfarb *****  This week's episode is brought to you by: MARGIN EDGE Take control of your costs with using MarginEdge. Best of all? No contract. No setup fee. Free and unlimited training and support.  VISIT: marginedge.com/chip ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: 7SHIFTS 7shifts is the team management platform for restaurants. From hiring, to scheduling, training and retaining, they’ve got the tools you need to help you run your business with ease. Better understand your restaurant, hit your labor targets, and keep your entire team connected. Plus, 7shifts integrates with POS and payroll systems you already use and trust! Join over 30,000 restaurants using 7shifts today. Restaurant Strategy listeners get 3 months free. VISIT: https://www.7shifts.com/restaurantstrategy/ ***** Micah Goldfarb is the owner of Greespot Salad Company and a member of the P3 Mastermind. Over the course of the last 6 months I've had the pleasure of watching him put so many of our systems and frameworks into place to turn his restaurant around. Well, one of them. His journey has been bittersweet... because he learned through his being in the program that there was no way to save his other underperforming store.  You do not want to miss this conversation.  IMPORTANT LINKS:  WEBSITE - https://www.greenspotsalad.com/ ***** Currently the P3 Mastermind has oaver 150 members enrolled, spread across 4 different groups. Our members are seeing huge transformations, often in the first 90 days. The system works, and yes it can work for you.  Click the link to schedule a FREE 30-minute Strategy Session: https://www.restaurantstrategypodcast.com/schedule 

#346 - The Connection Between Marketing and Creating Culture *****     Join us in St. Louis, July 14-16, for the P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit ***** Most of the time it feels like our job is to get people to do what we want them to do... that applies to our employees, partners, and guests. It has a lot to do with creating culture. And culture has everything to do with behavior. Let me walk you through it on today's episode.       

#345 - Launching, Growing, and Franchising DIRTY DOUGH with Bennett Maxwell ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: KICKFIN Thousands of restaurants across the country use Kickfin to send instant, cashless tip payouts, directly to their employees’ bank accounts, the second their shift ends. Get in touch today for a personalized demo and see how restaurants and bars across the country are tipping out with Kickfin. VISIT: https://kickfin.com/demo/ ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: POPMENU If you’re a restaurant owner you need a great website that not only looks beautiful, but helps drive more traffic and sales. Use POPMENU to take your business to the next level. Best of all, listeners of this show can lock in one, set monthly rate… and get $100 off their first month.  VISIT: https://popmenu.com/restaurantstrategy ***** Bennett Maxwell has taken a fledgling company - DIRTY DOUGH - and helped bring it to the masses. Not easy in most circumstances, but consider how he's gone up against some other huge cookie brands to land on top. Now they're part of the Craveworthy Brands portfolio of companies and the sky's the limit. He's going to share the story of his journey... and I think you'll get a lot out of it!    IMPORTANT LINKS:  DIRTY DOUGH: https://dirtydoughcookies.com/ BENNETT'S WEBSITE: https://www.bennettmaxwell.com/ ***** Grab your tickets now for the P3 Profitability Summit! This 3-day event is being hosted in St. Louis, MO July 14-16, 2024... Early Bird tickets now available; attendance is being capped at 100.  Grab your tickets: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit  

#344 - The What, Why, and How of PROFIT *****  This week's episode is brought to you by: MARQII  Marqii is your one-stop-shop for listings management and reputation management. Collect reviews in one place to make responding easy and effortless and win the SEO game to land at the top of more search results. Win back guests and put more butts in the seats with Marqii.  VISIT: https://marqii.com/ ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: 7SHIFTS 7shifts is the team management platform for restaurants. From hiring, to scheduling, training and retaining, they’ve got the tools you need to help you run your business with ease. Better understand your restaurant, hit your labor targets, and keep your entire team connected. Plus, 7shifts integrates with POS and payroll systems you already use and trust! Join over 30,000 restaurants using 7shifts today. Restaurant Strategy listeners get 3 months free. VISIT: https://www.7shifts.com/restaurantstrategy   ***** Profit is not just the surplus after our expenses. It's directly tied to the value we create for our guests.  And it's literally the only thing that matters in your business.    ***** Join us in St. Louis, July 14-16, for the P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit

#343 - The Art of Making the Sale with Neil Rogers ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: KICKFIN Thousands of restaurants across the country use Kickfin to send instant, cashless tip payouts, directly to their employees’ bank accounts, the second their shift ends. Get in touch today for a personalized demo and see how restaurants and bars across the country are tipping out with Kickfin. VISIT: https://kickfin.com/demo/ ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: POPMENU If you’re a restaurant owner you need a great website that not only looks beautiful, but helps drive more traffic and sales. Use POPMENU to take your business to the next level. Best of all, listeners of this show can lock in one, set monthly rate… and get $100 off their first month.  VISIT: https://popmenu.com/restaurantstrategy ***** Neil Rogers is a bartender turned marketing executive who credits much of his success to the skills he learned behind the bar. But here's the thing: I don't think a lot of our servers and bartenders really know these things. There's a thing or two we can teach them... and a thing or two Neil can teach us.  I learned a ton throughout this conversation and I think there are several takeaways. Enjoy!    IMPORTANT LINKS:  GET NEIL'S BOOK: https://amzn.to/3K5JeMw ***** Grab your tickets now for the P3 Profitability Summit! This 3-day event is being hosted in St. Louis, MO July 14-16, 2024... Early Bird tickets now available; attendance is being capped at 100.  Grab your tickets: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit  

#342 - The 10 Things I Know About Running Insanely Profitable Restaurants   ***** REGISTER NOW for the P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT (July 14-16, 2024 in St. Louis, MO): https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit ***** After 25 years in the industry, helping hundreds of restaurant owners generate consistent, predictable 20% profits month after month... these are the 10 things I KNOW about running an insanely profitable restaurant. Listed below, with tactical advice on the podcast to help you take action on each and every one of these by the end of the week: 20% profits are absolutely possible. There are 3 moving targets in our business… which is what makes our job so hard. It’s crucial to keep prime cost below 60%. Every restaurant needs multiple revenue streams (3-4 minimum). Catering and PDR is absolutely key to success in this post-covid world. Top-heavy payroll will absolutely kill you. Understand the difference between macro and micro. Managers manage the profitability of the restaurant… they need clear goals and oversight. Education is key… you must constantly level up. Your network is key… you must surround yourself with ambitious people… people who believe what you believe.   ***** Join me at the P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT in St. Louis, MO (July 14-16, 2024). Attendance is being capped at 100 people. Use the link below to get your tickets!  REGISTER NOW: https://www.chipklose.com/events/ticket-p3-profitability-summit