Statement: You must work 10 -14 hours daily, 6 or 7 days per week to run a successful Restaurant.

The Chef's goal is to absolutely, positively correct this Ancient Restaurant Myth! The issue is mapping and controlling your work environment to such detail that you simplify work functions into Proactive "attack style" systematic Management, not time consuming Reactive Management that controls you. If you're not doing this now, read on to see how the Chef merges Corporate Foodservice philosophy with Private Restaurant, Bar and Catering or Cafeteria Ownership & Operation.

MacDonald's is historically, the most successful Restaurant in our Industry:

Regardless of your Opinion of their food, your expectations are always met. If you think their Quick-Serve, Fast Food style menu is awful, but you only have $5.00 and 10 minutes, you will get what you expect and will be 100% satisfied. No surprises, no changes and it’s absolutely the same taste, presentation and flavor whether you're in the San Francisco Bay Area or the Chesapeake Bay Area…Always.

That's what consistency is about and that is why Corporate Restaurant holds the key to any Owner Operated Restaurant's success (and sanity) in today's Foodservice Industry.

Their Business Model and the models of every Corporate Restaurant Chain and Franchisor in America, was to create “idiot-proof” systems that are simple, direct and enforceable, so anyone can understand and operate them (until they build a better idiot!) This way they could hire anybody who walked in off the street without any prior Restaurant, Bar, Banquet/Catering, Cafeteria Kitchen or Foodservice Knowledge. They simply wanted people who could execute their systems. Great for efficient Management…not so great for excellent Food!

An overwhelming majority of Owner Operators or Franchisees of Fine, Casual or Family Dining Restaurants, Catering Companies, Industrial Cafeterias or Quick-Serve Restaurants, still use the "old school" method of being on-premise virtually every hour of operation, or having Managers who are there 6 or 7 days per week. It's usually due to fear of theft, or believing that no one could manage or operate as well as they can, or just buy into what they were told when they started in the Business, "That's the way it always has been, is, and will be forever, Amen!"

With all the new technology and experience we've gained over the years, its just silly to continue these old habits. These concepts don't make the food taste any better, they create human errors and dangerous safety issues and frankly shorter lives. The old ways create horrible burn-out amongst management, employee turnover, ungodly re-training expense and sky-rocketing healthcare costs due to stress and fatigue. Does that sound like good business practice to you?

Today, we can monitor employees with "live" video Security, cross-inventory Food Orders against Daily Usage on POS Systems or Culinary Operational Software and never really have to take cash payments if we don't want to. What you think you might be saving by not investing in Restaurant technology is killing you on extra weekly payroll costs, insurance, waste and ultimately Labor Training and Employee/Management replacement costs.

The legacy Corporate Restaurant operations leave for us, are the Systems of Management that are simple, direct and easy to operate. The beauty is, these systems (Electronic or Manual book entry style) only take a few hours per day to implement and monitor, leaving full attention to Floor Service and Kitchen Operations during Meal periods. Plus, there's plenty more time to create new ideas, investigate savings projects, take new classes or seminars or attend business association meetings, that you have the time to actually participate in."

Your Bar, Restaurant or Catering Business must have complete, well-working, efficient Management systems in place! As we learned in the prior Bar, Restaurant & Catering Operations Section, to operate a clean running proactive Food & Beverage, Hospitality Business you absolutely must Have:

    1.    Well Trained, Committed Employees
    2.    Sustainable Operations & Tracking Systems for Everything from Food Ordering to Janitorial
    3.    Well Working & Maintained Equipment
    4.    Leadership who Manage these Systems and Provide Immediate Answers to problems
    5.   Ownership Committed to the Development of [their] Employee's work Environment & Quality of Life

Achieving these goals will provide the Professional Teamwork environment that allows for successful Time & Operational Management on every level from your Dishwasher to Executive Chef.

If while you're reading about these things you realize you don't have ALL the COMMITTED EMPLOYEES, the EQUIPMENT, the LARGE BUDGET or most critically, the TIME to learn about or enact these SYSTEMS and TIME MANAGEMENT solutions, then you need to call Consult the Chef to have us discuss a Business Review or Consulting Solution for your Business.

Having all the Answers, Knowledge, Staff and Systems to effectively manage your Restaurant, Bar, Catering or Cafeteria/Institutional Kitchen, really is simple once you know how! That's why we're here, to Empower you, give you Knowledge and help you be a more Profitable business Owner and Operator!

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Focus Areas of Bar, Restaurant & Catering Management Training - I don't have a sophisticated Computerized POS/Inventory system to manage our costs. We like to keep Manual Records in case of Computer Problems. I'm already Financially strapped…I work almost everyday...I'm not getting ahead like I want to...Look, can you help us get profitable or do I have to buy Fancy, Expensive Equipment with money I don't have?

We understand you might be contacting us under some pretty rough situations, perhaps close to closing your doors. If that’s the case, you’ll need an “Immediate Needs Review.” Go to our “Immediate Needs Review sub section Heading” to read more about what we can do immediately to help you.

 If you have a little more time, we’ll start any Management Section or Full Business Review by getting a comprehensive Management questionnaire filled out by you and your managers. We also require a financial list of information be completed prior to our arrival. This helps us save time during our on-site visits to try to streamline your costs and inform your Personnel. We also believe we can Save as many (or more) dollars in Management Costs than we charge for our Consultations, within the 1st Quarter of our Contract! You only add the Systems or Programs you deem necessary. We will always try to offer several tiered solutions to Management challenges, from the most Comprehensive In-depth Consultations to the most Targeted Budget Sensitive and simple Consultations.

In order to implement the systems you need to effectively Manage (or possibly Save) your Business, we first have to see what you are operating with presently, gauge your ability to easily convert to our philosophies and systems and not create further drain on your finances. We understand that our Consulting fees, while Value Based, are another expense that draw against your bottom line, when we start out . We want you back as a client to invest in us for future Training and Consulting when you're ready to grow, so we won't implement anything without y our approval or cost tolerance.

Clear, Concise and Constant Record keeping will be your first key to new success and we actually kind of agree with a dual record keeping system. So regardless of your level of "Tech-Knowledge," we can show you Electronic and/or pre-printed Manual Solutions to being able to Manage your Food& Beverage service Business more effectively. These systems will drastically streamline your time spent on administration and can eventually be operated by Key Employees on days you are out of the Restaurant. After we preview these for you, you may decide you really don't need an assistant manager's salary on the books when a few dollars an hour extra to a Key Person may be able to solve the problems. We actually believe we can pay for our Business Review Package within the first Day or Two we are on-site, but remember, every Business' Management efficiency situation will be different, so we more realistically suggest our services pay for themselves with one quarter of completion..

Remember, we can also Customize specific Hourly Courses or Sessions or you can get one of our Value Based Consulting Packages that hits a broad variety of Services and Consultations for much less than combined individual sessions cost. See our  "Consulting Pricing" Heading Section for more information.

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Record Keeping
As we discussed in the Bar, Restaurant & Catering Operations Section, Knowledge is Power. You can't gain the Power of Control over your Foodservice Business if you don't have the proper Knowledge of how it works! You hear Dr. Phil on Television say, "The best predictor of future behavior is past results." Now, he's talking about human behavior (keep this one in your pocket for Employee Personnel Decisions,) but as it relates to Restaurant and Bar Operations, it's more key to the successful operations of your Business than any other Management functions an Owner, Operator or Manager performs.

The Problem is, accurate Record Keeping takes time. Therefore, we have to bring in those Corporate Restaurant Systems that keep our time investment in record keeping low and still provide the truthful information we need.

We will review your Hourly, Monthly & Yearly, Customer Counts, Menu items Sold, Sales Dollar Breakdowns, Labor Hour - Job Function Breakdowns, Food & Beverage Inventory, Ordering, Preparation, Food Waste, Daily Usage, Specialty Food items Sold, Bill Paying & Aging, Credit, Cash Payable and Receivable Monitoring, Trending Budget Creation, Equipment Maintenance Schedules & Dollars along
 with constant recurring Records like Energy, Rent, Waste Management and Pest Control and much more while providing Historical Records (in Electronic or Manual format) to give you an easily Manageable System to evaluate all the track-able operations of your Business.

By the simple act of reviewing these Records, you get in touch with the profitable operation of your Business and you put yourself in the driver's seat with the Knowledge it takes to Powerfully control your success.

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Cost Savings Reviews from Financial to Operational
Every expense that your Bar, Restaurant, Catering Company, Cafeteria Kitchen or Quick Serve Restaurant incurs, needs to be periodically Reviewed for current Need vs. Cost ratio. Plus, a Banquet/Catering Company with a Fleet of Trucks has different needs than a Commissary in a Fortune 500 Company with both Static and Daily changing menus and no storefront.

We can offer new Vendors, new Technology or Combined Projects, Service Contracting or even Downsizing or sometimes, complete Project Elimination to create more efficiency to save you Money. No critical expense will go un-reviewed depending on its import to the Business and the style of Consultation you choose.

In our Business Review Package, we will look at the most immediate Financial needs (including Financing and Interest Expense, Grant or Venture Capital Infusions) of your Business, plus all the high-dollar recurring Operational, on-time expenses that are immediately affecting your bottom line. As part of a lengthier Project Consultation, we can literally bid out and use our connections to decrease every outsourced Operational Cost on your Books. This could also be a specific Separate, One Issue, Customized Consulting Service if you choose. We're here to bring you the Knowledge of your situation and give you the Powerful options to improve them.

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