This program comes from over twenty five years in the trenches of working in some of Melbourne's, if not Australia's best kitchens; from a young apprentice from country Victoria, to a head chef and business owner. I first wished I had the back of house section of this program when I took my first head chef role, I wished I had this entire program when I leased out my restaurant and I wished I had
the front of house section of the program when I was in sales and management. The scope of this program is varied and how you use it, will differ from one place to the next, but the thing I can guarantee is, if the business of your dreams is slowly turning into your living nightmare, then you are in the right place. And still cook today, but, I wanted to be a head chef to have the freedom to cook my own food, dreaming to have full creative control. Well, that’s nice and all, but, what I had to learn was that I still had to cook food that sells! Being back in a in a rural area after ten years in fine dinning, I wanted to cook the food what I wanted, enjoyed and though that everyone would or should love the same things. But what I soon learnt that was the food I loved the punters actually wanted were poles apart; It was a massive kick to the ego! Like many chef-owners/ operators, I took over a restaurant for the freedom of cooking my food and seeing my wildest dreams come to reality. I soon learned it was more about profit and loss statements than chasing 'Chefs Hats' for The Good Food Guide. Even though I ran a super tight ship and my food costs were great, I still had the front of house and the business side to contend with. In all honesty, it just became too much...
After two years in my own place, I came to a realisation that it was less stressful and a hell of a lot easier as an employee. Also, the money was not really much different, all things considered. I left the industry in 2009, completely shattered and broken. “I will never work in hospitality again.” I would often tell my friends and family. Over the next seven years, I worked away from hospitality, in sales, marketing, and running another business, but I always had this unfinished feeling about hospitality. Even my friends and family still considered me to be a chef and if I’m going to be transparent, that really pissed me off. In the end, they were right! In late 2016, I returned to the kitchen. What I saw totally shocked me! Wages, especially for casuals, were so high, yet the staff was so under-skilled. Food prices had risen enormously, and continue to do so, but meal prices barely budged during my time away. It was a tough gig as an owner of a hospitality venue. They often appeared tired, overworked, stressed, and had a sh*tty family life while often running a single-digit profit margins. It was horrible but I saw a gap in the market...
Over the next two years, I helped several restaurants throughout South Gippsland, go from barely scraping by each month to a profitable business using a systematic, data-driven process that was combined with clever, and often free marketing. But it wasn't all success, I had some failures too, some venues were too far gone, the restaurant owners should have acted quicker, but they didn't know how, where and why. Neither did their chef, ultimately, that was the problem. No one knew there was a problem before it was too late. Not the owners, not the chef, and not their accountants. You see, hospitality is more than numbers. It is about people too. And if you don't focus on both, then you are setting yourself up for a tough time. But looking back, financial pressures became too much for them and some shut down as I tried in vain to help them resulting in a number of venues closing or not being able to pay me and the other staff. That's the benefit of hindsight, as they say. Those venues that didn’t make it had very clear signs. There was clear indicators from the venues that failed and the venues that succeeded. It became very obvious. For the ones that failed, it was a very slow but progressive financial blow-by-blow, slowly bleeding dry their bank account, then a final realisaton that they were in piles of debt, generally around tax time or if a senior member of staff took annual leave. Often it was that simple. The constant flow in and out of money wasnt realised until it was just too late! The frustrating thing was, mostly, all could have been avoided if they knew what to look for before open day. Unfortunately, many didn't. And there was nothing good about seeing someone work the ass off and save every cent to open their dream business, then seeing it crumble, along with their savings, just a few years later. It was sole destroying……
I saw my share of venues close and can share some very sad stories as a result of their closure but I will spare you the gory details, because, you are not like them, you have decided to take your business by the scruff and squeeze every bit of yourself, your team and your business to make it a success. I started to really notice and identify what the great restaurants from my ten years in some of Melbourne’s best venues did, compared to the ones that failed. I actually sat down with a huge sketch pad and started writing notes, flow charts, spreadsheets and everything I could think of that seemed useful to a restaurant or café owner. I mapped out what I believed was required from a front and back of house perspective, what I believed were all the important metrics and how to market a venue of a shoestring budget. I spent the best part of two years trialing, refining, and battle-testing my theory, both front, and back of the house. Funny enough, it all worked! What I had written down, I implemented, followed, and reviewed time and time again until I was satisfied that I had a solid system to help any and all hospo venues. I would go in as a chef to fix a venue but working nights wasn't great for a new father and helping one venue was great, but I had bigger plans, I wanted to help many. Unfortunately, there was only one of me but that is how The Restaurant Accelerator begin. Here's a little About Myself
~ Industry professional for over twenty-five years, including nine years in high-end venues and operating my own restaurant
~Trained extensively throughout Melbourne's fine dining scene
~Business owner and operator
~Mastered sales and marketing, specialising in social media specifically for hospitality venues
~Helped multi-site venues and single-site operators fill events, increase their sales and manage their COG's
~Featured in and wrote for national and local food publications
~Personal business coach for over a dozen food businesses ranging from pre-startup to growth stage.
~ Successfully negated eight venues through the impact of a pandemic. Don't forget, if you have any questions, you can always book into a free appointment via this link https://calendly.com/restaurant-accelerator/30min or check out one of our free programs here, https://www.restaurant-accelerator.com/businesscard
