Alex Macedo, cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Authentic Restaurant Brands, recently shared a great think piece in Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) about how restaurants survive—and even thrive!—in times of economic uncertainty. As, more and more, we see a decline in consumer confidence and spending, it’s important to consider Macedo’s point-of-view.
He sets the stage by saying, “Periods of economic uncertainty tend to expose two very different types of restaurant operators. One group looks outward, waiting for gas prices to lower and the macro to rebound. The other looks inward at the mechanics of its business and finds opportunity hiding in plain sight.”
Within this second subset, there are restaurants that are doing the “inward” work in simplistic and quiet ways. “In my experience,” Macedo says, “The brands that emerge stronger from challenging cycles aren’t the ones that reinvent themselves. They’re the ones that simplify, focus on fundamentals, and sharpen the strategies already working for them.”
At National Restaurant Consultants (NRC), this has always been our approach. When we work with our restaurant clients, we begin with a business analysis that does exactly this: takes stock of operations, menus, marketing, staff—all the internal pieces that make an impact on a restaurant’s success. These are the starting points for business strategy. From here, small shifts are usually highly effective.
As Macedo puts it, “Growth, even in turbulent times, often comes from uncovering overlooked levers within existing operations and executing them with precision.”
Macedo, like NRC, begins with the menu. There is much to be saved and much to be improved-upon simply by researching how customers use your menu and making adjustments accordingly. A restaurant that is saving money is instantly more profitable. “It pays off to streamline menus and looking at the data is often the best place to start. By examining mix, margin, prep time, and guest behavior together, operators can identify which items truly drive profit and which quietly create friction. Strategic simplification can lead to faster speed of service, better consistency, higher throughput, and improved margins,” says Macedo.
Next, Macedo suggests changes in operations and tech, and usually these shifts have to do with efficiency. Efficiency never means cutting corners, rather improving systems, equipment, training that makes the job easier on your staff. Caring for staff and streamlining in-house systems carries over to caring for customers.
It’s only after the work has been done inside a restaurant business that it’s time to look outward, making changes to branding, marketing, customer relations, and customer-facing technologies. Working in-house first creates a solid foundation, as well as more space and time, to really serve customers according to their needs. When a business reaches this point, it increases consumer confidence about their value—even in economically difficult times, the business becomes a good and worthy choice for customers.
Richard Weil, owner and principal at National Restaurant Consultants (NRC) provides additional thoughts. “At NRC we have been conducting ‘Operations Analyses’ for our clients for nearly 20 years and have collectively saved well over a million dollars in bottom line savings to clients. This process uncovers savings opportunities that produce bottom line dollars. Contact any one of our consultants or NRC directly for more information as to how the Operations Analysis process may work for your respective restaurant.”