At Benchmark Sixty, we know that you want to be a great restaurant operator. An operator who wants to have long-term success regardless of inflation, labor shortages, or other common challenges. In order to operate that way, it’s important to understand how data and information can improve your business.

Unfortunately, most restaurant owners don’t have time to sift through information or study data because they’re too busy running their restaurants! This can be frustrating, and it leaves so many owners feeling stuck in the mindset that, “this is the way we’ve always done it.”

Benchmark Sixty is a consulting firm that believes no restaurant owner should feel stuck or like external problems are controlling their business. You shouldn’t have to feel like you have no choice but to hope that the old ways will work. That’s why we use a holistic method of analyzing data in a way that immediately pinpoints opportunities and provides a gateway to solving your problems.

Our three-step process allows us to better understand your:

Concept. Every business is different and should be operated as such.

Productivity. We measure this using a proprietary strategy.

Data. In minutes, we’ll have answers to help us better understand your business as a whole.

With Benchmark Sixty on your side, we can work to change the way the entire restaurant industry looks at labor costs in an attempt to better protect people and profit. Reach out to us to learn more about our hospitality consulting services or to get started today.

The most important KPI in restaurants is also causing our biggest problems.


**Labor cost percentage.**


—> We track it religiously.
—> We bonus managers on it.
—> We make all staffing decisions around it.


And it's breaking our industry.


**Here's the brutal truth:**


When you manage to a percentage, you manage backwards.


Let me show you the math.

**The 25% Labor Trap**

Restaurant doing $20K on a Saturday.
Labor target: 25% = $5,000
Average wage: $18/hour
$5,000 ÷ $18 = 278 labor hours


Sounds reasonable, right?


Until you realize:
• That's 35 people working 8-hour shifts
• Or 46 people working 6-hour shifts
• Or cutting everyone early to hit the number


**What Actually Happens**


• Manager sees labor creeping to 26%.
• Worries about the call they’ll get about it. 
• Sends two cooks home.
• Cuts a server.
• Takes a section 
• Kitchen backs up.
• Service slows down.
• Guests get frustrated.
• People are exhausted. 


All to save $54.


**This is the Real Cost of Percentage Management**


When you chase labor percentage:
• Teams run short-staffed
• Mistakes multiply
• Guest experience suffers
• Your best people burn out


Here is the hidden damage:

→ Increased turnover ($3K per person)
→ More comps and voids ($150/night)
→ Lost regulars (lifetime value: $5K each)
→ Manager turnover ($15K to replace)


**The Math Nobody Calculates**


Save $1,000 cutting labor this month.
Lose $8,000 in hidden costs next month.


Net result: Down $7,000.


But hey, you hit 25% labor….


**Here Is A Different Way to Think**


Stop managing the percentage.
Start managing the productivity.


Same $20K Saturday.
Instead of cutting to 25%, optimize output.


—> Track covers per labor hour. (FOH)
—> Track sales per labor hour. (BOH)
—> Measure ticket times.
—> Monitor guest satisfaction.
—> Protect employee experience 


The result:
Labor might run 27%.
But sales jump 12%.
Tips go up.
Turnover drops.


**More profit. Happier teams. Better experiences.**


Because here's what I learned running restaurants:


You can't cut your way to profitability.
You can only build your way there.


Labor percentage tells you what happened.
It doesn't tell you what to do about it.


👊🏻


P.S. Ready to manage forward instead of backward? Happy to share the productivity metrics that actually drive profit. The ones that put people first and profits follow.

Just comment “LABOR” below and I will send it your way. 


P.P.S. Still cutting staff to hit labor targets? You're not managing costs. You're managing decline.

And there is an easier way. 




#restaurants #team #success #people #laborshortage #innovation #leadership #change

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"𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁" 𝗯𝘆 𝗝𝗶𝗺 𝗧𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗿 
https://jims-newsletter-275b5f.beehiiv.com/upgrade


Join us and become a smarter operator in less than 5 minutes.


👊

Business model & labor optimization for restaurant owners & operators | Recover $60K–$2M+ without raising prices | Advisor | 2× Author | Restaurateur

Every milestone in your life probably happened at a restaurant.


The proposal. The promotion dinner. The graduation celebration. The first date that turned into a marriage.


Someone made that moment possible.


And it wasn't the person sitting across from you.


It was the server who read the room and knew when to disappear. The cook who plated that dish like it mattered. The manager who absorbed three crises before you even noticed.


Restaurant people operate when everyone else is off.


Saturdays. Sundays. Holidays. The moments the rest of the world gathers to celebrate are the moments this industry shows up to work.


I've spent 20+ years in this business. Worked with over 400 restaurants.

And the thing that still gets me is how invisible the work is when it's done well.


—> Nobody sees the server who just got screamed at and walked back to the floor with a smile.

—> Nobody sees the line cook running on four hours of sleep because someone called out.

—> Nobody sees the manager making 500 decisions before noon while keeping 30 people moving in the same direction.


This work requires stamina, intuition, and emotional intelligence that most industries never demand.

All at once. In real time. With no second chances.


Restaurant people don't need pity. They don't need to be romanticized.


They need recognition.


They're not surviving an industry. They're building one.

They make modern life work. They make celebration possible.


And they do it knowing the hours are long, the margins are thin, and the thank-yous are rare.


That deserves respect. That deserves celebration. Not sympathy.


If you care about restaurants, hospitality, and building strong, profitable, people-first operations, follow along at Jim Taylor. 

I write about what it actually takes to lead in this industry.


#Restaurants #Hospitality

Bert Morales

Even the biggest and best restaurant companies in the world are admitting their labor model is broken. 


The entire industry is starting to wake up.


A 40,000-location fast food giant is spending millions on AI ordering systems.


Not because it's cool tech.


Because they can't staff their stores.


• A 35,000-location coffee chain? Closing locations due to "staffing challenges."

• A 3,000-location fast-casual brand? Investing in automation to reduce dependency on labor.

• A 400 unit industry leader losing $7 million a year to a model that isn’t optimized. 

• Your favorite local spot? Probably closed Mondays now.


The old model no longer works:


• 75% turnover isn't "just how it is" anymore 

• Gen Z won't work 60-hour weeks for pride

• 90-day turnover costs more than manager salaries

• Sales per labor hour? 1985 math for 2025 problems


I watched a restaurant group lose $1.2M last year.

—> Not from food costs.
—> Not from rent increases.
—> Not from government wage hikes 


From replacing the same positions every 90 days.


Here's what's actually broken:

—> Managing by percentages when you should manage productivity.

—> Scheduling like it's 1995 when you have 2025 data.

—> Onboarding like the team is replaceable when training costs $1,800 per person.

—> Measuring sales ÷ labor instead of what actually drives profit.


The shift that's coming:


Smart operators are already moving:


• From "How many hours?" to "How productive were those hours?"

• From "Fill the schedule" to "Optimize the output"

• From "That's just restaurant life" to "Let's fix the model"


Data is one thing, but your team’s ability to translate the data is where the magic happens. 


One small group I worked with last year?

They looked through a different lens:

• Stopped managing to labor percentage

• Started managing productivity metrics

• Built schedules based on output, not coverage

• Created careers, not jobs


Result: $600K saved. Same sales. Better service.


Not by cutting harder.
Not by raising prices.
Not by squeezing staff.


By finally admitting the old model doesn't work.


Even the giants are admitting it now.


Time to stop managing like it's 1985.


👊


P.S. Want my favorite resource? The same framework that helped that small group save $600K? Comment "MODEL" and I'll send you the guide that shows exactly how they did it.

P.P.S. I had a restaurant operator tell me “wow, you’re really good at managing labor cost.” 

Wrong. 

I’m no better than the rookie manager on your dining room floor. I’m just better at interpreting the data so your rookie manager can make faster, better decisions. 


#restaurants #restaurantmanagement #labormodel #hospitality #restaurantindustry

20+ years in restaurants taught me more than I ever could have imagined.


Starting as a bus boy in a little neighborhood pub. 


And I'm grateful for every brutal shift of it.

—> The 16-hour doubles when the dishwasher quit mid-rush.

—> The nights counting pennies to make payroll.

—> The mornings cleaning grease traps because we couldn't afford the service.


All of it.


Because restaurants don't teach you theory.


They teach you life. 


What Restaurants Actually Taught Me:


• Problem-solving at 200mph 
(when the freezer dies on Friday night)

• People management 
(turning chaos into choreography daily)

• Financial discipline 
(making 3% margins work)

• Crisis leadership 
(every shift is controlled chaos)

• Real empathy 
(you learn everyone's real story)


I learned more about business watching a line cook handle six orders simultaneously than sitting in any conference room.


More about leadership from a server who kept smiling after getting stiffed three times.


More about resilience from a dishwasher who showed up every day for $12 an hour.


The Hard Times That Made Me Appreciate: 

—> That year the economy crashed taught me systems.

—> The person who stole $30K taught me controls.

—> The rockstar who quit taught me culture matters.

—> The 2am equipment failures taught me preparation.


Every failure was a masterclass.


But it's the people I'm most grateful for.


• The chef who stayed late teaching me food costs.

• The server who showed me hospitality isn't just service.

• The owner who trusted me with their dream.

• The team that became family.


They shaped everything I know about business.


And honestly?

I wouldn't trade those grease burns, exhausted nights, and impossible shifts for anything.


Because restaurants taught me the truth:


Success isn't about perfect conditions.
It's about making magic from chaos.


Every. Single. Day.


To everyone still in the trenches:


You're not just flipping burgers or pouring drinks.


You're learning to survive anything.
Building skills nobody can teach.
Developing grit that never quits.


And that's priceless.


👊🏻


P.S. Still have the scar from that fryer burn in 2008. Still grateful for what that kitchen taught me about handling pressure.


P.P.S. If you survived restaurants, you can survive anything. That's not motivational fluff. That's fact.

#restaurants #gratitude #restaurantlife

Stop doing inventory.

It's probably wasting your time.


I know. Every consultant says weekly inventory is non-negotiable. Every owner thinks counting product is "controlling food cost."


But here's what nobody tells you:


Most restaurants don't even have recipes.


Think about that.


No standardized recipes. No portion specs. No yield calculations.


And somehow inventory is going to save you?


Here's the hierarchy nobody explains:


𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁.

They count everything. Track every invoice. Know exactly what they spent.


𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁.

They've done the menu engineering. Built the recipes. Know what each dish should cost.


𝗙𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.


And that's where the profit lives.


The gap between what food should cost and what it actually costs.


That variance tells you everything:

→ Where waste is happening
→ Where theft might exist
→ Where portioning is off
→ Where your money is disappearing


But here's the problem:


You can't calculate variance without theoretical cost.

You can't have theoretical cost without recipes.

You can't have proper recipes without menu engineering.


So what happens?


Restaurants skip the foundation. Jump straight to inventory. Count everything religiously.


And nothing changes.


Because you won't lower your food cost by counting the things you haven't sold yet.


Inventory without recipes is just an action item that sounds productive.


It's busywork disguised as best practice.


Here's the order that actually works:

1. Menu engineering (what should we sell, at what price, and why)

2. Standardized recipes (what goes in each dish)

3. Theoretical food cost (what it should cost)

4. Actual food cost (what it did cost)

5. Variance analysis (where the money went)


Skip steps 1-3?


Step 4 is a disaster.


And step 5 doesn't get you anywhere.


The restaurants that actually control food cost?


They didn't start with inventory.


They started with structure.


Everything else is just counting in the dark.



👊🏻



P.S. If you've been doing inventory for years and your food cost hasn't budged, this is probably why. Comment "RECIPES" below and I'll send you the framework to build the foundation first.


#restaurants #restaurantmanagement #foodcost

Jim Taylor

No alternative text description for this image

Stop obsessing over food cost percentage.

You’re looking at the wrong scoreboard.


Last week I sat in on a menu review with an ownership group. The controller flagged three items running above 40%.


"These need to go."


The chef pushed back. The GM stayed quiet. Everyone stared at the spreadsheet like it held the answers.


It didn't.


I grabbed a pen and wrote two lines on the back of an agenda.


Prime rib plate. $95 menu price. 44% food cost. That leaves $53 in your pocket per sale.


House salad. $14 menu price. 22% food cost. That leaves $11 in your pocket per sale.


You'd need to sell five salads to match one prime rib.


The room got quiet.


The controller was chasing a percentage. The restaurant was leaving money on the table.


This happens constantly. Operators kill their most profitable items because the cost ratio looks scary. Meanwhile, the "efficient" menu items generate a fraction of the actual dollars.


A steakhouse I worked with ran 41% food cost overall. Ownership panicked. Wanted to cut the ribeye special, their signature dish.


I pulled the contribution margin report.


That ribeye generated more gross profit dollars than their next four sellers combined.


They didn't cut it. They featured it harder. Trained servers to recommend it. Put it front and center on the menu.


Food cost went up another point. Profit climbed $6K that month.


The 30% benchmark everyone worships was built for a different era. Different rent. Different labor. Different guest expectations. Running your 2026 restaurant on 1995 math is a recipe for mediocrity. Or worse. 


—> Your gut tells you to slash the expensive items. 

—> Your gut tells you the low cost items are "safe." 

—> Your gut is managing to a ratio instead of a result.


Track contribution margin per item. 

Know which dishes actually pay the bills. 

Stop letting a percentage dictate your menu strategy.


Dollars deposit. Percentages don't.



👊🏻



P.S. That ownership group? They promoted the prime rib, built a prix fixe around it, and added $9K monthly to the bottom line. 

The controller finally stopped arguing.



#Restaurants #RestaurantManagement #FoodCost

75% turnover isn't a staffing crisis.

It's a business model crisis.


I've worked with over 400 restaurants. The ones struggling to staff right now? They're all saying the same thing.


"Nobody wants to work anymore."

Wrong.


Nobody wants to work 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 anymore.


The 60-hour week was never a badge of honor. It was a broken business model disguised as dedication.


I watched an owner last month lose their third GM in a year. 

Same speech every time:

"This is the restaurant business. You have to grind. That's how it works."


His labor model requires 65+ hours from salaried managers just to break even.


That's not a staffing problem. That's a math problem.


𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿" 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱:

→ Gen Z isn't lazy. They watched their parents burn out for companies that laid them off anyway.


→ They're not entitled. They're doing the math the previous generation refused to do.


→ They don't hate hard work. They hate inefficient work that exists because owners won't fix their systems.


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲:

Most restaurants are built on a labor model from 1995.

• Skeleton crews stretched thin
• Managers covering call-outs on salary
• "Just in case" scheduling that burns everyone out
• 90-day turnover that costs more than the labor you're "saving"


Then owners wonder why nobody sticks around.



𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱:

• Staffing for performance, not minimum coverage

• Building schedules around productivity metrics, not percentages

• Creating actual careers with boundaries

• Treating 40-hour weeks as the standard, not the exception


One group I worked with restructured their management model. Capped GM hours at 45. Added support staff. Labor went up 2%.


Turnover dropped 40%. They stopped losing $180K a year in replacement costs.


The "extra" labor paid for itself three times over.


Gen Z isn't killing the restaurant industry.


They're just refusing to subsidize your broken model with their health.


Fix the math. Or things will continue to get harder.


👊🏻


#restaurants #restaurantmanagement #labormodel

Your customer is driving your labor cost % more than your management team is.

And that's a major problem.


Here's what happened last Friday:

• Manager scheduled perfectly.
• 18% labor projected.
• $50 average check expected.

Actual results?

• $41 average check.
• 22% labor.

Manager gets blamed.

Told to cut harder. 


Sound familiar?


Here is the math nobody talks about:


Same staff.
Same hours.
18% lower revenue.

Labor percentage explodes.


Your manager didn't fail.


Your customers just ordered differently.


This is a real example from last month:

Vancouver steakhouse.
Friday night.
300 covers.

Normally: Wine, apps, desserts. 

That night: Entrees, a few cocktails, and more water than normal. 

Average check: Down $23

Labor cost: Up to 38%

Manager's fault? Zero.


Here's what kills me:


We punish managers for customer behavior.


Which they can't control:(in the middle of a shift) 

• Who walks in
• What mood they're in
• How much they'll spend
• If they're celebrating or saving


But they take the blame anyway.


The Dangerous Spiral:

Week 1: "Your labor is too high"
Week 2: Manager cuts staff
Week 3: Service suffers
Week 4: Sales drop more
Week 5: Labor gets worse

You're solving the wrong problem.


What Actually Works:

-> Track productivity, not just percentage.

CPLH stays consistent?

Your team is fine.

Average check dropped?

That's your real issue.


This is the $200K Fix We’ve Done 400 times.


That restaurant I mentioned… 


Stopped blaming managers.
Started tracking guest behavior.


Discovered:

• Fridays had lower spenders
• Different demographics
• Different dining patterns
• Tuesday was a standout 
• The “special promotion” was killing them
• The training needed work 
• December wasn’t as profitable as it should have been. 


The solution:


Changed Friday's menu mix.


Added value combos.


Trained servers differently.


Average check up $19.


Labor back down.  


$200K annual impact.


Same manager.
Same team.
Different approach.


Your managers aren't failing.


They're taking blame for problems they can't control.


Fix the right problem.


👊🏻


P.S. Next time labor is high, ask: "What did our guests spend?" before "Who screwed up?"


The answer might surprise you.


And if you want a FREE copy of my book, where I break down exactly how to do this in any restaurant, in any market, in any concept. 

Comment “LABOR” below and I will send it to you. 



#RestaurantManagement #LaborCost #RestaurantOperations

I have 50k + friends here on LinkedIn. 

Go ahead and introduce yourself to them, let’s start building your network - TODAY. 



I've shared this post before, and hundreds of people connected - several times I’ve done it, people actually connected, did business deals, and even made new friends in the comment section. 



The power of this LinkedIn is wild. 



GO NOW:


1. Drop a comment below:


Your LinkedIn URL
Your Name
What it is you do/Who it is you help. 


2. Don’t just post and leave. Scroll the comments, find someone you can help… or someone that interests you, and like their comment or reply to it.


3. Repost this post ♻️

When you repost this post, more people will see your comment. This means more exposure and opportunity for you. 


One of the most overlooked ways to build business is to engage with people directly on LinkedIn, in a genuine way. 



- When you engage in someone's post, your network sees it. 

- When they respond, their network sees - introducing you to the most amazing opportunity to be seen by exactly who you're trying to attract. 



In the last 5 years:

- Ive launched multiple real businesses

- Generated more in revenue than I could have ever imagined. 

- Found great, lifelong friends 

- Created countless valuable relationships 


All from being consistent, and intentional through networking on LinkedIn.



So don’t wait. Your next client, strategic partner... or friend might be in the comments.



Drop your intro below —> Tell us what you’re up to. 



#Networking #Linkedin #Community

Welcome back to restaurant operations in 2026.

And if you want your restaurant to make money this year. 


Here's your program for the next 90 days:


1. Track covers and labor hours every single week
2. Calculate Covers Per Labor Hour (covers ÷ hours)
3. Main goal: consistent CPLH, not perfect CPLH
4. Daily commitment: 10–20 minutes
5. Review CPLH trend before building your schedule
6. Set a weekly CPLH target based on the avg, not a labor % target 
7. Compare CPLH by day
8. Compare CPLH by position 
9. Adjust staffing based on covers not sales 
10. Stop scheduling "just in case" coverage
11. Coach to productivity, not speed or stress
12. Use CPLH to justify adding or removing hours
13. Review weekly trends, not one bad day
14. Tie CPLH back to guest and employee experience, not just cost
15. Repeat this for 90 days without looking for shortcuts

Do all of the above: 

• Not chasing industry benchmarks
• Not cutting hours blindly
• Not blaming the schedule
• Not blaming the staff
• Not excuses about being "too busy"


I've worked with hundreds of operators teaching this exact discipline —>  and it works in busy restaurants, slow restaurants, and everything in between.


Do this consistently and your labor problem becomes a management skill —> not a mystery.


See you at the end of Q1.


And do your peers a favor… repost this to encourage other operators ♻️


👊🏻



P.S. Which one (1–15) made you rethink how you schedule?



#Restaurants #Restaurantoperations #Restaurananagement #Laborcost #Productivity

Nobody talks about the weight restaurant workers carry.


At least not enough.  


Not the plates. The other kind.


The kind that follows you home after a double.


The kind that makes you pour a drink before you can even think about sleep.


The kind that causes you to have to “unwind” until 4am after every shift. 


I've been in this industry for over 25 years.


I've seen it. Lived it. Watched people I care about go through it.


The server who smiles through 12 hours of abuse and then cries in their car.


The line cook who hasn't had a day off in two weeks and can't remember the last time they felt rested.


The manager who holds everyone else together in between rants in the walk-in.


We don't talk about it enough.


Because in this industry, we're taught to push through.


The grind is like a badge of honor. 


Tired? Push through.
Stressed? Push through.
Struggling? Push through.


And we do. Because that's what restaurant people do.


But pushing through isn't the same as being okay.


If you're exhausted —>  that's valid.

If you're burned out —> that's real.

If you're struggling —> you're not weak. 


You're human.


This industry asks more of people than most will ever understand.

And it's okay to admit that sometimes it's too much.


You don't have to have it all figured out.

You don't have to be fine all the time.

You just have to know you're not alone.


Because you're not.


And I wish our industry would recognize this more. 


While also sticking together for one another more often. 


Because it doesn’t have to be such a grind. 


And the good parts of the industry are so great. 


👊🏻


Ps. If you know someone in the industry who needs to hear this, send it to them, or repost it for others to read. 


You never know who might benefit from seeing this today. 





#restaurantlife #mentalhealth #hospitality

2025 was a year that so many things changed.


And there was so much to be grateful for.  


100 consultants supported.
400 restaurants improved.
More content than I've ever created.


And I'm just getting started.


I spent years figuring things out the hard way. Alone. Grinding. Making every mistake in the book.


This year was different.


I found tools that actually helped.
I built systems that worked.
I leaned into what mattered.


And I shared those lessons with more people than I could have ever imagined. 


One of those tools? 

👇🏼

Stanley (Your Content Coach)  


A tool that actually gets how I think. Helped me stay consistent. Helped me show up every day. Helped me turn ideas into valuable messaging that actually landed.


Not a replacement for the work.
A multiplier.


To everyone who read, commented, shared, and reached out this year —> thank you.


You're the reason I keep showing up.


2026?


I'm more excited than I've ever been.


More restaurants to help.
More consultants to support.
More of this work that actually matters.


Let's go.


And if you want a shortcut to improving your content process, so you can grow like I did in 2025. 

Drop a 🙌🏼 below and I will send you a shortcut. 


👊🏻



Ps. The image could not be more well summarized. What a year it was. 



#restaurants #2025wrapped #grateful #2026

The restaurant industry has always been this hard.

It's just taken the last few years for the world to start to see it.


• The 14-hour days.
• The burns that never quite heal.
• The knees that ache at 35.
• The missed birthdays.
• The "just one more ticket."


We've always known.


But now everyone sees what we've carried:


The server smiling through anxiety.
The cook self-medicating to sleep.
The manager who hasn't had a real day off in months.
The dishwasher nobody checks on.


This isn't new.


What's new is we're finally talking about it. Barely. But it's a start.


The cost isn't just financial.


It's the chef who can't turn off.
It's the bartender drinking their tips.
It's the GM texting at their kid's recital.
It's the prep cook who just... stops showing up.


We lose good people.


Not because they can't cook.
Not because they can't serve.


Because they can't take it anymore.


𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲:

Stop glorifying the grind.
Start protecting your people.


Mental health isn't weakness.

It's survival.


To everyone still in it:

Your struggle is real.
Your exhaustion is valid.
Your mental and physical health matters.


And to those grinding through it right now:


Because it's necessary.
Because it's all you know.
Because you love the rush of a busy service.
Or because it's your only option.


I see you.


You're not broken. The system is.


👊🏻


If you're reading this, do the industry a favor.

1) Comment "I see you" below.
Let's show the strength of this community.

2) Repost this ♻️ 
You never know who might need to hear it.

#Restaurantindustry #Restaurants #Hospitalityindustry

The restaurant industry isn't broken.

It's just been operating on a flawed business model for decades.


Here's what most restaurants do:

• Open the doors
• Pray for sales
• Hope costs are in line
• Pray for profit


Good month? Celebrate.
Bad month? Panic and cut.


This isn't a recipe for success.
It's a wish and a prayer.


And it's exactly why 80% of restaurants fail.


I've worked with over 400 restaurants, and here's the brutal truth nobody wants to admit:


You can't manage what you don't measure.
And you can't fix what you don't understand.

Read that again…. You can’t fix what you don’t understand. 


This Is The Real Problem…


Most operators treat their P&L like a report card.

It's not.

It's a diagnostic tool.



Think about this:

When your doctor says "You're sick," that's not helpful.

When they say "You have strep throat," now you can fix it.


Same with your business.


Here Is The Math That Actually Matters:


Sales down? Break it down:

• Cover decline or check average decrease?
• Which days? Which dayparts?
• New guests or frequency drop?


Labor high? Get specific:
• Low productivity (CPLH)?
• Rising wages?
• Declining guest spend?


Food cost up? Find the leak:
• Sales mix shift?
• Waste tracking?
• Theft issues?
• Product cost increases?
• Recipe adherence?


See the difference?


From Panic to Precision


Operator A: "Sales are down and labor is high. We need to work harder."


Operator B: "Tuesday and Friday covers dropped 23%. Weekend labor productivity fell from 3.8 to 3.1 CPLH. Food cost variance traced to missing recipes and $200/week in theft."


Which one do you think fixes the problem?


Here's What Changes Everything

Stop managing the symptoms.
Start managing the causes.


→ Daily flash reports (5 metrics that matter)
→ Weekly variance analysis
→ Monthly deep dives
→ Quarterly model adjustments


When you know exactly what's broken, fixing it becomes obvious.


The restaurant business gets easier when you stop guessing and start knowing.


Want my favorite resource that has turned chaos into clarity for hundreds of operators?


Comment "KNOW" below and I'll send you the exact tool I use to diagnose problems before they eat your profit.


Because running a restaurant shouldn't feel like guess work.


It should feel like science.


👊🏻



P.S. That operator who's "been doing this for 30 years"? Ask them their Tuesday lunch CPLH. Their blank stare tells you everything.


P.P.S. Stop praying for profit. Start engineering it. Your bank account will thank you.

And if this resonates with you, please repost it. You never know who might benefit from it. ♻️



#RestaurantManagement #RestaurantProfitability #Data

Most operators have never heard of the term “OPZ”. 

But every restaurant has one. 


And every time you operate outside of it, something breaks.


OPZ stands for “Optimal Productivity Zone.”


It's the range where your labor hours match your actual demand. Not too lean. Not too heavy.


When you're inside the zone, things work.


Guests get greeted on time. Food comes out right. Managers can actually manage. Employees aren't drowning.


When you're outside it, everything suffers.


Too lean:

Ticket times spike.
Front desk greetings disappear.
Food quality drops.
Guest complaints increase.
PPA declines 
Employee stress goes through the roof.
Managers spend all night putting out fires.
Turnover climbs.
Mental health tanks.


Too heavy:

Labor cost bleeds.
Staff gets bored.
Productivity drops.
Profit disappears.


The problem is most operators don't know where their zone is.


They're guessing. Cutting when it feels high. Adding when it feels short.


But feel isn't a strategy.


The OPZ gives you a target. A range to schedule into. A way to know if you're set up for success before the shift even starts.


When you know your zone, you stop reacting.

You start managing. Proactively. 


And everything downstream improves.


Guest experience. Employee experience. Food quality. Ticket times. Manager effectiveness. Even your own sanity.


And ultimately profit. 


The OPZ isn't complicated.


But ignoring it is expensive.


And if you don’t know what yours is, you’re leaving tens, or hundreds of thousands on the table. 


👊🏻


If you want help finding your OPZ, comment "ZONE" below and I'll send you the framework.



#restaurants #restaurantoperations #restaurantmanagement

If you're losing money on 3rd party delivery, the platform isn't the problem.


I hear "delivery fees are killing my margins" all the time.


And I get it. When you look at the P&L and see what the platforms take, it feels like robbery.


But here's the thing most operators miss:

𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁. 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝘀.

When you run delivery with the same menu, same pricing, and no guardrails —> you're setting yourself up to lose.


Because delivery is not dine-in.


Different customer. Different experience. Different economics.


The guest sitting in your dining room and the one ordering from their couch at 8pm are not the same person. Stop treating them like they are.


Here's where the shift happens:

Most operators look at delivery through a 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘀. They see the fees, the commissions, the packaging —> and they spiral.


But the operators winning at delivery? They use a 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘀.


They ask: "What does this order actually contribute after variable costs?"

Not "what does it cost me" —> but "what does it add?"


When you flip to contribution thinking, the math changes:

- That Tuesday night with empty capacity? 
Delivery orders are almost pure contribution.

- That high-margin, travel-friendly item? It was built for delivery.

- That complex, low-margin entrée that falls apart in transit? It shouldn't be on your delivery menu at all.


Delivery works when you design for it:

- Curated menu (not your full menu copy-pasted)
- Adjusted pricing that accounts for platform fees
- Items that travel well and protect margin
- Excess kitchen capacity that would otherwise sit idle


Delivery breaks when you don't.


And blaming the platform won't fix a design problem.


The delivery tide is coming whether you like it or not. You can't stop it.


And your customers will keep ordering delivery with or without you.  


But you can build for it.


And find ways to win. 


👊🏻


#restaurants #delivery #profitability

Food cost percentage was built for accountants. Not for operators.


And it's costing you more than you realize.


Most operators engineer menus around a percentage target. Hit 28%. Hit 30%. Celebrate when the number lands.


Meanwhile, the menu mix is quietly doing damage nobody's tracking.


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴:

—> Item A: $14 price, 24% food cost = $3.36 cost, $10.64 contribution

—> Item B: $38 price, 34% food cost = $12.92 cost, $25.08 contribution


Item A looks better on paper.
Item B puts $14.44 more in your pocket every time it sells.


Percentages report to spreadsheets…. But dollars deposit to the bank.


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝘀:

Menu mix shifts 3% toward lower-contribution items.

Nobody notices. Food cost percentage stays flat.

But dollar contribution drops $40K annually.


This doesn't show up as a crisis. It shows up as tighter margins with no clear explanation.


Quarter after quarter.


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿:

→ Dollar contribution per item
→ Menu mix by contribution tier
→ Weighted average contribution
→ Variance between actual and theoretical cost 


When you manage these, food cost percentage handles itself.


When you manage percentage alone, you're optimizing for a number that doesn't pay rent.


𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴:

They price based on cost multipliers built 30 years ago.

They feature low-contribution items because they sell.

They keep dogs on the menu because removing them feels risky.

They run promos that drive traffic to their worst margin items.


Every one of those decisions compounds. Quietly. Monthly.


Making things harder and harder every day. 


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴:

Do you know which items are actually driving contribution, and which ones are just driving volume?


Because the menu that looks stable might be the one quietly eroding margin every week.


This doesn't correct itself with time.


It corrects itself with a plan. 



Comment "MARGIN" if you want to see how this math applies to your menu.


So that you can change it once and for all. 



👊🏻


Ps. A proper menu engineering process will not only drop your food cost % by up to 3% overnight. 


It will also increase your average guest spend without raising prices. Making everything else easier. 



#Restaurants #MenuEngineering #RestaurantProfitability

Thank you so much for this opportunity EatDenver 

Can’t wait to do it again! 


Because running restaurants doesn’t have to be so hard. 


Here’s to a great 2026. 



👊🏻



#restaurants #restaurantbusiness #restaurantoperstions

A huge thank you to Jim Taylor of Benchmark Sixty Restaurant Services for facilitating his workshop, "Profit Power: Outsmart Costs Without Passing Them On" with our community of independent owners, operators, and hospitality professionals.

In a new year of balancing profit and loss, we're so grateful for new perspectives on menu engineering, measuring covers per labor hour, and increasing margins without cutting staff or raising menu prices.

Thanks also to our hosting venue, MSU Denver School of Hospitality, our partners at Seed Money Consulting, the dinner hospitality at Xiquita Restaurante y Bar, and to everyone who attended.

Looking to attend future programming? Learn more at eatdenver.com/membership.

I lost friends when I became an entrepreneur (And I didn’t see it coming)


Not to drama. Not to conflict.


To distance.


I stopped fitting in. They stopped relating.


They're stressed about PTO requests. I'm stressed about survival.


They're climbing someone else's ladder. I'm building my own from scratch.


The conversations just... drift.


Then there's family.

"When are you getting a real job?"
"Must be nice being your own boss."
"How's that little side project going?"


They don't mean harm. They just don't understand.


Some days, neither did I.


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀.

Every decision is yours.
Every failure is yours.
Every 2am doubt is yours.


You go from knowing exactly what to do every day to feeling like a clueless student again.


Learning a new language. 


No playbook. No boss to ask. No safety net.


Just you. Figuring it out. Publicly.


𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸. 𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻.

Society says entrepreneurs are fearless risk-takers.


The truth? We're calculated guessers who lose sleep wondering if we calculated wrong.


𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱.

The same thing that breaks you is the thing that builds you.


The freedom is real.
The growth is real.
The opportunity is unlimited.


Nobody else is in charge. 


Nobody else holds the keys. 


And one day you're on top of the world. Next day you're questioning everything.


That's not a bug. That's the price of admission.



And 5+ years in, I'd still buy the ticket every time.



Because the network, the growth, the opportunity, the freedom and the life are what it’s all about. 



👊🏻



If you’re just starting, or working hard to learn the new language. I want to connect. 

I want to know your story. I want to know what you’re up to. 

Because it doesn’t have to be so lonely, and I wish I would have had someone say that to me when I first started. 


Ps. If this resonates for you, drop “PLAN” below and I will send you the framework for everything I’ve done over the last 5 years to grow my business from $0 to $1 milllion. 


#entrepreneurship #leadership #business
#growth

You have far more data than ever before. 

And far less understanding of what it means.


This is a big problem. Especially for the restaurant industry. 


Getting data isn't hard anymore.


Every restaurant has reports. Numbers. Charts. Dashboards.


But here's what I see over and over:


—> Owners staring at screens.
—> Managers printing reports.
—> Nobody knowing what to do next.
—> Everybody relying on intuition to win. 


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Data tells you WHAT happened.
It doesn't tell you WHY.
Or what to do about it.


Real example from last week:


Owner shows me his food cost report.
"It says 32%. I don't know if that's good or bad."


He had the data.
He didn't have the context.


→ Is 32% high for his concept? Maybe not.
→ Is it trending up or down? He didn't know.
→ Which items are driving it? No clue.
→ What should he change? Nothing clear.


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗮 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿.
𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.


This is the gap killing restaurants.

More dashboards won't fix it.
More reports won't fix it.
More data won't fix it.


What fixes it:

→ Knowing which numbers actually matter
→ Understanding what drives them 
→ Connecting cause to effect
→ Turning data into action


The best operators I work with don't have more data.


They know how to read it.


They know what it’s telling them. 


They see a number and know exactly what to do next.


That skill is worth more than any software.


👊🏻


P.S. If you're drowning in reports but still guessing what to do, you're not alone. Most operators are in the same spot.

Drop a “DATA” in the comments, and I will share my favorite resource for getting you started. Because you can’t wait on this kind of stuff anymore. 

P.P.S. If this resonates with you, or you can relate to what I’m talking about…  repost this so others can see it. You never know who might benefit from it. 


#restaurants #data #restaurantmanagement

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