Hospitality and restaurants
Hospitality owners work the floor, the kitchen and the books, and the business pays them last. Growth to a second location or a quieter life needs a management layer: a general manager seat, cost controls, a marketing department for reviews and bookings, and playbooks that keep the standard when the owner is away.
How the work gets done today
- Margin is made on labour scheduling, food cost and covers per shift
- Reviews and local search decide weeknight traffic more than advertising
- Staff turnover resets training and standards every few months
- The owner's presence becomes the brand, which makes a second location hard
The moves we make
- Put a general manager seat in place with a scorecard for labour, cost of goods and guests
- Build the hiring and onboarding playbooks so new staff reach the standard in days
- Run marketing as a department: reviews, local search, bookings and events, with a weekly number
- Install a weekly cost and cash review with your CPA and bookkeeper
Seats usually missing
A general manager who owns labour, cost of goods and the guest experience, with a weekly scorecard. A marketing owner who manages reviews, local search, bookings and events. A back office seat that handles scheduling, ordering and bookkeeping handoffs. The owner holds all three while also cooking or hosting every service. We install the general manager cadence and the playbooks, run marketing as a department and help you hire the permanent manager when the numbers show the business can carry the salary.
Getting the owner out
Standards first, through written playbooks for opening, service, closing and food safety that new staff learn in days, with your required certifications maintained. Scheduling and ordering second, through a system with rules and a weekly cost review the manager runs. Marketing third, through a department that answers reviews, keeps listings current and fills slow nights. The owner moves from working every shift to visiting shifts, which is the difference between owning a job and owning a business that can be sold.
What to outsource first
Marketing, because reviews, local search and bookings produce revenue without being in the building, and because the owner rarely has time to do them well. Then the playbooks and hiring process, which attack turnover directly. Operations cadence follows, with a fractional COO installing the general manager scorecard across one or several locations. Liquor licensing, health regulations and employment standards stay with the relevant authorities and your lawyer, and every process we write is built to meet them, not to work around them.
Questions from hospitality and restaurants owners
Do you understand restaurant margins?
Our operations specialists work from your numbers: labour as a share of sales, cost of goods, covers and average cheque, reviewed weekly with your bookkeeper. We do not promise percentages.
Can you help us open a second location?
Yes. The playbooks and general manager scorecard from the first location are the template. We design the structure, help hire the manager and run the opening with weekly checkpoints.
How does marketing work for a single restaurant?
Reviews, local search, a current menu and booking system, email to past guests and events, on a calendar with a weekly number for bookings and covers. It fits the lower Advisory Retainer band.
Tell us which seat is empty.
A 30-minute call with Ali about the business and the people running it. You leave knowing which role to fill first and whether fractional, outsourced or a hire is the right answer, whether or not we work together.