Effectively Manage Your Restaurant and Your Life.

November 17, 2009 by Jonathan Munsell
Filed under Health & Energy Management, Human Resources, Leadership Development, Restaurant Success Secrets, Training: Management

2 Comments

Effectively Manage Your Restaurant and Your Life.

If you’re like most restaurant owners, you have more to do than
time to do it.

But too many Restaurant Owners get so wrapped up in their business, they forget to take care of the other aspects of their lives. And the results can be devastating! Families are neglected, friends are lost, and the physical and mental health of the restaurant owner declines. (Just to name a few.)

So here are some tips for being able to successfully manage your company and your life:

Put systems into place- mistakes are made when processes are not systematized. When processes are consistent, fewer mistakes are made and there are fewer fires to put out.
Take a day off- despite the temptation to work a 7-day week, take at least one day for yourself. You will see your productivity and your health improve. (Not to mention how happy your family will be to see you.)
Go home- set a time schedule for yourself. Schedule the number of hours you will work and stick to that plan.
Set your priorities- there’s always another crisis to solve. So be sure to make special occasions with friends and family a top priority. Don’t allow a restaurant “emergency” to hold you back. After all, there’s bound to be another one tomorrow.
Automate your business- this is sometimes an odd topic for restaurant owners, but there are many places to automate your restaurant and I am not just talking about the POS System. If you haven’t taken the time to realize the value of automation, do so soon. Places you can automate – Any recurring task like weekly emails or marketing mailers, costing your food, paying your bills can even be automated and save you a ton of time. With your business on auto-pilot you have more time for other things.

None of the stuff in this email is new to you. You know it all. But unless you are willing to take these suggestions to heart, you will never be able to effectively manage your life.

And remember, nobody ever lay on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time at the Restaurant!

I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics I present and their link to True Restaurant Success. Please do not hesitate to share – Leave a Comment

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Goal Setting – Part 1

January 3, 2009 by Jonathan Munsell
Filed under Systems & Operations

1 Comment

Goal Setting – Part 1

This time of year you hear a lot about resolutions and then a ton more about goal setting. In an earlier article I spoke about making commitments as opposed to resolutions. Another key to success is to set clear well defined goals. I am a goal setter. Twice a year I set goals for myself and conduct goal setting workshops and reviews with my managers and the members of Restaurant Success System. The goal setting we all do is detailed and personal. Sure there are business implications and goals but it is not just about a list of “To-Do” items.

What Exactly Is a Goal?

A goal is a desired end toward which you direct specific effort. In this context, the goal is an exact and tangible result you want for which you are willing to invest is sweat equity in order to achieve. The amount and intensity of effort expended is always dependent on the individual, the organization, and the overall importance of the goal.

The three key elements of a goal are:
1. An accomplishment to be achieved.
2. A measurable outcome.
3. A specific date and time by which to accomplish the goal.

Therefore, a goal is a specific, measurable accomplishment to be achieved within a specific time frame. Without these elements, all you have are dreams, hopes, and good intentions that undoubtedly will remain unrealized.

Why do goals work?

If you develop a consistent and impassioned focus on something, you’ll experience it.
Setting a goal is acknowledging to your mind that where you are is not where you want to be. Having a goal creates positive pressure, which is necessary to move you forward.

Before you set your goals think through “the why” for each of your goals. “The why” is important – you really have to spend a good bit of time on them but also get out the costs of not achieving them. If you ever have trouble coming up with meaningful goals here are some good tactics to do before you actually narrow down your goals.

List the specific areas of your life that are not what you want them to be
Write down all you will gain from achieving your goals – why you’re committed to making it a reality (press your mind to produce your own achievement).
Write down what it will cost you not to achieve the goal (make the pain of not achieving it real).
Write down what you would have to believe to not just set the goal but to truly achieve it.
What would you have to believe to create the life you deserve?

“You need to set big goals, goals that inspire you and push you forward.” ~ Jonathan Munsell

Spend some time with what I have laid out above and get your mind around where you are and where you want to go and in the next day or so it will cover the construction of meaningful goals. Be sure to check back often to get the real meat of Goal Setting. Click Here for RSS Feeds

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About the author Jonathan Munsell

Jonathan Munsell truly practices what he preaches. As Founder of Amazing Brands, a North Carolina company, with two restaurant brands and a catering company he specializes in restaurant startup and growth. Jonathan is a professional speaker and conducts restaurant startup, operations, marketing and financial seminars nationwide.

His current responsibilities include Principal Operating Partner of Amazing Brands, serving on the Board of Directors for the NCRLA and fostering industry advancement with his support of restaurant operators through his Restaurant Success System.

To get a copy of his FREE REPORT – Double Your Restaurants Profits – How To Turn Any Restaurant Into A Cash Generating Machine – go to www.RestaurantGoldMine.com or go to www.RestaurantSuccessSystem.com

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How Can A Tight Timeline Work For You… and Make You a Ton Of Money

December 31, 2008 by Jonathan Munsell
Filed under Restaurant Business Planning

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It is real important for every business person to set parameters for those that work for him or her to follow. I call them rules of engagement. Every owner needs to set parameters around how you will deal with others. For many this seems harsh but guarding your time and limiting your interruptions is the key to productivity.

Check out this model, if you want to see why you want to avoid interruptions:

The average Restaurant Owner is interrupted 5 times in an hour.

Each interruption takes 5 minutes and 3 minutes to get back into what you were working on.

So if you work 10 hours a day then this is how really productive you are:

5 interruptions x 5 minutes each x 10 hours = 250 minutes lost to interruption

Each interruption takes 3 minutes to get back on track (5 interruptions per hour x10 hours x 3 minutes to get back) = 150 minutes lost on refocusing

250+150 = 400 Minutes (6.66 Hours per day lost)

Ok, now let’s think about the time you spend each day in Operations fixing problems, how about Human Resources? What about with your guests?

2 basic rules I follow to keep things moving and protect the time that is the most valuable “The time you spend working on your business as opposed to in it.”

Time Block: Set time aside that is uninterrupted. This is the time each and every day you work on your restaurant to push it ahead.† Even if the toughest time you can only take so much negativity… you have to limit it and at some point you need to work on getting ahead.Maybe even more important in a tough time I suggest you carve out time that your people know you are off limits. In the past I have even gone to the local library to get the time I need to propel my business forward. Set this time up as far in advance as possible and do not change it for any reason what so ever.† This sometimes is the most important thing you can do for everyone, ESPECIALLY YOU.
The 24 hour rule:
*** Don’t let yourself slow down the process***
This is verbatim my rule to my people. I believe in empowerment and responsibility and this allows them to ask the question but does not allow them to use a delay in response as a responsibility negator. The 24 hour rule – If you are working on something and are looking for approval or review for something you know is right for our business and have worked it through, especially when time is of the essence, if you believe it is quality and represents us as we would all expect then YOU MUST MOVE FORWARD, Make the call and go for it!. At least give ‘em 24 hours to respond. We can all agree that we can all get busy and that “busy” may slow us from doing the right thing as a company.

This 24 hour rule mentality is designed, usually when you are on a timeline (which as a company we are focusing on getting everything to be time based commitments) when you may have sent something to a superior and are waiting to hear input. If they say/email to hold until further comment then hold – if they are non-responsive you have to do the right thing for the business.

“I recognize that I can slow things and this is designed to empower people to do their jobs more independently, ultimately growing our business exponentially.”

- Jonathan W Munsell\

Both of these tools will create more freedom in your own work life.† Use this extra time to step back and figure out more ways just like this that can improve your business with actually less work from you and definitely less personal involvement. Think about it for a few seconds… if you can figure out just a couple more of these you will continue to figure out ways to get more done in less time and ultimately you could even have a 4 day work week.† Imaging this even for a brief moment… if you limit access to you and you figure out a couple more systems to avoid you in the chain of command… COMPROMISING NOTHING from a quality of operations perspective. The real improvement comes from empowering your people and your working less… worse case scenario you don’t work any less but you are far more productive and your company moves forward faster than ever before.

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