Restaurant Business Growth Relies on Growth Mindset

Do you want to know the secret to restaurant business growth? I bet you think it's all about increasing your sales. What if I told you that's wrong and that your mindset is the key? Watch this video, and I'll share with you what my most successful restaurant owner members have in common and how it has allowed them to explode their bottom line, give them time away from our operations and put them in a place of gratitude.

Here is how real restaurant growth starts. It starts when you work on becoming the leader your restaurant needs. It starts with you changing your role in your business. Your restaurant growth depends on how you see the world around you and your mindset.

Let’s talk about mindset first. Restaurant growth starts with a growth mindset. The other mindset is a fixed mindset. What’s the difference?

• A person with a fixed mindset deals sees challenges as obstacles, sees them as somebody else's fault. A person with a fixed mindset doesn’t look for alternative solutions, tends to use little energy in searching for answers, doesn’t want to learn new things or make changes in their business. There tends to be an edge of fear and a tendency to blame outside forces or people.
• A person with a growth mindset sees a challenge and thinks they can learn something to overcome it. A growth mindset looks for solutions, known and unknown. They know it may cost them money and it may cost them time, but nothing stops them because they see nothing but potential.

Adopting a growth mindset changes how you look at the world. Instead of seeing everything as a challenge that stops you dead in your tracks, you see nothing but opportunity. And this is why a growth mindset is so important to restaurant business growth. Knowing you have to look for solutions and trust in alternative solutions, you can accept and understand managers are important to the business.

Instead of taking the stance that managers are horrible or that managers haven’t worked out great in the past, you realize that a well-trained and prepared management team can be the ticket that allows you not to be in the restaurant 24/7. With a growth mindset, you can understand the importance of systems: that there's a system, a process, a way of doing anything and everything in the restaurant. This includes everything from budgets and creating your plan for success to counting out a drawer the same way every single time as well as something advanced like dollars per labor hour worked.

A growth mindset allows you to understand the importance of accountability, that just because you put these systems in place, just because you have the mindset, if you're not willing to hold people accountable to your standards, then nothing gets done your way. You don't look at it as a negative. Instead you see it as your job to hold your managers accountable (or what I like to call answerable).

You look at it as a positive that if I train you what your job is, how to do it, how well it should be done, more importantly, by when, I can hold you answerable, because you know exactly my expectations. A growth mindset allows you to see how you're the solution to all your challenges, that it's not somebody else’s problem to solve. If something goes wrong, it's your challenge to learn. It's your challenge to become the leader your restaurant needs. This pushes you to learn, become better and change for the betterment of your restaurant business.  

I see this in action on a weekly basis with the members in my 24-week restaurant transformation coaching program. They’re tackling big issues and common restaurant business challenges with personal and professional growth in mind. For these restaurant owners, the sky's the limit. It's unbelievable the changes that my members are making during a pandemic, during a labor shortage. The fact of the matter is, when times are good, when times are bad, someone with a growth mindset sees opportunity around every corner. Yes, they suffer from the same challenges as you – high food cost, high labor cost, can’t find enough employees, short-fuse customers and so much more – but they know it is their responsibility to learn how to solve the problems. They understand pointing fingers and placing blame might feel good for a few minutes but it doesn’t solve the problems.

If you want real restaurant business growth, I encourage you to consider what you don’t know and to start asking questions. Look for help, sources of information, expertise, coaching, mentorship. Change your mindset so you can change your role in the restaurant, become the leader your restaurant needs and get time away from your restaurant to live your life.

If you would like to learn how to own a restaurant that doesn't depend on you being in it to be successful, watch this free video course that teaches you three key principles to running a successful restaurant. If you're ready right now to make some serious changes in your restaurant, you can also book a 60-minute call with me where we talk about your challenges and figure out exactly what is holding you back from having a restaurant that doesn’t depend on you being in it to be successful. 

Be sure to visit my YouTube channel for more helpful restaurant management video tips.