#12 Unlocking Restaurant Success: The #1 Mistake Holding Owners Back & How to Fix It with David Scott Peters"

In this episode of Restaurant Leaders Unplugged, we welcome restaurant expert and coach David Scott Peters, who shares his journey from working in his family’s restaurant to becoming a leading coach for independent operators across the U.S. David reveals the #1 mistake he sees in the industry—a lack of leadership—and explains how restaurant owners can transform their operations through proven systems and strategies.

Tune in as David discusses the importance of having the right systems in place, the power of a growth mindset, and his Restaurant Prosperity Formula, a framework designed to help restaurant owners achieve financial success and freedom. David also dives into topics like effective team management, crafting a powerful company culture, and how to navigate the ups and downs of restaurant ownership.

If you’re ready to take control of your restaurant and lead it to prosperity, this episode is packed with insights to guide you there.

Connect with our guest:

His podcast: https://www.davidscottpeters.com/podcast
His book: https://a.co/d/f315EXE
Social media links: Instagram, LinkedIn
https://www.instagram.com/davidscottpeters/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidscottpeters/
Website: https://www.davidscottpeters.com/

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Transcript

David Scott Peters 

(0:52 - 1:03)

All right, welcome, David, to the Restaurant Leaders Unplugged podcast. It's really a pleasure to have you here. Just for you guys that don't know David Scott Peters, he's an amazing restaurateur.

(1:04 - 1:16)

He now is also a coach for many restaurants across the US, has a book called Restaurant Prosperity Formula. And it's really, I wish I would have had this book when I first started in business. And so we're just really lucky to have David here with us today.

(1:16 - 1:19)

So welcome, David. Thanks for having me, my friend. I appreciate you.

(1:19 - 1:33)

Yeah, David, so let's start with the beginning. You know, just a little bit of your backstory. How did you get started in this journey of hospitality? Long story long, I grew up in my family's restaurant and catering business back in Linwood, New Jersey, where I worked for the toughest manager I know.

(1:34 - 1:41)

If you ever worked for your mom, you know it sucks. My sister and I hated it, and why? Because she wrote us harder than anybody else. There was no favoritism.

(1:41 - 1:58)

And while I hated it as a teenager, she set me up for success. Because every job I had after, I elevated, because I had a work ethic like nobody else. Now, I took those skillsets, and I worked for, in the early 90s, a brew pub called Coyote Springs Brewing Company Cafe here in Phoenix, Arizona.

(1:58 - 2:12)

Our first location was a cash cow, hand over fist money. Our second location was like owning a boat, a hole in water in which you throw money. And by then, I'd moved my way into managing two locations as an assistant manager, waiting for the third location to be mine.

(2:13 - 2:36)

Next thing you know, I was pulled from the schedule for two weeks to write budgets, and left that position three years later as the operations manager, where I learned the importance of what pays your bills, cash, not profits, the importance of having managers, the importance of having systems. And that's where I really cut my teeth. I left there, and I worked for a company called Famous Sam's, a 30-unit restaurant sports bar chain here in Arizona.

(2:37 - 2:42)

We were going gangbusters. The guys who bought the company wanted to take it public. We were opening eight stores.

(2:42 - 2:52)

I redid the training systems, brought in my own operations team. We were going gangbusters. But the guys mismanaged the company, and under a year, damn near bankrupted the franchisor.

(2:52 - 3:01)

And as everybody left, I went and taught at Scottsdale Color Institute. I taught management, human resources, wines, and spirits. And I was consulting.

(3:01 - 3:12)

And the minority shareholders who became the majority shareholders bailing the company out kept asking me to come back. And I finally said yes about two weeks before my first child was born. And it was a disaster.

(3:12 - 3:18)

It should have been bankrupt. And I was told to turn the company around and sell it in five years. I missed that goal by three months.

(3:19 - 3:27)

I know what it is to be an independent operator. I know what makes a chain successful. And I made it my calling to bring the same systems and tools that chains use without losing our independence.

(3:27 - 3:40)

We love our guests. We love our employees. And so while I was selling the company, I started a company 21 years ago that grew into a restaurant training coaching company, seminars, workshops, and eventually software.

(3:40 - 4:08)

And a little over five years ago, my business partner who I brought on as one of my members became a coach and what have you, approached me to buy me out. And while it was earlier than I wanted to, I took it as what was the best option for me and my family. And for the last five plus years, I've been back to the basics of coaching independent restaurants and a group coaching program situation where it's not just about the systems and the dollars, it's about finding a life.

(4:08 - 4:18)

And that's where the restaurant prosperity formula comes from. That restaurant prosperity is freedom for your restaurant and the financial freedom you deserve. Without freedom for your restaurant, it doesn't matter what money you make.

(4:18 - 4:32)

If you're a prisoner to the business, who cares? And nobody opened their business on purpose to be a charity. Nobody opened their business on purpose to be a prisoner to their business. And it can be run properly with managers, with the right systems and so on.

(4:32 - 4:38)

And that's kind of been my drive. Right, right, right. And what inspired this, David? I mean, you were successful with many of the restaurants you're talking about.

(4:39 - 4:59)

Did you go through some pain yourself that really led you to say, hey, this is what I wanna do to help other restaurant owners? It's probably gonna surprise you, but none of that. It was, well, we all grew up, and if you spend any time in the restaurant business, you have lost money. You have had, beat your head against the wall because you think people should have common sense.

(4:59 - 5:08)

You've had the Karen customers. You've had it all. Like, it does not take long for a brand new restaurateur or manager to learn the ropes real quick of what it's like.

(5:09 - 5:24)

It was actually, my mother went to a seminar called Million Dollar Speaking. And she got sold into a bigger seminar and was allowed to bring a guest. Now, I was a speech comm major and graduated with a degree in speech communication, interpersonal, organizational in college.

(5:24 - 5:45)

And my dad was a motivational speaker, and I got to go with her. I'm like, what did you spend money on? And the next thing you knew, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Because the seminar was about how to, back in the day when info marketing was at its early stages, how to sell your information, my systems, my process, my way.

(5:46 - 5:51)

And so I loved being on stage. I used to be an improv comic. I was a speech comm grad.

(5:52 - 6:04)

And loved the industry. And next thing you know, I started a business two years before I sold Famous Sam's, my second time through when I came back. And I'll tell you, it was, I've never looked back.

(6:04 - 6:15)

This is my dream job, where I can teach people. I can help them get out of a bind, or just improve their damn lives in their bottom line. And when people take action, it's amazing.

(6:15 - 6:35)

But no, it wasn't that the restaurant industry chewed me up and spit me out. It was, hey, I found my, what was my calling? You know, to get on stage, to be able to share, and now in group coaching situations, and all the things that I've done all the way through software over the years, I really understand what it takes to be successful. Right, that's great, man, that's great.

(6:36 - 6:59)

So, David, we're talking about you teaching the first restaurant owners how to run a business. What do you find are the most common mistakes that restaurant owners make? And why do you think these are so prevalent? So, I can tell you this. When I started 21 years ago, I would have told you that the most common mistakes was that a restaurant owner went in, opening their business undercapitalized, and couponing.

(7:00 - 7:07)

So you think about 20 years ago, couponing, couponing, couponing. People were just couponing themselves to death. And then, over the years, I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no.

(7:07 - 7:29)

The real problem is your food cost's out of control, your labor cost's out of control, you can't get your manager to do their job. And then, really, since writing my book, Restaurant Prosperity Formula, and looking at my most successful restaurant owners that I've worked with, I realized that it is really this, one major problem, the reason why most restaurants fail. It's a lack of leadership.

(7:30 - 7:46)

And it doesn't mean, you know, most of us are not born leaders. We can become leaders, and that's where systems make up for our weaknesses, communication, and budgets, and so on and so forth. But the reality is, the reason why restaurants fail is we're not being the leaders our restaurants need, our businesses need, the people need.

(7:47 - 8:19)

Like, we're just kinda letting shit happen, we're letting the tail wag the dog, we're reacting to problems, we're stuck in what's called a fixed mindset. Oh, the government did this to me, and my vendor did this to me, and my power company, and my linen people, and we just blame everybody for the problems, and it's woe is me, versus having a growth mindset, and going, man, I got the same problems everybody else has, but I will outwork it, I will outlearn it, I will outspend it, I will find a way to make this work, because my job is to move the company forward. And that's where a lot of restaurant owners lose it.

(8:19 - 8:29)

They let all the garbage that around us just sit so heavy on our chest that we just can't breathe, and we get stuck in the rut. And you can't, you've gotta lead your business. Right, 100%.

(8:29 - 8:59)

I actually have some questions about leadership in a second, and we'll get into those, because that's really the focus of this podcast as well, because I really think that's where it's at as well. But can you share one of your toughest cases? Restaurants that was really failing in many regards, and how did you turn it around? Because you're talking about leadership and all that stuff, which is super important, but where do you draw the line when you see a business or a restaurant that can't be turned around? So I'm gonna tell you that it starts with, let's go backward. If you follow me, if you find me on the internet, like I litter the internet.

(9:00 - 9:05)

I've been doing this for 21 years. Look up David Scott Peters on YouTube. I got a podcast, I got a book, I got articles.

(9:05 - 9:23)

I've got all this, I'm everywhere. And only because I was one of the first, like one of the first three people to ever start coaching in the restaurant space. With that said, I can tell you that if you follow me or learn that, I tell you the two most important systems any restaurant should have are budgets and recipe costing cards.

(9:24 - 9:32)

Sebastian, I'll ask you, it's rhetorical, because I know the answer is, what are the two systems most restaurants never have? Budgets and recipe cost cards. Why? They're so hard. Boo-fricking-hoo.

(9:32 - 9:43)

You pick the toughest business I know to be in. You've got to have a plan for success. And people think budgets are one and done, but they're literally your plan, your proactive plan for success.

(9:43 - 9:54)

Where are we starting? What systems are I gonna put in place? What results will I achieve? How quickly or slowly? And you create your plan. Then you measure the plan and you change it. You measure, you change.

(9:54 - 10:12)

Well, I couldn't tell you if a restaurant was not viable until we do the budget. And so, it's one of the very first things we do is to find out where you are today. Now, I will tell you, unfortunately, probably two times a year, I look a restaurant owner in the eye and go, you should close.

(10:13 - 10:18)

And that is heavy. That's heavy shit. To look somebody in the eye and go, you don't have hope, there's no hope.

(10:19 - 10:27)

But for most people, they're running, so the concept of prime cost, you may be familiar with. Listeners to us right now may not be. That's total cost goods sold.

(10:28 - 10:39)

That's bottle beer, drapery, wine, liquor, food, merchandise, all up, total cost goods sold. Plus, total labor costs, including taxes, benefits, insurance. Old timers like me, we knew it as called controllable expenses.

(10:39 - 10:50)

In control of management, how we hire, fire, train, utilize our people, purchase product, utilize that product. It's our report card, management. Well, that number in the old days was 65%.

(10:50 - 11:00)

If you do $850,000 a year or more in sales, I say it's 55, that's 10 points. That's huge. That's really running with systems and management and doing everything the right way.

(11:01 - 11:06)

Well, most restaurants don't take inventories. They don't have recipe cards. They don't schedule on budget.

(11:06 - 11:13)

They don't track labor. And they tend to run as high as 78% prime cost. Anecdotally, I've been doing this for a long time.

(11:13 - 11:20)

I've worked with thousands of restaurants. I'm gonna tell you right now, it's about 78%. So that means if we go from 78 to 55, that's 23 points.

(11:21 - 11:29)

On a million dollars, that's $230,000. That's life changing for people. So getting into the budget, I can find hope.

(11:29 - 11:52)

Like I can see where you are in prime cost. Now, that does not mean I don't run across somebody who is, man, we can find all the money in the world in prime cost, but they have borrowed, borrowed, borrowed, borrowed. And today, all the people who took advantage of that cheap money, EIDL money that's now being coming due are finding themselves that they didn't fix their damn problems.

(11:52 - 12:02)

They covered the problems by feeding it money. This free money is now costing them. And so if debt service is an issue, we can fix prime cost.

(12:02 - 12:14)

We can go down and look at paper and janitorial and things that we can control. But there is a piece that for some people, you have to refinance. You may have to find an angel investor because no bank will touch you.

(12:15 - 12:48)

But the budget is what tells us whether you have a problem or not. And so I can tell you that I've worked with people that have been in the 90%, like literally, for every dollar it comes in, they spent 90 cents on people and product to deliver that product. How they've absolutely changed their world and now are in a position where going from seven days a week working 100 hours a week to showing up when they want, having a management team in place, making 20% bottom line, where a typical restaurant, they say, NRA says, nickel to eight cents on every dollar.

(12:49 - 13:10)

If you do a million dollars more in sales, my goal for you is 15 to 20% profit margin. By the way, without giving up guest satisfaction, without cutting product quality, without giving shitty service, without cutting yourself way down, it's just that we build all these inefficiencies into our industry because that's just the way we do things. Well, bullshit, you're now the leader of your business.

(13:10 - 13:23)

You can do things differently. And so I can go down story after story after story of people who've changed their world. I can also tell you, Sebastian, that I've worked with some people who've not changed their world because they didn't take action.

(13:24 - 13:55)

If you fail to make change, like the definition of insanity, everybody knows Albert Einstein doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. I add this one more thing to it. How's it working for you? Like, are you done? Are you tired enough to say, I'm not gonna keep doing what all the other people tell me, the so-called experts, the internet says? Are you ready to do something different? Are you ready to work? Are you ready to delegate? And that's the biggest because most restaurant owners think they gotta do everything themselves.

(13:55 - 14:07)

There's too much. I used to go around and I'd go speak and I'd say, you know, I'm the restaurant expert. As grand as that sounds, as good as I think I am, I could not do everything that I teach my members by myself.

(14:08 - 14:13)

I'm not that good. And if I'm not that good, no restaurant owner or manager is that good. We have to have others help.

(14:14 - 14:25)

And that's gonna be one of the biggest lessons. If you wanna change your world, you gotta have a system, a process, a way to doing everything. And you've gotta have a plan to delegate these tasks that they're off your plate.

(14:25 - 14:30)

Right. So you just talked about profit margins. We're talking about 15, 20% as a goal.

(14:30 - 14:50)

Is this still viable now, David, with the current marketplace? I mean, we're looking at really high labor, freaking food costs off, you know, like everything is super high, rents, everything. So first question is, is that still viable? And then how do you get there with the current scenario? So the answer is yes, it's viable. So let's be very clear.

(14:50 - 15:06)

Prime cost, again, if you do $850,000 a year in gross sales or higher, we're shooting for 55% or lower. So if I approach 2 million, 3 million, $4 million in sales, we're dropping to 50%. We might even be in the high 40s.

(15:06 - 15:17)

Why? Because our customers manage our efficiencies. At that point in time, you could have everybody show up at the same time, everybody leave at the same time, and you couldn't add another cook, you couldn't add another server. There's no room for them.

(15:17 - 15:29)

Your customers are managing your labor. And then once I control my costs get sold, that's what it is. So we will acknowledge that our food cost is out of control, that prices have done nothing but go up since 9-11.

(15:30 - 15:57)

Why do I bring up the worst day in modern American history? Because the day after, milk went from $1 a gallon to $3, like in one day, and our prices have only gone up since. Do you remember when we used to have the debate of, oh my God, $15 minimum wage? I don't care what side of the political fence you live on, it's laughable. When's the last time you could hire a cook for $15? Like, wouldn't you love to have $15 be the number you have to worry about today, right? It's through the roof.

(15:58 - 16:06)

COVID said we need to be competitive and everybody upped the game. So we know that costs are going up. Well, here's the deal about prime cost.

(16:06 - 16:25)

Prime cost works, and I've got members on coast to coast who make it work. Even in New York, California, Washington, where it's $15 minimum wage, no tip credit, where your servers are making $15 an hour, right? There is no 213 that you have in Texas or Georgia. Everything is up.

(16:26 - 16:43)

How do they make it? Well, I'm gonna tell you. Your second question was, how do we make this viable? One is, understand that I can run, if I have 55 points, I could run a 25% labor cost and a 30% food cost or total cost gets sold. I could flip them.

(16:44 - 17:06)

I could run a 40-15, vice versa. So we can't get caught up in any national averages. I've gotta have recipe cards, know where my menu is, where my food costs should be, but more important, in the budgeting process, where do I need to be? And so if I'm in a high labor cost state, let's say California is an example, where in fast food, you're gonna be being paid $22 an hour.

(17:07 - 17:18)

That's your starting. You must start looking at your menus at a 25, 22% food cost. The days of running 38% food cost is gone.

(17:18 - 17:26)

The days of 34% food costs are gone. The days of 28% food costs are gone. Now you have to look at your menu and be willing to change.

(17:26 - 17:37)

What can I make a change? Now, to do that properly, I need accurate, up-to-date recipe costs and cards. I've gotta have a POS system. I've gotta tie those things together and know what my ideal food cost should be.

(17:38 - 17:51)

Without going into that deeply, the fact of the matter is, your menu now affects your labor. Oh, I've got this sauce I prep and I've got diced onions I prep and I've got all these things. Go down the list, prep, prep, prep, prep.

(17:51 - 17:59)

And I use this one item in this one item. I use this one item in this one item. And all of a sudden, you've got hours upon hours of prep.

(17:59 - 18:06)

Well, now I've gotta learn to cross-utilize, dovetail. Use this one product in five items. Use this one product in three items.

(18:06 - 18:22)

I'm starting to bring my inventory down and bring my labor down because I'm not spending time. I've gotta learn how to prep properly. Instead of every single day, maybe it is, I'm gonna do three, four days worth of this item, as long as it doesn't degrade in quality.

(18:23 - 18:35)

If we know it lasts on the shelf and it's just as good as day one and day four, then I'm gonna make the four days worth. And now, two, three days a week, I'm doing major prep. And that way, I reduce the hours of prep I do.

(18:35 - 18:40)

Well, changing the menu. Oh, I'm gonna have to change my menu. I love having that filet on here.

(18:41 - 18:44)

We sell one a day. My customers are telling me they don't want it. I love it.

(18:45 - 18:55)

It's a great value, but it's killing me. It needs to go away. What are you gonna bring in replacement? Like for many restaurants, we may be adding flatbreads or pizza or pasta or saute.

(18:56 - 19:04)

High quality, high perceived value, low cost. And I can make it from scratch. And all of a sudden, you change your menu.

(19:05 - 19:17)

So anybody listening to us right now, if you truly sit there going, oh my God, how am I gonna make 55%? I'm running 68, I'm running 78%. Well, your menu is the key. It's the heart of your business.

(19:17 - 19:28)

I'm not asking you to go from being a steakhouse to Mexican food, but I am telling you, you cannot be married to anything. You must be willing to change. So important.

(19:28 - 20:07)

David, you're talking about systems here because it doesn't matter what's happening. If you implement these systems, you're gonna be able to run lean and be able to figure this out. So technology now plays a big part on this stuff, right? On systems and everything, but there's just so much out there, right? What do you recommend to restaurant owners to figure out their tech stack? I mean, if it's independence of starting out, they might not even be looking at this stuff so much, right? So how do you go about selecting the technology stack that you need to implement these systems properly? Well, first of all, the number one piece of equipment you will ever purchase in your tech stack is gonna be your POS system.

(20:07 - 20:22)

Most people hate them and they think, oh, and I find, yeah, a thousand people love one POS and a thousand people hate the same POS. That's really support and how you were set up and so on, but you must have a POS system. If you are running without a POS, you are flying blind.

(20:22 - 20:45)

Now POS should do a lot of things for us, but mostly I want it to track my sales, keep my cash safe, give me my product mix, be my timekeeper and labor control in some respects. From there, I really wanted to connect with some other apps. So let's take, for instance, if I were to say, hey, what POS system is storming the nation has been for the last five, six, 10 years, Toast.

(20:45 - 20:59)

Like who doesn't have Toast anymore? Like, oh, what do you have? You have Toast, Heartland, you know, Toast Heartland, Toast Heartland, like it's, and then the others. And I like a lot of the other ones, but they failed to change. So let's say I have Toast on there.

(21:00 - 21:10)

Now, what do I need with that? Well, I need recipe costing card software, right? Food and beverage software. That's a must. Now there's a lot of options out there.

(21:10 - 21:21)

I tend to recommend to my members, MarginEdge. I think they've done a real nice job because they are restaurant operators who created software like I did when I created my software. And so that's a great piece.

(21:21 - 21:38)

If it were to scheduling, gotta have scheduling software. Why? We need an app on our people's phones that they can swap schedules, they can raise their hand, they need something, they can give you their schedule request, they can get contact information, see their schedules, so on and so forth. Well, I would tell you, you know, 20 years ago, it would have been hot schedules.

(21:38 - 21:49)

Today it's seven shifts. Like, if I go down the list of my members, it's, there's a myriad of some other things that are out there, but it's seven shifts. When it comes to checklists, checklists are the key.

(21:49 - 21:59)

If you read my book, you're gonna see that checklists are the keystone to all of your systems. You can't get a manager to follow a checklist. What the hell makes you think they're gonna wake up Sunday taking inventory accurately and give a shit? They're not.

(22:00 - 22:07)

So I use Jolt. I actually buy a year subscription for my members to Jolt, J-O-L-T. No, we used to use that software at our rest house.

(22:07 - 22:12)

It's a tremendous one to use properly. Now, so we got our food and beverage software. We got our scheduling software.

(22:12 - 22:28)

We got our checklist to impose our will without being there. From there, there's a myriad of other things that you could add, from loyalty programs and some social media things that we've got out there. You may be going to catering, and there's a myriad of software for there.

(22:28 - 22:41)

You also wanna look at reservations and online ordering. Beautiful thing about Toast, and Negative, if they want it, they buy it. So they've got a lot of sister companies that they can tie into the Toast and tie into your website.

(22:41 - 22:51)

You've gotta have a website, whether that's a pop menu or, oh, I'm just now blanking on where most of my members are. It'll come to me. Bento box for websites? Yeah, Bento.

(22:51 - 23:01)

Yeah, that's probably the most popular out there right now. And so all of a sudden, you start going down, here's the challenge. I just went down a myriad of tech stack stuff, and there's more.

(23:02 - 23:20)

And I would not run my restaurant without those pieces of software. Where's our frickin' margins gonna go? Now start remembering when I said the old number for prime cost is 65, my number is 55 or under. When you've got all these things stealing from your back pocket, you've gotta make it up somewhere.

(23:21 - 23:37)

Again, the key is providing your guests the best experience possible, making sure that whatever price point you are, you provide a value. And if you take care of the guest, we can bring the prime cost down, and we can afford these other items. So now let's go further backwards to the budget.

(23:38 - 23:51)

If I were looking at it, I'm gonna do about 25% cost of goods sold, 25% labor costs, give or take five points, right? It's 25, 25 is 50. I could run a higher labor cost, a lower food cost. I could do whatever it is.

(23:51 - 24:10)

I got 55 points. Then in operating expenses, with all that tech stack we just talked about, with paper, janitorial, occupancy cost, advertising, all the things we've got to run the restaurant, we're looking for about 25 points to 30. So when you do the math, this is how we get to that 15 to 20% profit margin.

(24:10 - 24:17)

And think about it. How do you know where you are if you don't have a budget to take us all the way back? The budget is critical. Otherwise you're flying blind.

(24:17 - 24:24)

You're just running with your gut and your bank account. Even if you make money, you're leaving a ton of money on the table. Yeah, 100%.

(24:24 - 24:28)

So David, thank you for that answer. Very helpful. And now let's jump into leadership.

(24:28 - 24:45)

We were just talking about how important leadership is, and it's really the key. So in your opinion, what's the single most important attribute of a good leader? It's being an active listener. I'm gonna tell you right now, if you can empathize and truly listen to your people, you learn.

(24:45 - 25:00)

If you think you know everything, if you think you're supposed to direct everything that happens and you're only one with the best ideas, you're in deep shit. You've got incredibly talented people around you. Yes, we've got some people who are taking advantage of us because we've not been leading them.

(25:00 - 25:17)

We've got people who may not be high in the creative side of the restaurant industry, but they can do what they need to do. But the people who do their job six, eight hours a day often have the best ideas because they sit there and do that job every single day. We get too stuck in our four walls.

(25:17 - 25:36)

So being an active listeners is probably one of the most important. But I will tell you that on top of that, that two personality traits that the most successful people I've ever worked with all possess is one, they have a passion for hospitality. If you don't love taking care of your guest, this is not the place to be.

(25:36 - 25:48)

It will eat you up. And the other is they're persistent. Like you will come across speed bump after speed bump after speed bump, challenges that come at you left and right.

(25:48 - 26:05)

How you handle those with a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset, that truly defines you. So I think you've got to be an active listener, but if you don't love the industry, if you don't love taking care of people, if you aren't willing to go through some hard times, it's not the right place for you to be. Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent.

(26:05 - 26:16)

I think you just touched on a lot of things. And I think the key factor here is you're talking about humility as well. To be an active listener and to do that, to be able to really listen to your team, there needs to be some sense of humility.

(26:16 - 26:33)

And that's what I found to be one of the key ingredients in my journey. Because when I was young and I was doing this whole thing, I thought that I just needed to be the one coming up with all the ideas and coming up with this and defining solutions. At the end of the day, through hard lessons, that's just not the way to go.

(26:34 - 26:44)

Again, just because you own a restaurant doesn't make you a leader. So this is where the systems come in. So for instance, I have a, what I call the restaurant leadership compass.

(26:45 - 26:57)

Where do you fall? I draw this outside white puffy cloud and the people on the outside of this are what I call the crazy makers. Like they are the crisis people. It's everybody else's fault.

(26:57 - 27:04)

And often they hate guests. They hate employees. I'm like, why the hell'd you get in the restaurant business? Those are people we can never help.

(27:04 - 27:12)

You, me, anyone. Because they're just so close-minded, it's somebody else's problem. And they're too damn smart to say, I don't know what I don't know.

(27:12 - 27:23)

Let me go learn from someone. Otherwise, there are two main areas. You either are a numbers person, you run your business based off systems and budgets, and everything is black and white.

(27:24 - 27:39)

The unfortunate reality is often these people are impatient, think people have common sense, burn through managers because they think they should know what the hell to do, and it's just easy. We've got the givers, people I call social workers. Oh, it's all about the guest experience.

(27:39 - 27:44)

Put more food on that plate. Make sure they have a great experience. Oh, somebody needs overtime, just give it to them.

(27:44 - 27:51)

Sally's pregnant, won't be here for a while, give her more hours. Like take care of everyone. And it's easy because we're in the hospitality business.

(27:51 - 27:59)

We take care of people. But then we ignore budgets, and we ignore food costs, and labor costs, and all the things we need to do. Well, here's the deal.

(27:59 - 28:15)

If I put systems in place for everything that I do, I take that numbers person, and I now, as a numbers person, communicate what I want for service, how I want the guests treated, employee training. I've got supervision. All of a sudden, I start pulling towards the giver.

(28:16 - 28:40)

Vice versa, the giver, if all of a sudden, I put in budgets, and I set KPIs, key performance indicators for food costs, and labor costs, and I put systems in place on how we're supposed to run it, I pull me towards the numbers person, then there's this overlap. And whether you're a numbers person, or you are a giver, all of a sudden, with systems, we overlap, making us the captain of the ship. We are now the leader our restaurant needs.

(28:41 - 28:49)

And let me be very clear, Sebastian, that in times of stress, we go back to who we are. Like, we are who we are. I'm gonna give you a great case in point.

(28:50 - 28:59)

If I were running a restaurant today, I will tell you, the same way I run my company now, I'm an off-the-charts giver. Ah, I wanna be the center of attention. I'm like the mayor of the restaurant.

(28:59 - 29:08)

I want everybody to love me. I want them to love the restaurant, and the food, and like, take care, like, I'm off the charts. Without systems, I'd go bankrupt.

(29:08 - 29:25)

With that said, for most of my career as a coach, I would put myself out there as the numbers guy, the systems guy. And the reality is, I'm an off-the-charts giver, not a numbers guy. Every system that I teach is now a learned behavior.

(29:26 - 29:31)

It's just a task. I have learned and made it a part of what I do. It's not my natural state.

(29:31 - 29:43)

It has become my natural state because I've just done it so many times that I just follow the system, the process, the way, and it makes up for my leadership deficit. And that's how you become the leader. You've gotta have those systems.

(29:44 - 29:55)

That is fantastic, David, because my next question was about this stuff, because, and you just help me so much, by the way, because I am like you. I am a giver, and that's just my nature. I'm an empath.

(29:55 - 29:59)

And the problem with that is that I will fall.

(30:00 - 30:10)

That is fantastic, David, because my next question was about this stuff, because you just help me so much, by the way, because I am like you. I am a giver. And that's just my nature.

(30:11 - 30:33)

I'm an empath. And the problem with that is that I will fall victim to my emotions. So and that was my next question about leadership, because the emotional roller coaster running a business or a restaurant, whatever it is that you're doing from financial fears to operational stress, whatever the hell is going on, it can drive you to make the wrong decisions.

(30:34 - 30:46)

When you just described here of sending all these systems in place, what will prevent you from following your fears, right? Or your heart sometimes, because sometimes I just want to give. Keep making. Yeah.

(30:46 - 30:59)

So I guess you just answered my question because that was my question. How do you coach people through these things? Because, again, you will return back to those fears, especially if you had issues when you were a kid, whatever the hell was happen. It's going to drive you.

(30:59 - 31:06)

And it's hard to deal with that as a leader. This is, again, kind of where budgets come in. This is where systems come in.

(31:06 - 31:16)

When you can start to run your business based on your system, your process, your way versus your gut. Follow me for three days. Listen to what I do.

(31:16 - 31:26)

And then come in every day and find people doing something wrong and saying, wrong, fix it, wrong, fix it, wrong, fix it. And today, with millennials and younger, they're going to leave you. Hell, they're going to ghost your ass.

(31:26 - 31:35)

They're not even going to tell you they're quit. They just go away. Yeah, like the days of being abused emotionally, like when I grew up in the restaurant business in the 80s and 90s, that's gone.

(31:35 - 31:44)

It's you can't do it. Yeah. So when I teach my managers, my systems and I get them to a point where I'm able to hold them accountable.

(31:45 - 31:59)

Now, here's the deal. If I were to say, Sebastian, I'm going to hold you accountable and you are my manager, it comes across as a negative, like I have a fist in your face. Go ahead.

Screw up. I've just I'm going to hold your ass accountable. But I change it to answerable.

(32:00 - 32:12)

So if you know what your obligations are, you make a decision and then you're answerable for the resulting consequences. So I've got to teach you what your job is, how to do it. How well did you be done? More importantly, by when? Not just follow me for three days.

(32:12 - 32:25)

If I've got to teach you how to count a bar or back to $300, I don't just say follow me three days and tell you what you did wrong every single day after I show you how to do it. Then I have you do it. And I have you take notes and I have you redo it.

(32:25 - 32:33)

And you ask questions, you ask questions. Now, whether that's three times counting out a bar door, it's ten times. As long as you keep showing me you're learning and you're trying.

(32:33 - 32:42)

Well, now what am I going to do? I wait until you ask no more questions. From that point forward, I can hold you accountable. So you know what your job is, your obligation.

(32:43 - 32:47)

Now, every night you make a decision. Do your job. Don't do your job.

(32:47 - 33:01)

If you do your job, fantastic. If you don't, you are now answerable. And when I come across you and go, dude, why didn't you do that? You don't go, well, you didn't tell me I had to count the drawer every night I close like it is.

(33:01 - 33:06)

Oh, I'm so sorry. It'll never happen again. So we take that miscommunication out.

(33:06 - 33:17)

We take the conflict out of the business and we just make it black and white. As long as I coach my people, my goal is always to to teach them. My goal is to add correction.

(33:18 - 33:29)

My job is to find them doing something right. But more importantly, make sure they know their job if they know it. It's so much easier to run your restaurant, it's when they don't.

(33:29 - 33:39)

We get frustrated and then we take it back because they did it wrong and we get a new manager, we get a new employee. We just keep making change, change, change. And you finally you're just stuck doing everything yourself.

(33:40 - 33:46)

Man, I'm into that, man. That's with every business, David. Amen.

(33:46 - 33:51)

I could have a tire retail store. It's the same stuff. Cost of goods sold is cost of goods sold.

(33:51 - 33:55)

Labor is labor. But I just don't know their business and I don't know their margins. I don't have any stories.

(33:56 - 34:00)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, that's what we do, what we do.

(34:00 - 34:04)

You know, we work with restaurant people. But yeah, that's true, David. So you also emphasize the importance of company culture.

(34:05 - 34:08)

And in your book, you talk about this. You're big on this whole thing. And I totally agree.

(34:08 - 34:35)

But how does leadership play a role in cultivating a strong culture? And what are the defining characteristics of a great company? So I think, number one, as a leader, if you want to define your company culture, the one thing that most restaurants don't do is, number one, define their why and share their why. Why the hell did you open your business? You need to share that passion, that dream you have, why you're doing it and where you're going. And you need to share it with every new employee.

(34:35 - 34:43)

You've got to share it with every vendor. You've got to share it with every one of your customers. You've got to share it on your website and you've got to tell people on a daily basis.

(34:43 - 35:01)

If you're not telling somebody every single day why you opened your business, we're missing the boat. Because how do people know where they're supposed to be going if they don't know your passion, your dream, and why we're doing what we're doing? So it starts with that as the visionary of your business. You've got to tell them the direction you're going.

(35:02 - 35:21)

Well, if I've got that and I've got my team and I want to lead this, I need to have a positive work environment, a great company culture. And I often tell people the systems part that I teach you are easy. You know, putting in a key item tracker to count 5 to 15 items every shift to make sure nothing's stolen, that shit's easy.

(35:21 - 35:30)

To do a recipe card is not difficult, it's time consuming. But there's a system, a process, wait, it's really easy. I don't change your world because we put a budget in place.

(35:30 - 35:38)

I don't change your world because we put systems in place. You change your world because you change your company culture. You say there is an expectation.

(35:39 - 35:46)

See, our employees will reach as low as we set the bar. If we keep, oh, long ticket times, boss, I need another cook. You add another cook.

(35:46 - 35:54)

Oh, our food, you know, I'm out of food and I need more food and nobody looks why the food is gone. Instead, we buy more. We just write a check.

(35:54 - 35:58)

We fix everything. The next thing you know, we have labor creep. Next thing you know, our food costs out of control.

(35:58 - 36:12)

Next thing you know, we're like, oh my gosh, what is going on? Because we keep lowering the bar. Instead, I need to train people on my systems. So in order to become an employer of choice, to have a great company culture, I've got to have systems in place.

(36:13 - 36:30)

I have to have good supervision on every shift, every shift, not a bartender running the restaurant, a manager or manager type who is playing manager in a full service and quick serve. That's a working position. I've got to make sure that I've got good pay.

(36:30 - 36:43)

You don't have to be the top in your market, but you got to be competitive. I've got to have training, great training. Don't just follow somebody for three days and have somebody who's been working for you for 10 years, show everybody how to circumvent the systems you really want done.

(36:44 - 36:58)

Your system, your process, your way, great training. Your employees have to see that there's a potential growth for them if they want it. There are going to be some people who want to stay in the same position because that's where they're comfortable and that's fine.

(36:59 - 37:18)

But most of us want to see, and especially younger generations, is there a path to success that I can move up the food chain if I want and there's a way to get there. But more importantly, you have to become an employer choice by making sure your employees feel appreciated. They don't have to like you.

(37:19 - 37:30)

They have to feel like they're contributing, they're a part of something bigger, that they truly make a difference in your business and you need and want them there. That's really how it's done. Yeah, that's great, David.

(37:30 - 37:45)

So we're talking about company culture, we're talking about these things and that leads me to hiring because I think that's an issue that many restaurant owners have with, how do I select people, right? Because as you know, we're in need. Man, this position is empty. Should I get, I need a bartender, whatever.

(37:45 - 37:59)

I need just the first person that shows up, you end up hiring, right? And so what advice do you have for restaurant owners in the process of hiring? So there's two things. One is let's address the negative. Oh my God, I can't find anybody.

(37:59 - 38:05)

These people suck today. Man, every generation got bitched and moaned about. You gotta be kidding me.

(38:05 - 38:11)

I'm a Gen X-er, man. I have heard it all. My generation got bitched and moaned about like, oh, they don't have the same work ethic, blah, blah, blah.

(38:11 - 38:20)

No, it's, you're not attracting good people because word on the street is you suck. You suck to work for. You don't have management.

(38:20 - 38:25)

You're bad pay. People get yelled at like blah, blah, blah. Just, you're just bad company culture.

(38:25 - 38:44)

So do know that that company culture piece when it comes to hiring is the key, becoming an employer of choice. And oh, by the way, if you start that journey today and you've got a bad culture, understand this is a six month to a year journey. There is nobody in this world can give you the tools that in 30 days, you're bang, you're the best restaurant in the world.

(38:44 - 38:55)

Cause man, you got employees at the table. When a customer, a customer goes, do you like working here? They go, no, these people suck. Like they will say it in your restaurant at the table.

(38:55 - 39:01)

We have to make sure that we're employers of choice. That when they get asked that question, they go, I love these people. I had dental problems.

(39:01 - 39:04)

I didn't have insurance. The owner took care of me. I'll be here forever.

(39:04 - 39:11)

Blah, blah, blah, blah. Like it matters. So when it comes to company culture and trying to hire, that's number one.

(39:11 - 39:20)

Number two is we have to realize I can develop people. What I can't do is change your attitude. So I'm going to hire personality first.

(39:20 - 40:02)

Are you a culture fit for my business? Do I know what type of people I need for each position and my business? Like, I don't want somebody who's straight laced and standing straight up that would fit in a fine dining restaurant in a sports bar that you got to kind of get down, sit down at a table, throw a couple of curse words out, talk jokes, talk sports that are like, I need a completely different personality and smile and attitude versus in the fine dining where I'm going to be very proper and maybe smile a little bit, but I don't show a lot of personality. It's about the whole thing versus, Hey, get down to my level. And so hiring personality first that fits your company culture is critical because from there I can teach anybody to count a drawer.

(10:02 - 10:18)

I can teach anybody to serve a table. I can teach anybody to hit the fry station, then have a plan on how they move up. Now, when it comes to managers in a perfect world, I'm developing all of my managers from within because they learn my system, my process, my way.

(40:18 - 40:37)

They demonstrate, they fit my company culture and I move them up the ladder when I go outside more four walls. And for some of you have to do that in the beginning, but every time you bring in a new manager, those long-term employees, think of them as the newest step parent. Watch how quickly we can make this person leave.

(40:37 - 40:42)

Like we're going to do what we always do. They're going to flex their muscle. We're not going to listen, dah, dah, dah, dah.

(40:42 - 41:03)

And it's just this revolving door. So when you can develop your managers from within, which again can take six months to a year to fully fill out your management team, you've changed your world because every time somebody moves on, you've got people down the bench ready and trained. And all you do is shift them up and add a new lower level supervisor and just keep shifting.

(41:04 - 41:14)

For sure. I mean, yeah, that's, that's definitely the way to go, David. And so your restaurant prosperity formula is just talking about that for a second, because it's got your book for anybody that doesn't, hasn't gotten it yet.

(41:15 - 41:23)

Really recommend to get it. It includes leadership systems, training and accountability and taking action, which I think is the most important. You get to define all these things and then take the action.

(41:23 - 41:32)

Can you break it down a little bit for the audience here of how this system works? Yeah. So I just want to be very clear. I am not the smartest guy in the world.

(41:32 - 41:41)

I truly am not. I've just made every mistake that costs you money. And I have through making those mistakes, stepping on the landmine, blowing my leg off, if you will.

(41:41 - 41:53)

I have created a map that says, don't step on that landmine, go around it. So it's not that it's like, wow, this is earth shattering. It's the same stuff that's been around for 50 plus years.

(41:53 - 42:09)

Food costs is food costs like it is math, but how we put it together, how we get it. That's the magic. So starting off with restaurant prosperity, as a reminder, as we started our discussion, restaurant prosperity to me is freedom for your restaurant and the financial freedom you deserve.

(42:10 - 42:25)

If you cannot enjoy your time away from the business, if you are stuck there, who cares that you have a restaurant. But I will tell you that my focus on getting you a life means you have systems in place, management in place, and you're making money. That's the only way you have freedom is this is all working for you.

(42:25 - 42:32)

So the goal is having freedom. So we have an equal sign. And then the very first piece is leadership.

(42:33 - 42:40)

The number one reason why restaurants fail is lack of leadership. If you must become the leader, your restaurant needs. And we have a plus symbol of the division symbol.

(42:40 - 43:06)

And on the top of that division symbol is we have systems. There's a system, a process, a way to doing anything and everything in your business to a point where how many times if you're in a full service restaurant, have you run out of pens because your servers have stolen every single one of them? If you do not have one person in charge of buying pens a day a week that you look and a system on how to go buy pens, the pens will disappear. And you'll be all of a sudden a crisis, crisis, crisis.

(43:06 - 43:19)

We have no pens. Instead, there's a system, a process, a way. And that means if I need a system for buying pens, I need a system for dollars per labor hour work and recipe costs and cards and menu engineering, anything and everything you do in the business.

(43:19 - 43:30)

There's a system, a process, a way, whose way, your way. Now, next is we plus symbol. What goes along with that is the most successful restaurant operators I've worked with understand they don't know what they don't know.

(43:31 - 43:39)

So there's training. They get the training they need. They going to find the one idea, the two ideas, something they didn't know that they can make a change in their business.

(43:39 - 43:44)

But they've learned one very important thing. If they know everything, they're stuck. They're a prisoner.

(43:45 - 43:53)

So you must train their managers what they know. So the training is a two way street. Learn what you don't know and then share it with your management team.

(43:53 - 44:02)

So now I've got leadership. I've got systems training underneath the systems and training is accountability. We went through that without accountability.

(44:02 - 44:22)

Who gives a shit if you have training? Who cares if you have systems? If you're not going to make sure people do things your way, ensure that the process is working, it doesn't matter what knowledge you have or what systems you have in place that aren't being used. So accountability is incredible. But again, we change that from a negative to a positive by calling it answerability.

(44:23 - 44:29)

Last but not least, does not matter what kind of training you have. Doesn't matter what systems you have. Doesn't matter if you hold people accountable.

(44:29 - 44:36)

If you don't ultimately take action, do something different. Do something. And if you get overwhelmed, start small.

(44:36 - 44:41)

Have a little success. Move on to the next thing. Like you could read my book and I'll walk you through the way I would do it.

(44:42 - 44:47)

You don't have to do it that way. Do the thing that you're willing to do. Get some success under your belt.

(44:50 - 45:10)

Next thing you know, you've changed your world. So the Restaurant Prosperity Formula is not magic in the sense that, oh my gosh, David, you changed my world with any of those things. It's just an easy way to put together those skill sets, the things you must do to run successfully and more importantly, achieve prosperity, freedom for your restaurant and the financial freedom you deserve.

(45:10 - 45:13)

That's fantastic, David. Thank you for breaking that down. It's super helpful.

(45:14 - 45:21)

And now let's switch over to marketing for a second. I'm a marketing guy. So I'm going to just throw in a question about this and get your point of view on this.

(45:21 - 45:40)

So a lot of what I see with restaurants, David, and of course, we know that restaurants margins aren't huge, right? It's not a tech company. But I see that there is a lot of restaurant owners undervalue marketing in terms of they think it's an add-on, right? They open a restaurant, no marketing plan, no nothing. It's just boom, let's open.

(45:40 - 45:50)

And they just open and they hope that people are going to show up. Their location is great. There's a possibility for location stock, right? And it's really, you know, an uphill battle.

(45:50 - 46:03)

So why do you think that is? Because any business has the legs that it needs to have operations, finance, HR, marketing, all of them. So why do you think restaurants fall into this trap? Lack of knowledge. They don't know.

(46:03 - 46:24)

If you don't know, you don't know. Now, the other part is with so many marketing options out there, it's throwing mud at the wall, hoping something sticks. So when you don't have the education, the knowledge of what it takes to market properly, that's where we just start this shotgun approach to doing.

(46:24 - 46:31)

We can't track that we made any money. We just see a large bill on our P&L and we go, this ain't worth it. So I think it's really lack of knowledge.

(46:32 - 46:49)

Now, this is where I talk about your role as a restaurant owner. Your role as the restaurant owner is not to be the best host, server, busser, expo, fry cook you've got. In fact, none of those tasks should be yours unless you enjoy it and you're not scheduled.

(46:49 - 47:06)

You just come in and you kind of fill in because that's what you like to do. Your job as an owner is to work on budgets, marketing, lead the team, develop your managers, hold them accountable, move the company forward, work strategically on the business. So notice the second thing I put there was marketing, right? You've got to grow your business.

(47:06 - 47:16)

You have to learn what's necessary to grow your business. Why? Well, let's go into marketing basics. There are only three ways to increase your sales.

(47:16 - 47:21)

Your sales, Sebastian, my sales, restaurant owners listening to us. There's nothing. There's three ways.

(47:21 - 47:29)

Get a brand new customer. Often the most expensive form of marketing out there and finding a new person because we have people who die. We've got people who move out of the area.

(47:29 - 47:34)

We've got people that we've pissed off like customers are going to go away. I've got to replace them. I've got to get brand new customers.

(47:35 - 47:51)

I've got to get customers come back more often. If I can get you from coming in once a month to twice a month, I've just doubled your lifetime value to me. If I get you to come in once a week, like all of a sudden, if you get your existing customers, they came in once a month and they get them come to second time a month, you've doubled your sales.

(47:51 - 48:00)

Like you've got to get those people to come back. So that's where great service restaurant 101 hot, hot, cold food, cold, clean, safe work environment for your guests, employees. Wow.

(48:00 - 48:15)

Customer service, incredible product. And now to go, I've got a great service to go along with that. Well, do you do that in my clean right now? The next way is to get your existing customers was they come in to spend more each visit.

(48:15 - 48:21)

So now we've got to learn to upsell. We may have to raise our prices on our menu. We've got to get them to spend more.

(48:21 - 48:39)

And all of a sudden you look at it and say, where do I spend my money? Well, a lot of people overspend on finding new people and ignore the fact that if I get my existing people to come back more often and spend more, I could crush my sales goals. Take care of the damn guests you have now. Yes, I need to replace and bring in new people.

(48:40 - 49:01)

And so when you look at that now, marketing becomes, what am I putting in my marketing funnel that brings in a new person? What am I putting in my marketing funnel brings them back? What is my putting in marketing funnel that gets them to spend more each time they visit? And now all of a sudden you can create a systematic approach to where you spend your money, what you need to do. But ultimately, it's lack of knowledge. My hundred percent.

(49:01 - 49:16)

So basically, that's what you just described, David. What we see is they expect marketing to be a miracle, sometimes to save their restaurants. But if all of this stuff that you just talked about in this whole conversation are not in place, then marketing is not even going to help you.

(49:16 - 49:33)

Well, if you're losing money, every guest that walks in the door and you give them a great marketing strategy and they bring in more customers, they're going to lose money faster until they reach break even, which means they beat the shit out of themselves in the restaurant to make no money. You can't outpace being a bad operator. You've got to be.

(49:33 - 49:41)

Now, let me be very clear. I've been doing this for 21 years. If I had a dollar for every time somebody goes, well, should I work on my marketing first or my operations? Yes.

(49:42 - 49:49)

Like there's not chicken egg. You have to get your shit together and run a great operation and you've got to get your marketing going. That's critical.

(49:50 - 49:59)

So there is not doing one or the other. It's got to happen both. But I will tell you, if you've got a bad operation, the greatest marketing campaign in the world will kill you.

(49:59 - 50:10)

So make sure you're running at least restaurant 101, right? Yeah. Yeah. What would you say, David, between what would you choose? Fantastic location or shitty location.

(50:10 - 50:24)

Fantastic service and operation. Fantastic operation. How many of us have that divy kind of in the corner of a strip shopping center restaurant that a family makes the best Italian food or whatever? And you're like, oh, this is fantastic.

(50:24 - 50:34)

And they're on a fricking wait all the time. They're in the shittiest location in the world, but they're by God, a great restaurant. And how many locations have we gone? Oh, that's the fifth restaurant's been there.

(50:34 - 50:40)

It's like the building's been cursed and be a great operator all day long. They will find you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(50:40 - 50:44)

Thank you, David, for that. All right. Last question, David.

(50:44 - 51:15)

And thank you so much for your insight again. So if you've worked with so many restaurant owners and you've seen their challenges and celebrated the successes, but if you could go back to a moment when you felt truly defeated in your own career, what lessons did you learn that you would now pass on to every owner that you work with? I think that if I go backward and I were to put it in the restaurant perspective, I was a manager for Coyote Springs. Yeah.

(51:16 - 51:29)

I had a general manager above me who was a raving ass, just bully. It was horrible. And I will tell you that, by the way, when you have turnover in your restaurant, people do not quit your restaurant.

(51:30 - 51:36)

They quit a manager. Okay, so look at your team when you're losing employees. Somebody is being a jerk.

(51:37 - 51:50)

So with that said, I actually turned in my notice to the owner and the owner went, come here. We went to a neighbor restaurant bar, had a beer, and he didn't accept my resignation. And that's the job that I moved into operations role years later.

(51:50 - 52:02)

Like I stayed because I loved the owner. I hated my manager. And I think what we've got to learn as restaurant managers, as owners, is you can't control what you can't control.

(52:03 - 52:09)

I can choose my attitude every day. When I wake up, I can say it's going to be a shitty day or I can say it'd be a great day. It could be raining outside.

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You can look out the window. My dad used to say, oh, it's raining. I'm, oh, it's going to be a horrible day.

(52:14 - 52:21)

Or I can look out the window, see it rain and go, I'm going to have a great day. Choose your fricking attitude. Like that is what we can control.

(52:21 - 52:27)

We can control what we learn. We can control what we say. We can control most of what we think.

(52:27 - 52:31)

Yes. We all have days. We go down the spiral of a negative thought and it just pulls us down.

(52:32 - 52:39)

But the fact of the matter is what I do the next day as a leader, that's what defines me. You can have a bad day, but I can't make it a week. I can't make it a year.

(52:40 - 52:44)

I can't make it five years. Yeah. And so control what you can control.

(52:44 - 52:49)

I can control what I learn. I can control what I do. I can control my actions.

(52:49 - 52:55)

I can't control the weather. I can't control what other people say about me. I can't control what's done, but I can control me.

(52:56 - 53:00)

And I think that's the biggest thing I take away. Put on the spot. That's what I would say.

(53:00 - 53:09)

That's fantastic, David. Any tools that you recommend for that? Because at first we can talk about the things that we can control and focus on that stuff. But many experienced struggle with mindset and shifting.

(53:10 - 53:24)

What would you recommend to people to shift that mindset? Besides, of course, coaching, I think is a great tool and I think everybody should get it. I would say focus on the positive. So if you find yourself going down negative, now you kind of threw it out there as a half comment, but it's really true.

(53:24 - 53:41)

Often as restaurant owners and managers, our upbringing, our own personality deficits, our own struggles in life, we bring to the restaurant and they're very difficult to separate. Like, oh, how can I raise my prices? Oh, I don't deserve that. Bullshit.

(53:41 - 53:49)

You deserve it. But because we had something that happened when we were a kid, we feel like we were not worthy or whatever. All of a sudden that translates into your leadership style and your business.

(53:49 - 54:04)

The truth is, by God, you do. So what we've got to do is start to look backwards at our successes, not our failures. You know, you might look at it and go, oh, I've been open for my restaurant for five years and I've been working my ass off 80 hours a week and I'm barely making it.

(54:04 - 54:12)

In fact, I have to take money out of my savings and feed this dream all the time. Are you a failure? I'm such a failure. Bullshit.

(54:13 - 54:19)

You're doing $1.5 million in sales. You've got happy guests. You've been supplying jobs for people.

(54:19 - 54:25)

You've been giving something to the community they want. What you fail to do is learn how to run profitably. You can fix that.

(54:25 - 54:30)

So look backwards and go, people love my food. People love my service. People love all these things.

(54:30 - 54:35)

There are these positives. I am a success. I may not be a financial success, but I'm a successful operator.

(54:36 - 54:43)

Now, what am I going to do? What can I control? I can learn what I don't know. I can change how I do things. I can implement systems.

(54:43 - 54:52)

I can start to delegate. And all of a sudden, when I can focus on the positives, it makes it easier to see the brightness that's in front of you versus the darkness that's behind you. 100%.

(54:52 - 54:57)

It's all about perspective. You just talked about that. And for me, I use different tools.

(54:57 - 55:11)

Everything you talked about, I think writing a gratitude list, looking at the positive things and writing them down because just putting them in your head for five minutes, it's just not going to work. And then changing the way you think. I think meditation, for me, it's been huge because it kind of shifts that.

(55:12 - 55:29)

And for many of us today, I will tell you, here's the positive of what COVID brought. It brought to the forefront that it's not a stigma if you need help with counseling, with yourself, with who you are. It's okay.

(55:29 - 55:38)

Mental health is not a negative now. It's a positive. If you're in the downy dumps, truly in the downy dumps, you are depressed, maybe even bipolar or manic or whatever.

(55:38 - 55:44)

You've gotten to a point where you cannot pull your ass out by yourself. Go get somebody to help you. It's okay.

(55:44 - 55:56)

It's okay. In fact, I would tell you to do it because we have too many people in our industry that medicate those feelings with alcohol, drugs, bad debauchery. Pick the behavior.

(55:57 - 56:09)

When the truth of the matter is, if we own it and say it's okay to get help, go get the damn help, you are going to be a better leader. You're going to be a better manager. You're going to be a better person to all of your friends and family.

(56:10 - 56:17)

And when it comes to shifting mindset, sometimes we need help. Yeah, no, a hundred percent. Well, David, thank you so much again for your insights.

(56:18 - 56:29)

This was a fantastic conversation. For anybody that wants to get in touch with you, of course, they can just Google David Scott Peters and they'll find you. Is there anywhere in particular that you want to direct people to get in touch with you? A hundred percent.

(56:29 - 56:40)

You can do a couple of things. You can email me directly at david at davidscottpeters.com. Go to my website, davidscottpeters.com. Go check me out. I've got a podcast called Restaurant Prosperity Formula.

(56:40 - 56:59)

I've got a YouTube channel, which is David Scott Peters, where I put weekly tips up and there's years and years worth of tips. I've got my book, Restaurant Prosperity Formula out there, and a myriad of other ways. But if you want to dip your toe in and learn more about what I do, there's plenty of free ways to kind of gain information and see if there's a fit.

(56:59 - 57:03)

Because I'm not the right coach for everybody. This is my personality. This is how I am all the time.

(57:03 - 57:09)

So love me, hate me. If you don't like me, there's a coach out there for you. But if you're ready to make change, I'd love to talk with you.

(57:09 - 57:12)

Fantastic. Well, thanks again, David. Thank you so much for your time.

(57:12 - 57:13)

Thank you.