Office Hours: Merchandise Minutes, Not Meals

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses.

In this episode, I dive into strategies for boosting restaurant profitability without raising prices. I explain why it’s so important to see restaurants as providers of time slots rather than just food and beverage, and how that shift impacts service. I share why the first 20 minutes of the guest experience matter most, plus the tactics I use to improve pacing, satisfaction, and table turns.

Takeaways:

• Most restaurant marketing fails because it's built on guesswork.
• Awareness doesn't pay the rent, behavior does.
• If it doesn't move a booking, a purchase or return visit, then it's just noise.
• We want to align with behavior, not alter it.
• Triggers turn offers into rituals.
• The fastest money you can make is in the list you already own.
• Stop chasing strangers while your regulars gather dust.
• Create experiences that use desire that already exists.
• If it wouldn't move you, it probably won't move them.
• Your marketing must move the needle in your business.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Restaurant Success

01:21 Reframing Restaurant Profitability

02:51 Understanding Time as Inventory

05:45 Optimizing Service for Profitability

If you’ve got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at [e-mail] and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.