🌱 Making Smart Business Decisions in Your Restaurant: Using Data, Not Emotion

A 2 min read.

Running a successful restaurant is an art, but it’s also a science. While passion fuels the industry, smart financial decisions keep doors open and profits growing. At a recent Tucson Originals panel, we discussed how to manage cost of goods (COGs) and labor effectively. The key takeaway? Data-driven decisions—not emotional ones—lead to long-term success.

Menu Size Matters: Keep It Tight

One of the biggest culprits of high COGs is an oversized menu. A good rule of thumb? Keep your menu under 40 items.

✅ Why? A large menu means higher inventory costs, more waste, and added complexity in execution. Instead, streamline offerings to focus on your best-sellers and high-margin items.

✅ Pro Tip: Regularly analyze your menu’s performance. If a dish isn’t selling or has high ingredient costs, it might be time to cut it.

Leverage Vendor Relationships

Your vendors can be more than just suppliers—they’re partners in your profitability. Building strong relationships and communicating regularly can help you uncover cost-saving opportunities.

✅ Success Story: One restaurant owner shopped out their entire ingredient list to multiple vendors and discovered significant savings just by comparing prices.

✅ Action Step: Ask vendors about upcoming deals, bulk discounts, and alternative ingredients that could maintain quality while reducing costs.

Work Backwards: Profit First, Then Costs

Instead of setting prices based on what “feels” right, reverse-engineer your menu pricing. Start with your desired profit and work backwards to determine ideal COGs.

✅ Example: If you want to maintain a 30% food cost and your burger sells for $15, your ingredient costs should not exceed $4.50.

✅ Take Action: Break down your food costs per dish and adjust portion sizes, ingredient choices, or pricing accordingly.

Labor: The Balancing Act

Many restaurant owners struggle with overstaffing (leading to high labor costs) or understaffing (resulting in poor service and burnout). The best approach? Cross-training and employee development.

✅ Why It Works: Cross-training allows staff to fill multiple roles, giving you more scheduling flexibility and reducing dependency on excessive labor.

✅ Employee Retention Tip: Employees who feel valued and see growth opportunities are more likely to stay. Investing in development not only improves service but reduces costly turnover.

Raising Prices? Make Sure the Experience Matches

With rising costs, increasing menu prices is often necessary—but guests will expect more value in return.

✅ Key Consideration: Higher prices should be justified by enhanced ambiance, better service, and a refined dining experience.

✅ Reality Check: A guest paying $22 for a pasta dish will expect a more polished experience than if it were priced at $16. Make sure your service, presentation, and overall atmosphere align with the new price point.

Final Thought: Data Over Emotion

Your restaurant’s success depends on making calculated decisions, not emotional ones. Analyze your menu performance, vendor costs, labor efficiency, and pricing strategy regularly. The numbers don’t lie—let them guide your next move.

Need help building a data-driven restaurant strategy? Let’s talk! Reach out at christinlmarvin@gmail.com

P.S. Ready to take your leadership to the next level? Here’s how you can start today:

Grab Your Free Audiobook: Get a free copy of The Hospitality Leader’s Roadmap: Move from Ordinary to Extraordinary and start transforming your leadership today. Download it here: christinmarvin.com/audio

Join The Leadership Mastery Group: Enrollment is closed until April, but you can join the waitlist now for early access! This exclusive group of six restaurant leaders meets monthly to exchange insights, solve challenges, and elevate their leadership. Secure your spot at christinmarvin.com/groupcoaching

Implement Change Successfully: Struggling to execute change in your restaurant? My 7-Step Guide to Creating Successful Change gives you a clear roadmap. Download it here: christinmarvin.com/change

Let’s Tackle Your Biggest Challenges—Together. If you're ready for one-on-one coaching, let’s create a strategy tailored to your restaurant’s needs. Email me at christinmarvin@gmail.com to book your private strategy session and start transforming your mindset, your restaurant, and your future.

👉 Success doesn’t happen by chance—it happens by choice. Let’s make it happen!

🌱 Balancing Love and Leadership: A Guide for Business Partners

A 2 min read.

Running a restaurant is challenging enough on its own, but when you’re doing it as life and business partners, the stakes are even higher. Your relationship is woven into the fabric of your business, and while that can be a beautiful thing, it also creates unique challenges. From blurred boundaries between work and home to misaligned priorities, it’s easy for the line between personal and professional roles to get lost.

This article was inspired by a conversation I had awhile back with one of my clients who owns a group of restaurants with their partner. As they shared their struggles with balancing work and personal life, I realized how common these challenges are for so many partnerships. If this resonates with you, you’re not alone.

Here’s the truth: thriving as both partners in business and life takes intentionality, boundaries, and communication. Let’s break it down.

The Challenges

1. Blurred Boundaries
   The restaurant world doesn’t follow a 9-to-5 schedule. For many partners, work conversations spill over into every part of life—date nights, family dinners, and even bedtime. Without clear separation, the business can consume every waking moment, leaving little room for your relationship.

2. Power Struggles
   Differing opinions about how to run the business can create tension. One of you might focus on operations while the other leans into marketing or customer service, but when disagreements arise, it’s easy for business decisions to turn into personal conflicts.

3. Burnout and Resentment
   When you’re pouring everything into the restaurant, personal time takes a backseat. Without balance, one or both partners can end up feeling burnt out and resentful—not just of the business but of each other.

How to Set Boundaries and Find Balance

1. Define Roles and Responsibilities
   Sit down and have an honest conversation about your strengths, preferences, and what each of you should own in the business. Treat it like any other business partnership—write down who handles what. Clear boundaries will help you avoid stepping on each other’s toes.

2. Schedule Time Off—Together and Apart
   Carve out time for your relationship that has nothing to do with work. Whether it’s a weekly date night, a no-work vacation, or even just a few hours to reconnect, these moments are vital. Equally important: give each other space for solo downtime to recharge.

3. Create No-Work Zones
   Designate parts of your home or times of the day as “no-work zones.” For example, agree to stop talking about the restaurant after 8 PM or ban work conversations from the dinner table. Protecting those personal spaces helps maintain the boundary between your relationship and your business.

4. Bring in Outside Support
   You don’t have to carry it all alone. Hire managers, delegate to your team, or bring in a coach to help you improve systems and lighten the load. Sometimes an outside perspective can resolve disagreements and prevent the business from becoming a wedge in your relationship.

5. Regular Check-Ins
   Schedule weekly or monthly check-ins to discuss business issues, goals, and how you’re feeling about the partnership. Treat it like a business meeting, but also check in on the health of your relationship. This proactive approach can prevent small issues from growing into major conflicts.

Final Thoughts

Working together as partners in the restaurant business can be both rewarding and challenging. When you set boundaries and prioritize your relationship, you can lead a thriving business and a fulfilling life together.

If you’re feeling stuck or need help creating balance, let’s talk. I specialize in helping restaurant owners like you lead confidently and live freely.

P.S. Ready to take your leadership to the next level? Here’s how you can get started today:

• Join The Leadership Mastery Group: Enrollment is now open for 4 more days! This exclusive group of 6 restaurant leaders meets monthly to exchange insights, solve challenges, and grow together. If you’re ready to invest in yourself and build a powerful network of like-minded thinkers, apply now.

• Listen and Learn: Tune into Episode 32 of the Restaurant Leadership Podcast: "How to Lead with Clarity: 5 Strategies for Effective Restaurant Management" for actionable insights you can implement right away.

• Schedule Your Strategy Session: Let’s tackle your biggest challenges together! Email me at christinmarvin@gmail.com to book a one-on-one strategy session and start transforming your mindset, your restaurant, and your future.

Don’t wait for success to find you—take the first step today!

🌱Setting Your Regional Manager Up for Success

A 1 min read.

Ready to Add a Regional Manager to Your Growing Restaurant Group?

As independent restaurants grow into multi-location groups, the need for clear leadership becomes essential. I recently worked with a newly promoted regional manager navigating her role for the first time.

In our first session, we:

• Reviewed her job description to clarify her responsibilities across three locations.

• Created an organizational chart to track staffing levels, identify talent for development, and plan promotions.

• Uncovered the need to define roles and responsibilities between her and the owner to ensure alignment and accountability.

For restaurants adding this critical leadership layer, these steps are vital to ensuring your regional manager isn’t just filling a title—they’re driving results, empowering teams, and fueling growth.

Are you ready to implement a regional manager but don’t know where to start? I can help you create a customized roadmap to make their transition smooth and impactful.

👉 Let’s schedule a quick call to discuss how we can set your team up for success. Click the link below.

Your leadership strategy today sets the foundation for your growth tomorrow. Let’s build it together!

P.S. Ready to take your leadership to the next level? Here’s how you can get started today:

• Join The Leadership Mastery Group: Enrollment is now open for 2025! This exclusive group of 6 restaurant leaders meets monthly to exchange insights, solve challenges, and grow together. If you’re ready to invest in yourself and build a powerful network of like-minded thinkers, apply now.

• Listen and Learn: Tune into Episode 32 of the Restaurant Leadership Podcast: "How to Lead with Clarity: 5 Strategies for Effective Restaurant Management" for actionable insights you can implement right away.

• Schedule Your Strategy Session: Let’s tackle your biggest challenges together! Email me at christinmarvin@gmail.com to book a one-on-one strategy session and start transforming your mindset, your restaurant, and your future.

Don’t wait for success to find you—take the first step today!

🌱Unlock the Secrets to Extraordinary Hospitality Leadership

A 1 min read + a gift.

Two years ago, I started on a mission to provide leaders in hospitality with daily resources to grow their leadership. That passion has driven me to write daily content, release weekly episodes of The Restaurant Leadership Podcast, and now, I’m proud to share the next resource in this journey: my book, The Hospitality Leader's Roadmap: Move from Ordinary to Extraordinary.

This book captures lessons learned over my 20 years in the restaurant industry—from working as a cook at 15 to becoming a managing partner at 30. It’s designed for independent restaurant owners and managers striving to build thriving businesses and exceptional teams while overcoming the challenges of burnout, imposter syndrome, and self-doubt.

Inside, you’ll discover:

• How to set clear expectations and hold your team accountable.

• The role of consistency in creating systems that actually work.

• Strategies to shift from managing tasks to inspiring leadership.

• The importance of personal empowerment in driving professional success.

As a thank-you for being part of this mission, I’m giving away a free digital copy to anyone who visits christinmarvin.com/audio. You’ll also gain access to the audiobook version, perfect for busy leaders like you.

Take the first step toward extraordinary leadership!

P.S.

For more leadership development, here are some additional resources for you:

1. Enrollment is now happening for The Leadership Mastery Group. This group of 6 individuals meet monthly to gain insights from one another to help grow their business. If you are ready to invest in yourself in 2025 and build a network of like-minded thinkers, this group is for you. Visit christinmarvin.com/groupcoaching to apply.

2. Tune into the No Hesitations Podcast Episode 32 : How to Lead with Clarity : 5 Strategies for Effective Restaurant Management

3. Contact me for a strategy session about overcoming your biggest challenge at christinlmarvin@gmail.com and start transforming your mindset, your restaurant, and your life today!