ManageFirst® Student Plan

Article

How to Create a Winning Restaurant Concept

Every restaurateur dreams of hitting a home run with their new restaurant. However, it takes more than ...

Training Video

The #1 Reason to Prepare a Restaurant Business Plan

Writing a restaurant business plan has many benefits besides helping you raise money or secure a lease. ...

Article

Your Secret Marketing Weapon: How to Build Your Business With a Unique Selling Proposition

Marketing whiz Kamron Karrington shows why you must have a "USP" to be super successful and how to create ...

Training Video

What It Costs To Run a Restaurant

Your employees probably think you're making a LOT more money than you really are. Use this video to ...

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New Restaurant Business Plan Template - Graphics Enhanced Version

A well-conceived, professional restaurant business plan is your greatest single asset for turning your ...

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Sample Business Plan

A well-conceived, professional restaurant business plan is your greatest single asset for turning your ...

Training Video

Restaurant Reality 101

This RestaurantOwner.com training program is designed to give you a better understanding of what it ...

Why Restaurants Fail

The reasons restaurants fail are many and varied and, in some cases, not the least bit obvious. It was ...

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How to Prepare a Restaurant Business Plan: Financial Section

The financial section is often viewed as the most important part of a business plan. It is likely to ...

How to Add Partners and Shareholders to Your Venture

Perhaps you need to raise operating capital and relations with your current partners have soured, you ...

How Independent Operators Finance Their Restaurants

Financing or raising enough startup capital is often the biggest challenge in making your first restaurant ...

Online Course

Preparing Your Business Plan Projections

A key element of a restaurant's Business Plan is the financials: how much revenue you think you might ...

How to Find Investors & Raise Startup Capital for Your First Restaurant

If you have a restaurant concept that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to open, then chances ...

Article

How to Prepare a Business Plan Resource Guide

Many RestaurantOwner.com members cite that having a sound business plan was the single most important ...

Article

How to Create a Winning Restaurant Business Plan

Many RestaurantOwner.com members cite that having a sound business plan was the single most important ...

Article

How to Find the Right Location for Your Next Restaurant

You can revamp your menu, your concept, and your operational methods;however, your location is almost ...

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Restaurant Leasing Checklist

A real estate lease agreement is one of the most important and far-reaching document you'll ever sign. ...

A Buildout Primer for Startup Restaurants

Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.It's good advice when attempting to tackle any challenging ...

A License and Permit Checklist for Startup Restaurants

Starting a restaurant entails obtaining numerous licenses and permits before opening the doors. Unfortunately, ...

Article

Designing a Startup Kitchen that Works With - Not Against - You

The smart money in this business maximizes space and labor wherever possible, particularly ...

Article

I Spy... Keeping an Eye on Your Competitors

There are few businesses as competitive as the restaurant business. Gathering "intel" is necessary when ...

Article

How to Stand Out in Today's Competitive Market

How sure are you that a first time customer will return to your restaurant again soon? The best operators ...

Training Video

A Simple Way to Get New Customers

Traditional advertising can be expensive, the results can be hard to track, and it is often ineffective. ...

Online Course

How to Handle Mistakes and Complaints

Nobody likes to get a complaint, but in the restaurant business, mistakes and complaints are going to ...

Article

Creating Successful Restaurant Loyalty and Purchase Incentives Programs

If you want to increase your restaurant's revenue without changing your prices, your best options ...

Training Video

How Weekly Prime Cost Reporting Boosted This Member's Profit Margins

Here's what happened when Shila Morris, the CEO of SqueezeIn, after she started tracking their Prime ...

Online Course

How to Know What Your Food Cost Should Be

In this course, we'll show you how to establish your realistic target food cost -- what we call your ...

Article

Five Financial and Operational Metrics You Ought to Know

Crack the code! In this article, we review examples of easily calculated finance and operations metrics ...

Article

Restaurant Rules of Thumb: How Does Your Operation Measure Up to Industry Averages & Standards?

A review of several key restaurant industry startup, financial & operational metrics that have proven ...

Article

How to Manage Your Restaurant's Cash Flow

Even operations that are profitable are not immune from occasional cash deficits and can unexpectedly ...

How to Use "RevPASH" to Measure Your Restaurant's Performance

Some days it may feel like you're drowning in reports and evaluating everything you possibly can in ...

Article

Break-Even: It's Like Having Your Own Financial Crystal Ball

One of my sharpest restaurant clients, nearly aways knew what his monthly net income would be for each ...

Online Course

Preparing Your Business Plan Projections

A key element of a restaurant's Business Plan is the financials: how much revenue you think you might ...

Online Course

How to Format & Read a Restaurant P&L

What Every Owner & Manager Should Know About a Restaurant P&L. There is a big difference between ...

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Business Plan Financial Model - NEW & UPDATED

This is the newest version of our popular business plan financial models. This latest edition is set ...

Online Course

How to Create the Ideal Labor Budget

Labor cost is the biggest expense for most restaurants. Learn how to improve your scheduling and labor ...

Article

How Culture Affects Turnover and What You Can Do About It Now

All Together Now... Your efforts to earn staff loyalty and build teamwork not only improve morale in ...

Article

How Independent Operators Can Maximize Labor Productivity

As operators compete for labor in a scarce labor market, they will have to boost compensation to fully ...

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New Hire Checklist

Download this checklist to verify that you've collected the many forms and other pieces of information ...

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Restaurant Employee Handbook - Spanish Edition NEW & UPDATED

The New & Updated Spanish edition of our popular Employee Handbook download can be customized to ...

Article

Employee Handbook Basics — Why It's One of the Most Important Documents In Your Restaurant

Effectively communicating information to employees that will ensure they get your message is not as ...

Training Video

This Restaurant Owner Shares ALL His Numbers with His Team – Learn Why

See how Michael Passalacqua, owner of Angelo's Restaurant in Washington, PA, has used transparency with ...

Article

Understand Your REAL Job

As an owner, it's not your job to run the joint, it's to teach your STAFF how to run the joint! You ...

Article

Delegate to Succeed: How to Help Your Crew Help You

Proper delegation is critical to the efficiency of your kitchen and quality of the fare and service. ...

Training Video

Setting Job Performance Expectations

Does your staff clearly understand the job performance expectations at your restaurant? It sounds like ...

Online Course

Trust: The Key to Being an Effective Leader

What Every Owner & Manager Should Know About Trust. If your people don't trust you, you'll always ...

Online Course

Positive Accountability: Proven Ways to Build an Engaging, High-Performance Restaurant Culture

Whether you're an owner, manager, or supervisor, accountability starts with you and trickles down to ...

How to Conduct Effective Pre-Shift Meetings

A lineup or pre-shift meeting is a staff meeting held prior to the start of a new shift. They are critical ...

Training Video

Power of Recognition Part 1: Don't Neglect Your Most Important Asset

All of us want to be acknowledged and feel that we matter. More than anything else, recognition tells ...

Training Video

Power of Recognition Part 2: Keep Your Team Engaged

According to a Gallup Poll on employee engagement, a majority of workers say they are either not engaged ...

Training Video

Managers: Two EASY Ways to Improve Accountability

Accountability can be awkward and uncomfortable, but putting it off and avoiding tough conversations ...

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Server Sidework Checklist

Servers have sidework duties in addition to their primary service tasks. So that these tasks are completed ...

Webinar/Podcast

Turning Disappointed Diners into Loyal Guests

Nobody likes to get a complaint, but in the restaurant business, mistakes and complaints are going to ...

Article

How Secret Shoppers Can Help You Create a Better Guest Experience

You can't see, hear or control everything that goes on inside your restaurant. Secret shoppers – also ...

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Mystery Shopper Reports

Surveys reveal that over 90% of dissatisfied customers don't complain. All too often they leave and ...

Online Course

How to Handle Mistakes and Complaints

Nobody likes to get a complaint, but in the restaurant business, mistakes and complaints are going to ...

Online Course

Delivering Your Ultimate Guest Experience

Restaurants that provide a superior guest experience have more repeat business, more positive word of ...

Article

How to Fine Tune Your Kitchen Stations for Maximum Efficiency & Output

A busy kitchen can be chaos or a beautiful performance. This article looks at the basics of organizing ...

Article

Waste Not, Want Not - Getting a Grip on Food Waste

It's no surprise the restaurant sector is a major contributor of food waste, from uneaten food tossed ...

Training Video

How to Accurately Calculate Your Restaurant's Food Cost

Accurately calculating your restaurant's food cost is critical, and fortunately, it's not complicated. ...

Online Course

Menu Costing Basics

Knowing what each of your menu items costs to prepare is one of the most basic yet overlooked aspects ...

Training Video

Receiving Best Practices: Prevent Big Losses at Your Back Door

Many restaurants lose LOTS of money at the back door due to poor or non-existent receiving procedures ...

Training Video

Menu Item Build Charts - The Key to Accurate, Consistent Preparation

Time is always a factor in the kitchen, and guests want their orders without an unreasonable wait. But ...

Training Video

Recipe Books: What Every Kitchen Pro Should Know

Your restaurant's guests want consistency in their dining experience. When they order their favorite ...

Training Video

Daily Prep Sheets: Prep the RIGHT Amount and Control Costs

A daily prep sheet is a fundamental tool in controlling food cost and ensuring that there's always enough ...

Training Video

Shelf To Sheet: Know Exactly What Is In Your Inventory

In a restaurant, counting inventory is crucial to controlling your costs and having a profitable operation. ...

Online Course

Key Item Running Inventory

Key Item Running Inventory Control is one of the most effective systems for controlling food cost in ...

Purchasing Strategies that Increase Your Buying Power

Explore centralized purchasing strategies and techniques used by the large chains to increase your operations ...

System

Labor Scheduling

Use the schedule template to create schedules and labor budgets for virtually any type of food and beverage ...

Training Video

Why Labor Cost On Your P&L Is Probably Wrong

Are you accounting for bi-weekly payroll periods on your monthly P&Ls? Many independents do not, and ...

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Menu & Recipe Cost Spreadsheet Template

Knowing what each of your menu items costs to prepare is one of the most basic yet overlooked aspects ...

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Menu Cost Worksheet

This Microsoft Excel worksheet is used to list and calculate the cost of ingredients for each menu ...

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Liquor Control Worksheet

Suspect you have a liquor cost problem? Find out for sure and how big of a problem you have by using ...

Online Course

How to Know What Your Food Cost Should Be

In this course, we'll show you how to establish your realistic target food cost -- what we call your ...

Online Course

Menu Costing Basics

Knowing what each of your menu items costs to prepare is one of the most basic yet overlooked aspects ...

What's the Right Number of Menu Items for Your Restaurant?

It's a philosophical question every independent operator needs to contemplate. When it comes to the ...

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FOH Menu Description Template

Use this template to provide your FOH team with complete information to know how to describe and explain ...

Webinar/Podcast

How to Win the Menu Pricing Game (Without Losing Customers)

As a restaurant owner, you know that rising costs are inevitable. Whether it's the cost of food, labor, ...

Ten Menu Mistakes You Can Avoid

A well-engineered menu should be your most effective marketing tool. One reason for badly designed menus ...

A Review of Truth-in-Menu and Menu Labeling Laws

This article addresses traditional "Truth in Menu" issues, and the recent movement for menu labeling ...

Article

How to Create the Ideal Startup Wine List

Creating your first wine list can be a daunting task. Not only is the selection process difficult, but ...

How to Build a More Profitable Menu

A properly designed menu can direct the attention of the diner to specific items and increase the likelihood ...

Article

When to Raise Prices and How to Do It

Many restaurant operators worry that raising menu prices will scare away customers - especially in uncertain ...