The Restaurant Success Podcast
The Restaurant Success Podcast is a weekly podcast for Restaurant owners full of information about how to run and improve your business.
What's the point of growing a restaurant company if it doesn’t maximize relationships and profits?
What's the point of being successful if you can’t maximize your net worth while enjoying every minute?
Matthew Mabel encourages successful independent multi-unit restaurateurs to "be as good to yourself as you are to your guests" in everything they do.
“Owning an independent multi-unit restaurant company ought to be a joy. Let’s make it that way," he says.
Based out of Dallas, Matthew’s devoted to improving the lives and businesses of successful independent restaurateurs.
The Restaurant Success Podcast
How to Make Work Not Take Over Your Life
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel tackles the epidemic of restaurant owners working excessive hours and sacrificing their quality of life. Drawing from decades of experience consulting with successful independent, multi-unit restaurant businesses, Matthew explores why restaurant entrepreneurs struggle to step away from their operations and shares actionable strategies for creating personal freedom without compromising business success. Discover how to build systems that allow you to enjoy the entrepreneurial freedom you've earned while your restaurant thrives, whether you're a seasoned operator or an emerging restaurateur looking to avoid burnout. This essential guide to work-life balance in the restaurant business provides a blueprint for optimizing your business while reclaiming your personal time.
Key Topics Covered
- Why restaurant owners typically work too many hours
- Real-world examples of operators who've achieved freedom from daily operations
- How to envision and create your ideal work schedule
- Building systems that allow extended time away from your business
- Balancing entrepreneurship with family life and personal priorities
Links Mentioned
- Most Important Characteristic of Top Management
- How to Claim Personal Freedom Beyond Your Restaurant Walls
Resources Mentioned
- Website: www.surrender.biz
- Free initial consultation available
Connect with Matthew Mabel
Matthew works with owners of successful, independent, multi-unit restaurants to improve:
- Profit growth
- Sales optimization
- Guest count increase
- Unit expansion
- Employee engagement
- Brand loyalty
How to Support the Show
- Subscribe to the Restaurant Success Podcast and Newsletter
- Rate and review the show
- Visit www.surrender.biz for additional resources
Today, we're going to talk about a critical issue facing most restaurant owners. Working too many hours and how that impacts their quality of life.
We'll explore why so many operators struggle with this, share some real-world examples of owners who've broken free from this trap, and outline steps you can take to create more freedom in your own life without sacrificing your business's success.
If you want to learn more about my work, you'll find a link in the show notes below.
So, which of these two statements do you think applies to most restaurant owners? Number one: They don't work enough hours and, if they worked more, they could experience more success. Or number two: They work too many hours and, if they didn't, they would have much more rewarding lives.
Well, after decades of working with successful owners of multi-unit independent restaurant companies, I guarantee the big issue is number two: the work ethic, or frankly the paranoia, that leads to working too many hours.
Let me give you a timely example. In Texas this week, we enjoy spring break, with entire neighborhoods of families with school-age kids empty because they're on vacation. But not everyone sets themselves up to leave, so their kids stare at screens in the house all day long. By Wednesday, it is going to be ugly.
In the past month, I connected with a successful business owner who has operated for forty years, works sixty hours in a seven-day week, and will become a grandparent in September.
Something has to give.
Another forty-year multi-unit operator I met seldom sees their family on the other side of the world, and they've realized that they have to let go of operations now, so that they can enjoy the freedom that they have earned.
But even if you're not old enough to get the two dollar senior citizens discount at the movies, you can still create your own freedom.
One of my favorite success stories is my client who bought a house in Hawaii but never had the chance to use it, until we recreated their company so he could be gone for weeks or even months at a time.
And an operator I work with just turned forty, part of a generation that has a healthier view of personal priorities. We work to get the people in their company ready to carry the load so the owner can spend time with their children while they start elementary school.
As a business owner, you have the opportunity to create your own freedom. So many people who work their whole lives will never have the freedom that's available to you, and they would be shocked that you don't take advantage of it. To them, it looks like you're throwing away a winning lottery ticket every day.
When I started my practice, it surprised me how much of my work shows successful people how to organize their companies so they can get away. In my career, I have spent much more time convincing people to leave work and enjoy the success they have achieved than I have spent trying to convince others to work more.
My invitation to you? Start by envisioning your perfect desired schedule, with you working only at your place of highest use or on your favorite things.
Organize your company so you can do what you want with your family, friends, hobbies, charities, or at your vacation home.