To Win the 2026 Marathon, Plan Your Rest Now!

In this episode of The Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel explores the critical decision restaurant owners and entrepreneurs face in today's competitive business landscape: choosing between small, incremental changes and bold, transformative moves. Restaurant operators often default to safer, smaller adjustments when bigger strategic decisions could dramatically improve their business performance and profitability. Matthew shares real-world examples from his restaurant consulting work, revealing how successful restaurant entrepreneurs are repositioning their brands, restructuring management teams, and implementing bold menu strategies to drive revenue growth and increase guest satisfaction. 

Key Topics Covered

• The psychology of small moves versus big moves in restaurant operations and why operators often choose incremental changes over transformative strategies
• Real examples of bold moves including brand repositioning, management restructuring, menu overhauls, and accountability systems that drive measurable revenue increases
• How your business mindset and investment philosophy directly mirror your approach to restaurant entrepreneurship and operational decision-making
• The competitive cost of hesitation and waiting for the "perfect moment" while competitors capture market share and momentum

Links Mentioned

• How to Take Action and Power to Boost Guest Count, https://surrender.biz/how-to-take-action-and-power-to-boost-guest-count/
• Restaurateurs: Why Your First Day Back From Vacation is the Most Important Day of the Year, https://surrender.biz/restaurateurs-why-your-first-day-back-from-vacation-is-the-most-important-day-of-the-year-2/

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

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the Restaurant Success Podcast. I'm Matthew Mabel, veteran restaurant advisor, coach, consultant, and speaker devoted to multi-unit independent restaurant unit, profit and revenue growth, internal harmony and ownership freedom and flexibility.

This is your weekly entree of the advice, strategy and tactics that I currently provide to my best clients.

Today, we're going to talk about something that might seem counterintuitive as you're navigating this challenging market, and kicking off the holiday season.

We're going to discuss why planning a holiday break right now isn't just nice to have - it's actually one of the most important things you can do to stay sharp, fresh, and focused on what you'll face in twenty twenty-six.

I'll share why the most successful operators I work with prioritize downtime, and how you can schedule your break before it's too late.

Navigating this challenging market while also kicking off the holiday season might make it seem like planning a holiday break is the last thing you ought to be thinking about.

But, here's the thing - that break turns out to be one of the most important things you can do to stay sharp, fresh, and focused on what you'll face in twenty twenty-six.

Let me start with something really important. We are not machines. The old restaurateur trope about working harder and harder to produce results?

It turns out to be about as applicable today as looking up a number in a phone book, or watching a movie on VHS.

In other words, it's completely outdated.

So, as you're working to receive more than your fair share of the Q4 business and social spend, and as you're planning to increase your twenty twenty-six guest count, revenue, and profit, you're taking an enormous risk if you forget the value of a break for you, and your key people.

Now, your business may dictate that you cannot take your break until after the holidays. And certainly, that applies to your operators.

So, whether you schedule it to happen either during or after the holidays, schedule it now before you can't find a slot on your calendar for whatever time you need for a rest, recharge, and rejuvenation.

Here's something I want you to really think about. The most successful people take breaks. Next year you'll have to operate at your peak, incorporating a mix of new ideas along with the things that have worked for you in the past, to make sure you're one of the groups that succeeds.

And if you're still hesitant to schedule a break, just remember this: twenty twenty-six won't be easier than twenty twenty-five!

My clients who accomplish great things have a balance between work and downtime. The most successful groups I worked with this year - who have created exciting, market-leading, high-single-digit revenue increases in a flat market, up six to eight percent - have owners who do not work all the time.

So how are they able to do this? Because the strategy, tactics, and execution we implement at their businesses, not longer workdays, creates those results.

I feel proud to be able to help them build their companies so activity relies on others and ownership works at their highest point of use. When they want to get away, they leave.

I'm pleased that I spend more time convincing hard-working people to take a break than urging people to work more in order to increase results.

Now, beyond the demands of your work that call out for a vacation, there is also your commitment to your family.

You may be a parent - something else that never stops, or at a different time of life, a son or daughter taking care of a parent.

A lot is going to be asked of you next year in both your business and your family. So here's my question for you

How will you schedule a holiday or post-holiday break to ensure you prepare for the challenge?

And, before we wrap up for today, I wanted to mention a couple of articles which connect to today's episode.

Earlier, I mentioned that as you're working to receive more than your fair share of Q4 business, you're also planning to increase your twenty twenty-six guest count, revenue, and profit.

Well, if you want to go deeper on exactly how to boost that guest count, I've got an article called "How to Take Action and Power to Boost Guest Count." 

In that piece, I lay out the four key questions you need to answer to reverse guest count erosion and the specific initiatives you should attach to each one.

It's the tactical companion to today's conversation - because once you've taken that break and you're refreshed for twenty twenty-six, these are the exact strategies you'll want to consider.

I also talked earlier about the need for rest, recharge, and rejuvenation.

But here's something most people don't think about - there's actually a strategic way to maximize the value of that break.

I wrote an article called "Why Your First Day Back From Vacation is the Most Important Day of the Year," and it's all about how to leverage that fresh perspective you have when you return.

You know how you ask your GMs to constantly fight store blindness? Well, you have your own version of that - they're called habits.

That article shows you how to use your first day back to break old habits, start new ones, and identify breakthrough opportunities you might have been missing.

You can find links to both of these articles in the show notes.

Let me tell you about how we might work together. I work with owners of successful, independent, multi-unit restaurants to grow their profit, sales, guest count, and unit count. My unique approach bonds employees and guests to restaurant brands and allows owners to enjoy the freedom and flexibility they have earned.

To schedule a call with me to discuss how to achieve your biggest goals, follow the link in the show notes. The initial consultation is complimentary, and we can discuss which big moves might be right for your operation.

Thanks for listening. If you haven't already subscribed to the Restaurant Success Podcast and Newsletter podcast, please do so, and rate and review the show. Find more information in the show notes at Restaurant Success Podcast dot com.

Also find tons of information you can use in print, audio and video form at my website, www dot surrender dot biz. Thanks again and see you next time.