How to Conquer My 3 Stages of Restaurant Business Growth

Every successful restaurant entrepreneur must understand where they stand in their business journey. In this episode, Matthew Mabel breaks down the three critical stages of restaurant business growth that every independent restaurant owner experiences. Whether you're in the high-energy startup phase proving your concept, the strategic refinement period perfecting your operations, or facing the pivotal decision of whether to sell or continue expanding, knowing your stage brings clarity to every business decision. Matthew shares insights from his work with multi-unit restaurant owners who have scaled from five to twenty-one locations, revitalized stagnant brands, and achieved true entrepreneurial freedom. Discover how to identify your current growth stage and learn which strategic moves in operations, branding, culture, and leadership will set your restaurant business up for optimal success in the year ahead.

Key Topics Covered

• The three stages of restaurant business growth: Adrenaline Years, Chill Out and Reflect, and Should I Stay or Should I Go
• How to identify which growth stage your restaurant business is currently in
• Why understanding your stage eliminates confusion and clarifies strategic decisions
• Real examples of restaurant entrepreneurs achieving unit expansion and revenue growth
• How to prepare your brand and organization for long-term success

Links Mentioned

• Guide to Pushing Through Expansion Barriers

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 explore a topic that's essential for every restaurant owner to understand: the three stages of restaurant business growth.

I'll walk you through each stage, help you identify where you currently stand, and share how knowing your stage can bring clarity to every decision you make in twenty twenty six.

So. For my best clients, it doesn't matter what curveballs life throws at them.

They stay on a strong growth curve regardless. They remain in control of their destiny and put the right information to work.

And when you do that, great things happen.

We're talking about jumping from five units to twenty one, or reinvigorating revenue at a brand that has become tired, or creating a life changing amount of earned personal freedom.

Right now, a lot of people are pondering sales growth and guest count growth, considering the right timing for unit growth.

I get it. When my career started, ever since the time when I started working on a second unit, the idea of growth rented out a space in my mind, but in a positive way every day. Understanding growth and accelerating successful growth remain top things my clients look to me for advice on.

So, let me share with you what I call the three stages of restaurant business growth.

If you spend your days and nights in the restaurant business, you exist in one of these three stages.

Stage one is what I call the Adrenaline, or Espresso Years.

At the beginning of your brand, when you feel highly motivated, you stretch yourself as far as, or sometimes further, than you personally can to make things work.

This is when you prove your business model.

Stage two is Chill Out and Reflect. You can't live on adrenaline forever, so you prepare for the long run and perfect your brand and organization.

And then there's stage three, which I like to call Should I Stay or Should I Go. At some point, you come to a fork in the road and decide to either sell or keep building yourself.

Now here's how you set yourself up for optimal success. The only smart way to know whether you should spend twenty twenty six proving, perfecting, or deciding is to know the stage you're in and figure out how to arrive at the next one. Once you know that, the steps you should take in operations, branding, culture, and strategy, along with your lifestyle, become crystal clear and you don't have to ponder anymore.

So how do you find that out?

Well, one way is through this week's free download. This is my Guide to Pushing Through Expansion Barriers and you can find a link to it in the show notes.

Get it and focus on the smartest places to expend your energy in twenty twenty six.

Finally, how will you refocus your energy in the right places in twenty twenty six?

Do you live in the Adrenaline stage - the Chill-Out-and-Reflect stage - OR the Should-I-Stay-or-Should-I-Go stage.

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.