Creating Traditions

The holidays are a time for seeing relatives, giving thanks, and enjoying a couple of days off.  As Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza draw closer, many of us are already starting to get wrapped up in our winter coats, gloves, scarves, and looking forward to spending more time indoors where it’s warm and toasty.

As a Chef, I enjoy the knowledge I am able to share in the kitchen over the holidays.  One of our favorite activities during the holidays is cooking together.  Helping your family members prepare the big meal not only takes stress off of one person making all the courses, but also creates an opportunity to catch up and create new traditions.   In our busy world, families are spending less and less time together. The demands of school, social activities, and all those other pressing engagements we have, from business meetings to doctor appointments, really get in the way of our family time. So, cook your meals together and you will find that there is plenty of time to catch up on one another's days, to talk about things that excite you, trouble you, or do nothing for you. Throw in a great bottle of wine and cooking Christmas dinner turns from a chore to an activity everyone can enjoy.  Don’t let the fact that you may not know how to cook slow you down, find a recipe you like and share it with your family.  Over time it will become your signature dish and will improve every year.  For those that refuse to join in on the cooking, a great mixologist is always welcome to provide liquid refreshments for the kitchen crew and join in on the conversation.  A new cocktail creation can get the conversation flowing in any kitchen and will be looked forward to every year.   

The holidays are not about gifts, but rather the creation of memories that you can enjoy for the entire year.  Take time to reflect on your past year and look forward to a new year with fresh opportunities.

Happy Holidays from GROW, Inc.  Restaurant Consultants.

Sangiovese 101

Winter is setting in here in the Rocky's and Reds are on my mind. The Italian heritage Sangiovese varietal vine is normally a very productive variety. Big berries, big clusters grown in deep, fertile soil produces a good grape for light wines and roses. By restricting water, thinning vines and growing in less fertile areas the grapes get stressed (who wouldn't?) and the wines (from red checked table cloth Chianti to big buck Italian Brunellos) become bigger, bolder, full-flavored and deeply colored. "Super Tuscans" are Italian varieties such as Sangiovese & Barbera mixed with bigger wines that bolster the main wine's complexity and depth. To label a wine a varietal , government rules require at least 75% of the blend to be the variety stated on the label. Temecula, California has the right temp and terra for these " Big Reds".  

Direct Reach

How much does a dependable network mean to a start-up, expanding or struggling business? Consultants like Grow, Inc. know that it could mean success or failure.We have the relationships and ability to get things done quickly and correctly. Knowing who to call is half the battle. If you,as a decision maker,
are cold calling and hoping for the best you may possibly be losing time and money. Take the time to make one call. Grow, Inc. has the time, motivation and experience to assist you with your business needs. You can directly reach us at grow-business.com.

Do Sustainable Practices Add Value?

It depends on what your definition of value is. If you think every sustainable step adds up and creates more space, less impact- then yes it adds value. If you think that sustainability costs more than it's worth-then the answer is no. I would like to think there is a middle ground. Restaurants and bars are in a very unique position. The chain goes full circle with many opportunities to practice sustainability in between. Communicating what specific sustainability practices are being followed on a menu or sustainability board may add value when customers who support these efforts stop by more frequently. Currently sustainability practices are driven by cost and accessibility which for most is a hindrance. Could there come a day when sustainability practices are reviewed on the same plane as product, price, service and atmosphere?

Critical Knowledge

All for profit businesses look at some type of financial report to tell them what is happening within their business. The infrastructure for correct financial reporting has many steps. Proper inventory, pricing and related procedures are critical to the integrity of your cost of goods sold. Labor is another area where knowledge of where the sales dollar is going is integral...and this continues all the way down to the bottom line.If you, as a business owner, are waiting for your accountant to communicate your numbers to you a couple of times a year...you are losing leverage. Businesses must have the means to quickly measure and identify problem areas where experience, knowledge and negotiation tactics will contribute thousands of dollars to the bottom line. Grow, Inc. has the knowledge, experience and motivation to make this happen for your company. Our operational support model includes specific steps and techniques to increase your financial knowledge translating into a stronger bottom line.Contact us today for a free consultation at grow-business.com

Strategic Management and your Restaurant

A strong military heritage underlies the study of strategic management.  Terms such as objectives, mission, strengths, and weaknesses first were formulated to address problems on the battlefield. According to Webster's New World Dictionay, strategy is "the science of planing and directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering forces into the more advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy."  A key aim of both business and military strategy is "to gain competitive advantage."  In business and military operations alike both operations use their own strengths to exploit competitor's weakness.  If an organization's overall strategy is wrong (ineffective), then all the efficiency in the world may not be enough to allow success.  Business or military success is generally not the happy result of accidental strategies.  Rather, success is the product of both continuous attention to changing external and internal conditions and the formulation and implementation of insightful adaptations to those conditions.  The element of surprise provides a great competitive advantages in both military and business strategy; information systems that provide data on opponents' or competitors' strategies and resources are also vitally important. If strategic management is not an active part of your business plan, learn to incorporate this important business element now rather than later and learn how to GROW your business.

SEO work is Not Magic

SEO work is not magic and requires a well-planned, long term marketing strategy.  The benefits to a well planned SEO marketing strategy for your restaurant or any business, for that matter, is the high ROI opportunities.  SEO marketing plans require a strategy that is followed, verified, and scrutinized along the way.  Methods that might work well for one business will not necessarily always work well for another.  For this reason, every SEO job must be looked at individually and a plan should be made that will work best for that specific business.

When working on a SEO project, there has to be a way to determine success or failure of any Internet marketing activities.  The best way to determine this is through the use of Web Analytics.  Web Analytic services vary from free services, such as Google Analytics to very expensive and heavily customizable packages.  Analytics will give you the ability to see what parts of your marketing campaign are successful and where to channel your resources and money.  In addition, a business can also see what is not working and reduce their time and effort on those marketing activities.  Web Analytics is not a cost center and if done properly can make the difference between making and breaking it on the Internet.

A large part of any successful SEO campaign will focus on Content Building.  A website is never done.  In order to be useful, it must change and grow over time.  Much like business trends and methods change to deal with other variables, a website must stay up to date to reflect these changes.  Providing high quality content that is aimed at your business, but does not directly sell something, is the best opportunity to increase traffic and exposure to your website and ultimately your business.  You should be the expert in your field and sharing your knowledge is the key to bringing fresh faces to your web content and business.  This leads to the next process of successful search engine optimization for your restaurant’s website.

The Internet would not be a “net” without the use of links.  Without links, the web would be a lot of disconnected information; disconnected info cannot be found and that would defeat the purpose.  This is why links are so important to building organic traffic.  With the use of internal site linking and inbound links, search engines can find your content and decide where to index it on a search.  The more links that point back to your site from other trusted sites show the search engines that you are an important source of information on a given subject.  There are many methods used to obtain links but a true SEO professional will be very careful where they place links so that they will provide the best generators for traffic to your web site. 

  All investments must be measured and should produce a predetermined return on investment.  Continued investment with zero returns will quickly put you out of business and out of money.  If you find that your investments into your marketing campaign are not giving you the expected return on investment, you must re-evaluate your Marketing campaign.  Expand the things that work, help your bottom line, and eliminate what is not effective.  Improve details to increase conversion.  What works for one person might not work for you, so testing is key to success.  Don’t reject a method without first testing it.  SEO is a process that takes time; stay the course and constantly evaluate your efforts to find an effective path to GROW your business.

Chilean Coastal Reds

Chilean winemakers are starting to figure out what Americans are looking for, according to an article in this month's Men's Journal. Besides being easy to drink, high-quality value is something to consider as well. Chile organically grows many of its grapes which is not always advertised on the label and many wineries are adopting fair trade practices. An abundance of multi-use land and cheaper labor enables  more value to these wines, more than their American and European competitors. Pinot Noir grows easily along the cool coast and north/south of Santiago. Carmenere (a french grape with Merlot type characteristics) is also common and may become as popular as neighbor Argentina's Malbec. From American Big Red to California Coastal Pinot Noirs to Oregon Williamette Valley Pinots your wallet may take you to Chile, if only just for a visit. Recommended are a 2008 Santa Rita Medalla Real Carmenere ($22) and a 2008 Cono Sur Ocio Pinot Noir ($65).

Return on Investment

We have all heard of the "outside eyes" concept. In the restaurant business it can be health inspections, corporate/franchise inspections, mystery shops or landlord inspections to name a few. They are very useful and necessary. In my experience the folks at Denver based Dazbog Coffee have combined intelligence and franchiser foresight into their monthly inspections that creates a positive experience while at the same time getting the job done for all involved.
Imagine the return you will receive by hiring a team of restaurant/bar vets to conduct a thorough Check-Up of your business for a one time low fee.  Just one useful observation may enable you to save thousands of dollars. Grow, Inc. has recently instituted this type of Check-Up. Please go to our website at grow-business.com to find out more on this valuable service.

...and from the son of a WWII veteran-and with respect to all Veterans-Thank You for your Service.

Corporate Responsibilty

Companies have become increasingly more aware of the importance of Corporate Social and environmental Responsibility. Apple’s computers no longer contain many of the toxic metals once common in both laptops and desktops. Pepsi cola has started to open plants that are lead certified and reduce their carbon footprint. While many consider these moves to be green washing they are still welcomed and have proven to help a companies image and in some cases even help to create a new image. A great example would be GE and the environmentally proactive transformation that they made with their new CEO. In a business world that demands transparency it is essential for companies that want to find continued success to have a strong ethical, environmental, and social plan in place. These plans or guidelines must be part of their every day business and be an evolving part of their business plan to achieve long-term success.
Businesses should hold themselves to high moral and ethical standards while earning financial returns for their shareholders. The difficulty of serving the community both environmentally and socially is that in the short run profits can suffer due to the money spent on these sustainability projects. The company must have the ability to sell and educate the idea of sustainability to the shareholders in order become a successful socially reasonably company. In addition companies must be led by a CEO with the vision of what it truly means to be socially responsible and have the ability to achieve these goals. Companies should remember that we must live on this planet and that our resources, and plant’s health are more valuable and more important then any one companies profits. The final product of a socially responsible and sustainable company is one that is not a burden on the world and that returns a portion of their profits to help benefit the overall good of people and the earth.

Denver CO Restaurant Hospitality Consultant | Business Consultant | Denver, Colorado

Denver CO Restaurant Hospitality Consultant | Business Consultant | Denver, Colorado

Check out the new Smart Guy Web Page

Hunting for Bar Profit

As an owner or manager do you know what you are looking at when you are standing in your bar? How much draft head is being wasted? An eight count liquor free pour or a re-tilt? Cashing in and out tips while under ringing and keeping count? Or just assuming tips from guests you'll never see again. Grow Inc. can help mitigate the risks with an in-depth evaluation of what's going on with your wallet.

The Importance of Social Media

As a self proclaimed Social Media Guru, I love to talk about the importance of Social Media to the overall success of your Restaurant.  Every Restaurant owner has dreams of their restaurant becoming famous or the hot place to go.  The problem with these dreams is that so few restaurant owners market their restaurant correctly.  The simple fact is that having amazing recipes and a talented Chef will do very little for the success of your business if no one knows you exist.  There are many reasons why restaurant owners do not incorporate Social Media into their overall marketing campaign. For some, there is a lack of knowledge on how to begin a successful Social Media campaign, for other restaurant owners there is not enough time in a day to work on a blog or Facebook page.  Whatever the reason, why a given restaurant may overlook this important marketing tool, it is important to know the power of Social Media.  Social Media is extremely cost effective (generally Free) and allows you to advertise your specials, document your Chef’s Bio, and even develop an email VIP club. On a slow night you can blast your Social Media outlets with a special on Drinks or your daily-featured dishes.  I would say in our current market it is imperative that you at least maintain a presence on Facebook and YouTube.  Make a simple video with your Chef cooking your restaurant’s signature dish, or your sommelier talking about an interesting wine.  You can then post this video to YouTube and link this to your blog, Facebook page, website, etc.  This will be the beginning of your Social Media Marketing Campaign.  The fact is that your Chef is preparing this food everyday in order to be ready for service, why not use this time to make short videos for YouTube that will act as cooking classes and attract new clients, as well as food critics to your restaurant.  If you would like to know more on how you can use Social Media to increase your business, just send me an email, as I enjoy helping business to GROW. 

Is the Grass Greener?

Greener grass at the other side

When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence,
it may be that they take better care of it there.


Quote by Cecil Selig

Restaurant Consultants are similar to doctors as they can look into your business and give you a clear picture of where their are problems or are soon to be problems.  As a healthy and smart person you would not skip your doctors appointments, give your business the same respect and let the experts who are not emotionally involved give your business the proper diagnosis so that it will have the ability to GROW.  

Uptown Favorites

I tend to always enjoy my visits to my uptown favorites.  Among these would have to be Caveau Wine Bar on 450 E. 17^th Ave.  With around 55 Wines by the glass and arguably one of the best happy hours in Denver, (4-7pm 6 nights a week) it is well worth setting aside an evening to visit a few friends for Vino at this comfortable spot.  I have enjoyed wine at Caveau for some time now and also have developed quite a following of friends who are always up for a night there.  The happy hour consists of $12 glasses of wine for $6 and all wines priced above $12 are half off.  The servers are always happy to give a recommendation or help with the proper pronunciation of a wine name.   After 6pm the parking on 17^th and Pennsylvania is a steal at $2.50, or even better find an open meter and parking is free after 6pm. 

People, Product or Profits?

The age old debate of what comes first- people, product or profits?-intensifies ten-fold in our industry. Guests are able to smoke out where the motive for profit overcomes people (employees/guests) and product. We've all seen how indifferent-even argumentative- management negatively effects service and total experience no matter how good your meal could have been..... and how a tasteless, below expectation meal can equal a one stop shop no matter how great the service was. On the other hand, we reward above and beyond human service along with a great new tastes with repeat business and recommendations. Grow, Inc. will support you and help you identify areas where your business can and will increase because your priorities are clear to your guests, your employees and your financial advisor. Contact us today for a free consultation.

Top Ten Reasons Restaurants Fail

#10 Systems and controls not developed to control cost of goods, waste, and pilferage

#9 Incorrect concept for the location

#8 Unfavorable lease costs and option terms

#7 Budgets not prepared or incorrectly determined

#6 Food and beverage not designed to fit gross profit targets

#5 Not having a well-defined and budgeted marketing plan

#4 Daily and weekly management reports followed by timely income statements not available for project review

#3 Staffing not sufficient in experience, service training and product knowledge

#2 Under capitalization

#1 Not seeking advice from restaurant professionals...contact us for a free evaluation Grow-Business.com

Hemispheric Plate Fusion

Showcasing small plates from South America (Lima) and Asia (Tokyo) the Chefs at Zengo in Denver make the "give and take" of sharing part of a great dining experience during October. From Rainbow Ceviche to Sarsa Salad to the Mixed Cocktails they take fusion to a higher level where you really need the menu through the entire experience so that your eyes, brain and taste buds are in sync or should I say fused. The "everyday" menu offers more of the same in their Antojitos/Dim Sum, Fried Rice/Noodles,Ceviches,Sushi Rolls and Large Plates. Hats off (or should I say on!) to these Chefs.

Green Chiles are all the Rage

You'll see green chile-filled dishes on countless menus all over Denver. Shoot, even some Wal-Marts roast the chiles right there in the parking lot. According to Denver Westword, the real-deal is at Jack-n-Grill, where they roast green chiles on site and throw them into chili (the hearty stew-soup with pork) as well as tacos, breakfast burritos, and cups of roasted cheesy corn.

Restaurant Trends

Traditional meals are going way of the fun-size snack. Smaller portions are perfect for smaller wallets and eating on the run. Look closely for mini pizzas and bagels, two-bite hot dogs, mini tacos or burritos, cake truffles, even pot roasts and pot pies, all downsized. Small is big. For more important info on the current trends give us a call or shoot us an email.

Trends in Today's Challenging Food and Beverage Market

Challenging times demand new restaurant operating strategies to drive sales and manage escalating expenses. Grow, Inc. consulting team has the restaurant consultant financial, operations and culinary expertise to improve the performance of your company. Our team is always accessible and is always by your side for restaurant advice. Grow, Inc. are a culinary driven operation focused company that works with single unit operators as well as national chains. Our mission is to help business owners maximize their financial performance through a combination of proven business strategies inclusive of Restaurant Operations Assessment, Restaurant revenue Management Systems, Menu Development, New Concept Development, Restaurant Revenue Management, and Operational and Leadership Excellence. Whether you are opening a restaurant for the first time or initialing a financial turnaround, we can provide proven consulting processes and tools. Explore our Services and areas of expertise through our web site at grow-business.com.