Harvest America CUES BLOG

It’s not what you expected, things are different now. What once was dependable is now confusing and unpredictable – what will tomorrow bring? Does this sound familiar? We might like to put a date on the transition to confusion: the day that we determined Covid was a pandemic, the nosedive the stock market took in 2008, or it might even go back to that awful day of September 11, 2001. Blaming an event seems to be what defines a specific reason for where we are, but the current state of the world, the country, the industry of food, or each of our individual life situations has been evolving for decades. We are where we are because of all the above AND because we tend to allow events to dictate how we function. Sure, each of these catastrophic events affects us all, but how we react is simply put – in our own hands. We are where we are – so now what are we (you) going to do about it?

Your restaurant isn’t as busy as it was in 2019 – okay, so what are you going to do about it? You are finding it seemingly impossible to attract and retain employees (you and everyone else). So, what are you going to do about it? Your personal career has stalled, and you are not inspired by your current position. So, what are you going to do about it? IT’S YOUR MOVE!

Don’t let the world keep taking your major pieces on the chess board. If you act like a victim, then eventually someone will call checkmate. Stop investing all your energy in defensive moves to avoid the inevitable and turn the tide – GO OFFENSIVE! Take control of the situation, research your options, study the competition, enhance your skills, step outside the norm, take a chance and have fun with the opportunities rather than feel incumbered by the obstacles.

When you are only playing defense, you open yourself up to weakness and signal your competition that you are fair game. Someone will figure out how to win – why not you?

Your restaurant is slower than expected – you have two choices: you can accept it and start to figure out ways to save money, cut services, minimize your menu, buy lower quality ingredients, raise prices, and succumb to the situation. Or…..you can re-invent yourself – build new, exciting menu concepts, empower your employees to generate ideas, build guest experiences that rival any competitor in your area, build in special events that make every day in your restaurant exciting and worth supporting. IT’S YOUR MOVE!

You’re constantly short staffed, employees stay a few months and then move on, the team that was your strength is now undependable and dysfunctional. You have two choices: you can try to live with it and constantly complain, OR…you can work at creating a compelling environment for the BEST employees by investing in training, incentives, flex schedules, performance bonuses, and team building environments and events focused on the EMPLOYEE as your most important asset. IT’S YOUR MOVE!

It’s been a long haul over the past few years and having pushed through all the challenges you find yourself stuck in a job that doesn’t inspire and fails to address your potential. You have two choices: stick it out, it’s a paycheck after all and the job offers plenty of material to complain about, OR…you can reset your goals and objectives, build a strategy that focuses on enhancing skills and knowledge, charts a course to your ideal position, taps into your already established and underutilized network of potential mentors and coaches, and begin to work smarter and not just harder. IT’S YOUR MOVE!

So, it’s 2024 now – a new year and a fresh start. The challenges are there, they aren’t going away, but how you approach them will define whether you end up on the winning or losing end of a twelve-month ride through another year. What will it be – IT’S YOUR MOVE.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

THINK AND ACT POSITIVE IN 2024

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

Restaurant Consulting

www.harvestamericacues.com  BLOG

(Over 800 articles about the business and people of food)

CAFÉ Talks Podcast

https://cafemeetingplace.com/cafe-podcasts

More than 80 interviews with the most influential people in food