Overcoming the Pandemic: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities in the Restaurant Business

When I read that more than half of restaurant operators said it will be a year or more before business conditions return to normal, and they expect food, labor and occupancy costs to impact profit margins in 2022, it made me think. Are my businesses back to normal? Yes and no. Yes, we found ways to pivot and stay profitable through the pandemic. And yet, no, we are not back to normal, considering how much we’ve had to change in order to survive. There is a continued need to persist and find new ways to tackle the challenges facing businesses, and this is especially important to me as I lead my own company.

In 1994, I founded Shipyard Brewing Company, financed in part by $600,000 that I charged to eight separate credit cards. In those early days, I used my own car, a 1992 Chevy S10 Blazer, to distribute my beers to local pubs and restaurants. By 2002, my partner and I founded a second operation: Sea Dog Brewing Co., and we now have 16 locations in Maine, New Hampshire and…