Consulting

“We spend far too many resources on searching for an excuse not to do something that we know would benefit us, rather than just engaging a solution in the first place.”

You are not here because things are running badly.

You are here because something is about to change, or already has, and you need someone who has watched enough operators make that move to tell you what it actually requires before you are committed to it.

The scale decision that feels right but has no infrastructure underneath it. The second location that is performing differently than the first and you cannot isolate why. The concept that is losing relevance in a market that has shifted around it. The operation that runs when you are there and does not when you are not, and you are being asked to not be there more often. The financial model that worked at one volume and is compressing at another.

These are not operational failures. They are inflection points. And inflection points have a cost structure that most operators discover after the commitment is made, not before.

The operator who gets an honest read on the inflection point before the move is cheaper than the one who figures it out after. The difference between a growth decision that works and one that does not is almost always an infrastructure question. That question needs an answer before you are in it, not while you are managing the consequences of it.

That is what Consulting is for.

Every operator reaches a point where what got them here will not get them there.

The concept that worked at one scale stops working at another. The systems that ran the operation when you were in the building every day start breaking down the moment you need them to run without you. The Guest Experience that felt consistent when you could personally oversee every shift becomes inconsistent the moment the operation has to produce it without your direct supervision. The financial model that worked when the only overhead was one location starts compressing in ways you did not anticipate when you added a second, a third, or a new revenue channel.

These are not growth problems. They are infrastructure problems that growth exposed. And they are almost always visible before the growth decision is made — to someone who has watched enough operators make the move to recognize the signals.

Consulting is project-based or period-based strategic work for operators at an inflection point. The nature of that inflection point varies — opening a new unit, repositioning a concept, entering a new market, restructuring an operation that has outgrown the system it was built on, building the leadership infrastructure to support scale. What does not vary is the approach: we define the objective, the scope, the timeline, and the deliverables before we begin. You know what you are getting and what it costs before a single commitment is made.

How It Works

Consulting runs on the same 28-day period architecture as Coaching. The difference is the labor split — in consulting I work alongside you, producing the deliverables, building the systems, doing the work that your operation needs done and that you do not have the capacity or expertise to produce yourself right now.

Consulting runs in three modes depending on what the engagement requires:

Remote — project-based or period retainer. I work on your operation from outside it. Analysis, planning, system design, financial modeling, strategy. Deliverables produced on a defined timeline.

Onsite — I work in your building for a defined engagement. Maximum one week (Sunday arrival through Saturday departure). Operational in nature — not diagnostic, not advisory. We work on the operation together while I am there.

Fractional Operations Leadership — I hold an operational title inside your business and function from the inside. Requires OnsiteReview™ prior to engagement. 6-month minimum. Travel and accommodation included.

• Single-unit operations: $10,000/month

• Multi-unit and complex operations: $15,000/month

What the Work Covers

• Operational infrastructure assessment — what your current systems can support and where they will fail under the weight of your next move

• New unit planning and pre-opening strategy — built before the first hire, not after the first problem

• Concept repositioning and Guest Experience redesign — what the operation needs to produce and how to build systems that produce it consistently at scale

• Leadership development and staffing models built for where you are going, not where you are

• Financial modeling — break-even structure, food cost targets, labor model design — before you are committed to numbers you cannot walk back

• Market and daypart strategy — where the real opportunity is and what it takes to capture it operationally

• Financial Operations Review — full P&L read, food cost, labor cost, prime cost, menu mix, beverage performance, written findings, prioritized action plan

• Training & Development — needs assessment, program development, delivery

• Marketing & Branding strategy — positioning, market read, execution (requires OnsiteReview™ prior to engagement)

I have opened 34 restaurants. I have helped operators reposition concepts that had stopped growing, restructure operations that had outgrown their original design, and build the infrastructure that made the next move successful instead of expensive. The difference between a growth move that works and one that does not is almost always an infrastructure question — and that question needs an honest answer before the commitment is made, not after.

Some Work Lives in Both

Certain applications — Leadership Search, Training & Development, Concept Development, Pre-Opening, Marketing & Branding — can be delivered as either Coaching or Consulting depending on what the operator needs. The operator who needs the work done engages Consulting. The operator who needs to develop the capacity to do the work themselves engages Coaching. In some cases both run simultaneously — I build the system while teaching the operator how to run it after I am gone.

Investment

All domestic onsite engagements include travel and accommodation. Outside the continental US: engagement fee plus travel at cost.

The OnsiteReview™ fee is applied as a 50% discount off the first consulting period for operators who complete a review prior to engagement. For Fractional Operations Leadership, the full OnsiteReview™ fee is deducted from the first month’s retainer.

Everything I do comes with my 100% Effective Guarantee.