How Restaurant Owners Can Overcome Burnout

Hey there restaurant pros, it’s David Scott Peterson. Welcome to episode 20 of the Restaurant Prosper Ready Formula. I’ve been coaching restaurant owners since 2003 and the Restaurant Prosper Ready Formula is based on what the most successful restaurant owners I’ve worked with do on a daily basis to achieve their success. The basic premise of the formula centers around achieving prosperity, freedom from your restaurant and the financial freedom you deserve. To achieve prosperity, you have to follow a very specific formula made-up of leadership, systems, training, accountability, and taking action.

Today’s topic centers around the number one issue that is killing our industry right behind not being able to find anyone to work, restaurant burnout. In this episode, we’re going to talk about what you can do to fight off the negative effects of restaurant burnout and what you need to do to leave it in your rearview mirror. Let’s get started. I want to talk to you about a new plague our industry is suffering from today. Before I do, let’s assess where we are as an industry. It’s been over a year dealing with COVID-19 business restrictions, closing due to positive cases, food costs skyrocketing, running with a lean labor team and new financial challenges.

Like we’ve never seen anything like COVID-19 absolutely take an industry and put it into flames. It has been a real challenge, right? Think about it. You had to learn how to operate now with to go and delivery. New sanitation restrictions. You closed your dining room. You opened up outside dining room. You learned how to pivot and do delivery, right? And all these things, those third-party delivery services are robbing you of your money, but you needed it to pay for the lean labor you have in the 1st place. You’re down to a cook. You’re down to you, a server, right? And the new financial challenge is how to make money last longer. that you gave up all these bad practices that chewed up your money.

But because you have sales coming in all the time, you ignored the problems, but now you had to deal with them. Then you look around and you say, where’s my competition? Depending on where you are. Depending on where you are, 40% of the restaurant industry is closed. They’ve closed their door most forever. I’ve never seen anything like this. Now, don’t get me wrong. There are going to be landlords dying to get you to open up a second location, a third location, a fourth location. Put lipstick on this pig. It’s ready to go because they’ve been hurting. Right? It’s trickled down on all these things. We don’t pay our rent. They don’t have, we close our doors. They don’t have money. They’ve got, you know, bills to pay and so on.

And it just gets worse and worse and worse. So for some of you, it’s going to be an opportunity to grow at really the right time. As business restrictions are being lifted right now, right? They’re starting to open up dining rooms depending on where you are. There are still states that are going backwards, but the vast majority of the country, whether it’s based on pandemic being, you know, getting better or just shots in arms, economies need to come back to life. So governments are literally allowing you to reopen, lifting those business restrictions. So guests are coming back and literally droves. Your restaurants are being packed.

My members in my restaurant transformation intensive program are all suffering from incredibly high sales and they can’t find anybody to work. Now, is it because it’s still COVID and people are fearful? Is it because we’ve got kids that are still home from school depending on the school they go to, the district? So as single parents, they’ve got to stay home? Is it people who are what we want to focus on as an industry is the 18 year old who’s making the same amount of money or more sitting in their *** at home? I don’t know what the reason is. It’s all of those things. Is it the labor shortage that is kind of being created because you’ve taken away your team members flexibility?

See, I think the number one reason why employees Line employees, our team members, work in hospitality is for flexibility. Name any other industry other than nursing that you can give up your schedule like that and trade shifts and do this. Like, I want to go skiing. I want to go to a concert. Oh, I need to work because I got to pay rent. And you start shifting and moving schedules all the way around that you’re able to do what you want to do. we now have people working so long, so many hours because we don’t have anybody and we’re getting so slaughtered and busy. We’ve got them working 40, 60, 80 hours. Doesn’t matter if they’re managers, they’re cooks, they’re line employees. Like it’s freaking busy and we need all hands on deck.

And so all of a sudden people are like, I don’t want to be in this business right now. It has you and your managers working harder than you want to or you have in such a long time, even during the worst part of COVID-19 business restrictions. Because as we get busy, we feel like, oh my gosh, what can I do to make sure the guest has a great experience? Because you don’t want to turn money away. So we find ways to get it done. So all of a sudden, all the owners are in that building and all the managers, all hands on deck, they’re cooking, they’re serving guests, they’re busing, they’re seating, they’re bartending, they’re driving, they’re doing whatever it takes. You’re doing whatever it takes. Then we have the government.

And the government, man, they’ve been handing out bags of money. I get it. They’re doing it way too late. Right? The first thing were the PPP loans and the EIDL money and some people qualified, some didn’t. Money ran out. We didn’t know if it was going to be, you know, tax free and there was a lot of fear involved. Then there was a second round of PPP and that looked really, really good for a lot of people. And then there was the tax credit for employees and now there’s the restaurant relief fund and man, it rewards those people who decided to close. Right? If you battled and you figured out how to stay open and really fight hard, right? And you watched all these other restaurants make the decision to close because the pandemic, right?

Well, they’re getting rewarded hundreds of thousands, if not I’ve seen members of mine who have gotten millions of dollars while the members I work with that have battled with me because they didn’t show this incredible decrease in sales. They figured out how to make it work. They’re getting penalized. They don’t get this free money. And oh, by the way, we got to pay for it. It’s going to be in our taxes. And don’t get me wrong, I think our industry needed a bailout. But it came so late that so many, remember that 40% of those restaurants that closed that needed that money that could still be open right now. So if you battled and you got money, I got one word of advice for you. Don’t touch that money.

You’ve already figured out how to run lean. You figured out how to make it. Put it in the bank. Keep it for a rainy day because there could be another rainy day. it’s also this feeling of despair that really has been almost impossible to shake. Like COVID-19 put us in our downy dumps. COVID-19 really tested every single restaurant owner out there. How the hell am I going to make it? How am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to keep people employed? How am I going to take care of my guests? How am I not going to lose my home, my family, my business? And even if it wasn’t that bad for you, it’s been tough. Right? Look, the pandemic I’m really speaking of now isn’t COVID-19.

The pandemic I’m speaking of right now, what I want to address today with you is restaurant burnout. Restaurant burnout is real. You know what I’m talking about. So how does restaurant burnout manifest itself in the 1st place? How do you know if you’re suffering from this new pandemic, this disease overtaking our industry? Well, in your employees, it manifests itself as your employees leaving the industry entirely. They’re like, I’m done with this. I’m done. There’s no flexibility. I’m working my *** off. Nobody else wants to come work. People aren’t trying. I’m fearful of getting, you know, COVID. I’m tired of being worked so hard and they’re out.

They’re like, there’s not enough reward to be in this business, especially if you’re in a quick serve industry and we’re paying people minimum wage. The fruit ain’t worth it, right? How about your managers? It manifests in your managers. They’re acting out. They’re starting to get like a little curt. They talk back. They don’t buy into your dream anymore. They ***** and moan. They whine. They even whine to their employees. Look how bad things are. Look at what the owner’s making us do. I can’t believe it. Or worse, they’re just ghosting you. They just poof, don’t show up anymore. It’s manifesting in you as a restaurant owner. in a feeling of helplessness or even worse, hopelessness.

Like it’s already been over a year of battling and you thought the worst is behind us and now shots in arms and people are coming back and we’re getting busy, but nobody fricking wants to work and all of a sudden you are working back harder in your business. Look, if you’ve been following me, I’ve been doing this since 2003. My goal is to get your work on your business, not in it. COVID-19 pulled you back in your business and I applaud you. because you had to. You had to do whatever it takes to be successful, to survive the pandemic. But now you’re working in your business again because you have no freaking employees and you’re starting to feel it. You’re tired. You’re short with your family and your spouse.

You’re not having any time to yourself. All these things of freedom, these ideas of restaurant prosperity, freedom from your restaurant and the financial freedom you deserve start to go poof in front of your very own eyes. Restaurant burnout is real. And I get it. It’s been tough being a restaurant owner since the pandemic began. I get it. I’m on coaching calls with restaurant owners on a daily basis. The struggle is real and on a personal side, it affects me as well. I feel your pain every single call. Your stress, your tears. I cannot tell you how many people have opened up to me and let their emotions get the best of them. And I’m glad to be there in a safe environment where they know they won’t be judged.

But you think that doesn’t get to me? Like when you’re struggling, so aren’t I. Right? I help independent operators. And when independent operators are closing, the potential for me to find new members goes down, down, down. When you’re in a position of burnout, when you can’t find any hope, When you start to think there’s no hope, then I can’t do anything for you because there is no such thing as a person like me who can help you. I wish every day that I had a magic wand to make it all better. But I don’t. I do have a proven formula for success and I am seeing my members change their lives, get their life back, make the money they deserve, but they’re just like you today. There’s no employees and they’re finding their way backwards.

Finding it right now today that they’ve got to work in their business because there’s nobody there and they’re starting. to feel the burnout. We talk about it in our group coaching call on a weekly basis. We kind of called it the COVID-19 crisis group, right? They share with each other all the time. Well, we got out of that and we started looking, things were looking up. And member after member for the last three weeks have been talking about record sales, but all of a sudden managers quitting, employees quitting, can’t finding anybody to come in. Applicants ghosting like they’ve never seen before. Now, the really crazy part is we traded tough times for tough times.

When I look back at my coaching members that are in the 24-week restaurant transformation intensive that truly just changes their lives, when many of them started, we were in the heart of COVID in that third restriction on their business shutting down again. and the crisis and the downy dumps and all the things go. And then we saw the change. We got their implementer in place, put systems in place, got budgets in place. We started controlling labor and their profits started going up and they started seeing sales come back and things were going really, really well. And all of a sudden in the last three weeks, really the last two, not only did we go from hope of look at all these sales to holy **** what am I going to do?

Should I close for a day? so that my employees have time off or even me and my family. Like we can’t handle the businesses walking in the door. We can’t find people to walk in the door to even apply. The struggle is real. We went from really tough times back to really tough times, but there’s hope. So what do you do to battle? How do you get yourself back into the right mind space or even what we call mindset? right? A positive mindset, a growth mindset, not a fixed mindset, right? What’s the difference? Fixed mindset says, oh, here’s a struggle. Oh, I can’t overcome it. It’s going to stop me dead in my tracks. A growth mindset says, oh, look, another struggle. There’s nothing I can’t learn my way out of and make it happen.

Like you will find a way. So you got to change that mindset. In order to keep going, You’ve also got to get back to loving what you do. How do you get back to loving what you do? Well, for those of you who have been lucky enough, you’ve purchased my book, Restaurant Prosperity Formula, What Successful Restauranteurs Do. Now you can find it on Amazon or any of the popular book buying websites. And the truth of the matter is, this book was a labor of love for me. And it really centers around my old mastermind group, my old company. I had a mastermind group of 22 of the most successful restaurant operators I’ve ever worked with in my life. I saw them change their lives over a decade.

Plus most of the members I worked with stayed with me for 10 to 12 years. Some of them 15 or 16 years. We got together on a quarterly basis at each other’s restaurant. to see it. Imagine 20 of your peers walking through your restaurant like your sphincter goes, gets tight. You have painted everything. You’ve cleaned everything. Your uniforms are bright and shiny like it is perfect. And we still find things when this group was amazing. They were brutally honest. They’d tell someone, you’re an idiot, but then take their shirt off their back to help them because they weren’t competitors. They were teammates. They were members. They were their friends, allies. And it was magical.

We’d get off an airplane and we’d have dinner together, go have cocktails together. Next day have a meeting where I or I’d bring in a guest and we’d teach. We’d share a little bit, lunch together, dinner together, cocktails again together. They are restaurant owners. The next day was round table. Hey, what’s your issue? And we together as a group would help each other because I don’t know everything. What I discovered is you as an operator, as a peer, have been in their shoes today, have a solution for them today. and you can help each other. It’s magic. And again, I saw people change their lives. Well, my very last elite meeting, and I didn’t know it was going to be my last elite meeting at the time. I really didn’t.

I didn’t know my business partner was going to approach to buy me out. Well, it was January 2019. I can remember it. We were in San Diego. We had a packed room. Most all the members had made this quarterly meeting. And I said, hey, I’ve been working on this book. I need a little something. I need you guys to share with me what makes you successful. I said, I think I generally know what makes you successful. I’ve been working with you hand in hand for years. I know there’s a systems and I’ve been focusing on profitability and all these things, but I want to hear it from you. And that’s how I developed the Restaurant Prosperity Formula.

That’s what brought the book together and put those systems in a fashion that meant something to you, the operator, because it’s really the exact plan for success that each one of these operators followed. But I’m going to tell you right now I don’t want to talk about the profitability and the restaurant prosperity formula. What I want to talk to you about is the two things they taught me that each and every one of those owners and partners had in their restaurants as the leaders of their business. What I discovered is going around the room, literally having grown adults talk about the change in life and tears coming down their eyes because of joy. People talking about their struggles and the change in their life.

and how they loved the group and what they learned, it was just amazing. It truly was just such a validating moment for my life’s work and what people who’ve truly utilized it to change their lives, what it looks like. And to a person, to a couple, to partners, they all had two personality traits that made them successful. Yes, they followed the restaurant prosperity formula, Not going to talk about that now. I want to talk about the two personality traits they have because I want you to remember them because this is what you need to find. Number one is passion. They all had a passion for hospitality. They loved the restaurant industry. They loved the bar industry, catering. They loved creating memories for people.

It was truly something they loved. If they were a chef owner, taking ingredients, raw product, putting it together, creating an incredible dish that when you take a bite of it makes you think of your grandparents or a wedding or something that just is visceral to you and brings joy to your life. Whether it’s that hospitality environment where we give incredible service, creating that memory of just joy and the person you’re with. As a successful restaurant operator to get out of burnout, you’ve got to reignite your passion for the industry. The second personality trait they all had is persistence. They never gave up.

There was never somebody would tell them it couldn’t be done because there are naysayers who say you’re crazy to be in the restaurant industry. What are you thinking? There’s other industries you can make more money. Heck, just look at COVID-19. And if you’re operating today, you have persistence. It’s not the time for you to stop. See, if you look at passion and persistence and you put it back into your heart, your life, you will reignite yourself. See, you need to find your passion. Re-find it. And I want to redefine it. It’s really your why.

Your why you opened your restaurant in the 1st place, to create memories, to have a place for your community, to make money for your family, to bring joy to your life and job opportunities for others. What is your why? did you open your business in the 1st place? Now’s the time to reignite your passion. Now here’s the deal. When it comes to the persistence part, you’re allowed to have a bad day. If you follow me at any given time over the years, I say as an entrepreneur, we’re allowed to have a bad day. And I’m an entrepreneur. We can cry. I’ve cried. We can drink ourselves to sleep. Not my thing, but in our industry, it’s a thing. We can eat ourselves to discomfort. Oh, I’ve been there.

We can find ways in bad behaviors to try and not deal with the fact that we feel bad. So I’m going to tell you right now, give yourself permission to have a bad day, to feel sorry for yourself. It’s okay. We’re human. But as the leader of your business, what you do the next day is what ultimately defines you. Yes, I have had a bad day. What I can’t do is let it become a bad week. It can’t become a bad month, a bad year because everyone feeds off your energy as an entrepreneur, the leader that you are in your business. You’ve got to be the leader and a leader leads. So don’t lead them into the toilet, lead them into a prosperous restaurant, a great place to work, guests having a great day, a great experience.

So what defines you is have a bad day one day, but the next day, what are you in due to take action, to be persistent, to never say die, to not let anything stop you dead in your tracks? That’s the key. And I hope in some small way through this podcast, my weekly YouTube videos, the free webinars I’ve been conducting on a routine basis, and of course, the coaching I provide my members. I hope at all, in some way, I’m helping you battle restaurant burnout, helping you reignite your passion, your why, and helping you stay the course. See, you’ve battled so long. Now is not the time to let your restaurant burnout take you down. A brighter future is literally around the corner. It’s time to put yourself in a position to be ready for it.

So ignite that passion. Stay persistent. beat that burnout to death because you, my friend, are going to be prosperous again. You are going to have freedom from your restaurant and the financial freedom you deserve. I promise you, go out there and kick some ***. Hey, that was an awesome episode. I want to thank you for taking the time to take action on building a better, more prosperous restaurant. Before you go, I want to give you these three thoughts. One, by combining leadership and taking action with systems and training being checked by accountability, you are on your way to creating prosperity for you and your restaurant. Two, I have something I need from you.

Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you happen to listen to podcasts. By leaving us a review, other restaurant pros seeking out this information are able to find it. I read the reviews and hearing how this information has benefited you does wonders for me. And three, if you find any of the discussions helpful, share them. The more restaurant pros who have access to them, the better we become as an industry. For more restaurant resources or to get in contact with me, connect with me at DavidScottPeters. com. Be passionate about what you’re doing. Be persistent, but more importantly, become better and help everyone around you become better. And your restaurant is going to kick some ***.

If you’re tired of not being able to leave your restaurant because no one else knows how to run it, I want to make sure it doesn’t have to be that way. You can leave your restaurant. It is possible to build a team of people who know how you want the restaurant to run. With these trained and responsible people in place, you can give yourself time away. What would you do if you had time away from your restaurant? Would you sleep better? Would your relationships improve? Would you feel more relaxed? These are all things you deserve to experience as a business owner. It’s why we own our own businesses.

If you would like to learn how to own a restaurant that doesn’t depend on you to be successful, click the link in the description to watch a free training course that teaches you exactly what you have to do. Also, be sure to subscribe to get my weekly tips and watch these two videos to get more information and guidance for running a successful restaurant.