Explore every episode of the podcast Restaurant Growth Accelerator: More Profit, More Locations, And More Time With Your Family
Dive into the complete episode list for Restaurant Growth Accelerator: More Profit, More Locations, And More Time With Your Family. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
Why Busy Restaurants Still Go Bankrupt | With Tim Halls
29 Jun 2026
00:59:49
This restaurant owner was making $20,000 a week in sales - and still losing money.
Bad debt, broken bookkeeping, and weak systems pushed his BBQ restaurant straight into bankruptcy.
Then he turned it all around with real bookkeeping, smarter systems, and tighter cost control that helped him rebuild the business from the ground up.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott sits down with Tim Halls of Burnt BBQ & Tacos.
Together, they share the real story behind restaurant profit, money stress, and how to build a business that actually supports your life.
This is a must-watch for restaurant owners, BBQ shop operators, food truck founders, and catering business owners who want to know why strong sales alone do not equal profit.
Tune in to discover:
✅Why restaurants can have great sales and still lose money ✅How bad bookkeeping and unclear P&L reports hurt restaurant owners ✅The danger of merchant cash advances and taking loans to pay loans ✅Why food cost, labor cost, and P&L reports are key to restaurant profit ✅Simple systems, checklists, and employee manuals that create freedom ✅The underleveraged way to quickly grow restaurant revenue ✅How strong restaurant operations improve your home life, team, and future
Tune in to learn how to fix a restaurant losing money, grow your catering sales, and finally build a profitable BBQ business that gives you your life back.
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:01:10 Meet Tim Halls 00:04:40 The Partner Who Wrecked Everything 00:09:00 The Bookkeeper Nightmare 00:18:10 Trapped In Cash Advances 00:21:40 From $250K To $60K 00:26:30 Life After Bankruptcy 00:34:10 Building The Catering Engine 00:39:10 Going Out And Hunting Orders 00:47:10 Whales vs Minnows 00:53:40 Why Service Wins
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Claim your FREE Restaurant Weekly Financial Tracker to uncover thousands in hidden profits and optimize your costs (in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee):
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The Hardest Lessons From 20 Years of Owning Restaurants Part 3
22 Jun 2026
01:11:22
This is the third and final part of my journey as a multi-unit restaurant owner. I share the real cost of growing a restaurant business too fast.
I lost the lease on my first shop after ten years of hard work (my landlord gave my space to the neighbor next door). Then I opened a fifth location at the worst possible time and my sales were almost non-existent.
I was overwhelmed with loan payments, I lost a key manager, and I worked 100-hour weeks (again).
THANKFULLY I fixed everything…
And in this episode, I’m sharing how - so you can learn how to scale a restaurant the right way.
Tune in to discover:
✅Why opening more restaurant locations doesn’t automatically create more profit ✅How poor lease planning can cost restaurant owners years of work and tens of thousands of dollars ✅Why multi-unit restaurant ownership requires a completely different skill set ✅How I realized I’d scaled beyond my systems, team, and leadership capacity ✅The overlooked skills that are 100% foundational to a restaurant's success ✅The dangers of debt, short loan terms, and opening before your business is ready ✅How COVID tested restaurant systems, leadership, delivery, marketing, and cash flow ✅The BIG alternative to cost-cutting restaurant owners should be focusing on instead
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:02:54 Losing the lease 00:07:50 Lessons from location one 00:10:10 Hiring a business coach 00:16:40 Building real systems 00:23:10 Scaling talent and leadership 00:26:40 The fifth location mistake 00:33:10 The marketing breakthrough 00:40:50 COVID changes everything 00:47:50 Survival through subsidies 00:58:40 Selling the restaurants 01:02:40 The bigger mission
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Thinking of opening another restaurant? Avoid costly mistakes with my free guide:
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Restaurant Staffing Problems? Here’s What You’re Doing Wrong
20 Apr 2026
00:14:23
Hiring more staff won't fix your restaurant staffing problems.
In fact, it's probably making them worse.
If you're constantly short-staffed, dealing with unreliable employees, or stuck working in your restaurant instead of on it… this episode will change the way you hire forever . I’m sharing the critical difference between hiring for relief vs hiring for leverage - and how this one mindset shift can transform your team, your profits, and your freedom as a restaurant owner.
Tune in to discover:
✅ Why hiring out of desperation is killing your restaurant business ✅ The difference between A, B, and C players… and why it matters more than your menu ✅ How to identify, attract, and retain top-performing restaurant employees ✅ Why "gut feel" hiring fails the moment you try to scale ✅ How paying your team more can actually lower your labor costs ✅ The exact mindset shift you need to build a self-running restaurant
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:00:30 Staffing vs. Leadership Mindset 00:01:30 The A-B-C Player Grid 00:03:10 Hiring to Level Up 00:04:10 Engineer Your Hiring System 00:05:50 The Reverse Roster Exercise 00:06:50 It's a Talent Game 00:08:10 Gut Feel Doesn't Scale 00:09:50 You Can't Overpay A-Players 00:10:30 The Dollar Raise Experiment 00:12:10 Hiring Drives Your Finances
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✅Get your FREE copy of The Restaurant Manager Hiring Playbook✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The Right Way to CUT COSTS in a Restaurant Business
06 Apr 2026
00:16:39
Most restaurant cost-cutting strategies fail because restaurant owners are cutting costs the wrong way - destroying profit margins and unknowingly making their business harder to run.
This episode will help you change that, so you can decrease costs and increase margins for the long term.
You’ll also hear why most cost-cutting strategies fail - and how to fix them without hurting your business, your team, or your customers.
Tune in to discover:
✅ Why aggressive cost-cutting backfires in restaurants ✅ The biggest mistake owners make with food cost… and how to avoid it ✅ How to reduce labor costs (without hurting service) ✅ The right way to increase menu prices… while keeping customers happy ✅ What you MUST do with any changes before rolling them out across your business ✅ The simple secret to increasing profit margins by 10%+
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:01:00 Why most cost-cutting plans fail 00:02:40 The comfort zone trap 00:04:00 Price increases done wrong 00:06:00 Inventory vs food cost myth 00:08:40 Smart labor scheduling 00:11:20 The 50 flyers mistake 00:13:20 Facebook ads "don't work" fallacy 00:15:00 Test first
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Thinking of opening another restaurant? Avoid costly mistakes with my free guide:
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Why Doing It Yourself Is STOPPING Your Restaurant Growth
30 Mar 2026
00:15:07
Most restaurant owners say, “I can’t afford help”... but what if that mindset is actually costing you tens of thousands of dollars every year?
This episode exposes one of the biggest mistakes restaurant owners make - trying to do everything themselves.
If you're stuck working long hours, struggling to grow sales, or feeling like your business isn’t moving forward, you need to understand how investing in your restaurant can help.
Andrew shares real experiences from his early days as a restaurant owner - including costly trial-and-error mistakes, failed marketing assumptions, and the hard truth about why figuring things out alone slows your growth.
Tune in to discover:
✅ Why saying “I can’t afford help” is holding your restaurant back ✅ The hidden cost of trial and error in your business ✅ How delaying decisions can cost you $50K+ in lost profit ✅ The difference between paying with time vs money ✅ Why learning from experts accelerates restaurant growth ✅ How to break out of the “stuck” phase and scale faster ✅ The mindset shift every successful restaurant owner makes
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:01:00 Podcast overview 00:02:00 The "I can't afford help" trap 00:04:05 Learn from others' mistakes 00:05:00 Self-made mindset 00:06:00 The delusional mailout math 00:07:40 You pay either way 00:09:00 The 5-10x time penalty 00:10:00 Who has what I don't know? 00:11:00 Seven years to location two 00:12:20 Choose your hard 00:13:40 Limiting belief to leverage
Listen now and discover why the smartest investment you can make is the one that saves you years of guessing.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The High Sales Low Profit Trap - what most owners get wrong
23 Mar 2026
00:22:16
If your restaurant is packed but your bank account isn’t growing, this shows you exactly why - and how to increase restaurant profits.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator, Andrew Scott (multi-unit restaurant owner with 20+ years of experience) breaks down one of the biggest myths in the industry:
More sales do NOT automatically mean more profit.
Most restaurant owners focus on getting more customers, but ignore the one metric that actually determines profitability.
If you don’t fix this metric first, more volume can actually make you poorer.
Tune in to discover:
✅ Why increasing sales can hurt your profits ✅The truth about restaurant prime cost (and why it matters) ✅How to properly match labor to demand ✅How to reduce costs and instantly improve cash flow ✅How to turn slow weekdays into revenue opportunities ✅Why every restaurant needs a clear P&L (profit & loss statement)
Key moments:
00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:00 - When Busy Means Broke 00:04:00 - Bare Bones Staffing Exceptions 00:06:40 - Your P&L Is Non-Negotiable 00:08:20 - Prime Costs Over 100% 00:10:00 - The 55% Prime Cost Target 00:12:00 - Protecting Your Profit Margin 00:14:00 - Fix Costs Before Marketing 00:17:00 - The Lean Model Framework 00:18:40 - Weekday Revenue Strategies 00:20:40 - Prioritize the Right Actions
If you feel stuck, working harder than ever in your restaurant, but you're still not making the money you want - this episode is the guide to increasing restaurant's profits.
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✅About Us✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How He Turned One Bagel Shop Into 6 Restaurants - Then Sold the Business for 5× | Chris Wietecha
16 Mar 2026
01:04:11
Growing a profitable restaurant is hard. Scaling a restaurant to multiple locations is even harder. But building a restaurant business that someone will actually pay millions to buy?
That requires a completely different level.
In this episode, you’ll hear the real story of Chris Wietecha - and how he scaled a restaurant brand to six locations and sold it for a 5x multiple.
Like many restaurant owners, Chris faced the early challenges of overworking, inconsistent systems, staffing struggles, and thin profit margins.
But by focusing on better leadership, smarter systems, and operational discipline, he scaled the brand to six locations and millions in revenue - before selling the company to a restaurant group.
If you're a restaurant owner looking to grow, improve profitability, or eventually sell your business, this conversation will show you what actually happens behind the scenes.
Tune in to discover:
✅ How Chris went from one location to six restaurant locations
✅ The biggest mistakes restaurant owners make when opening a second location
✅ What systems and management structures matter when scaling restaurants
✅ The operational changes that dramatically improved profit margins
✅ Why many restaurant owners struggle with burnout and a lack of freedom
✅ The truth about restaurant exits and why most restaurants never sell
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:01:00 Chris's origin story and first location 00:06:37 Growing to six locations 00:07:22 Readiness checklist for expansion 00:10:20 The danger of scaling unprofitable 00:15:00 Systems break at multi-unit 00:18:20 When Chris found ownership coaching 00:26:00 The cream cheese cost revelation 00:36:04 Coffee switch that boosted sales 00:40:20 What drove Chris to get help 00:47:00 Good versus great in business 00:52:40 The exit and 5x multiple explained 00:57:40 Why most restaurants can't sell
Listen now and start running your restaurant like a business that actually pays you.
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Claim your FREE Restaurant Weekly Financial Tracker to uncover thousands in hidden profits and optimize your costs (in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee):
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The Weekly Restaurant Dashboard That Increases Profits
09 Mar 2026
00:23:24
Most restaurant owners think more sales = more profit.
That’s a lie.
If your restaurant is busy but your bank account doesn’t reflect it, this episode will show you exactly why - and how to fix it.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott (multi-unit owner for 20+ years) breaks down the simple weekly tracking system that transformed his own restaurants - from stressed and losing money to structured and profitable.
If you’re tired of working 80+ hours a week, constantly putting out fires, and wondering where the money went… this is the system you need.
✅How to calculate prime cost (food + labor) properly
✅The ideal prime cost percentage for maximum restaurant profitability
✅Why increasing sales alone won’t fix your profit problem
✅The simple dashboard system that gives you visibility and control
Key moments:
00:01:30 Track numbers weekly 00:02:10 Painful first restaurant story 00:04:30 Discovering the real problem 00:05:30 The Issue With Monthly P&Ls 00:06:30 Weekly dashboard 00:07:30 Prime cost sweet spot 00:09:50 How the sales forecasting tool works 00:14:50 Year-over-year vs month-over-month 00:17:30 Planning three months ahead 00:18:50 How to actually get real results 00:19:50 The personal trainer analogy 00:21:10 Start tracking this week
Listen now and start running your restaurant like a business that actually pays you.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How to Avoid Being Short-Staffed During Busy Season
02 Mar 2026
00:25:40
What if you could predict exactly how many employees your restaurant will need before peak season hits?
No scrambling.
No desperate hiring.
No working 80-hour weeks.
Instead, what if you could have a clear restaurant labor forecast, a hiring funnel strategy, and a plan to maximize profit during your busiest months?
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott breaks down a simple but powerful Restaurant Peak Hiring Calculator that helps you forecast staffing needs - BEFORE your busy season hits.
Instead of reacting to sales increases, losing key staff members, and working 80-hour weeks, you’ll learn how to plan ahead using real numbers - so you can stay in the CEO seat and maximize profit.
Tune in to discover:
✅ How to calculate your projected peak season sales
✅ How to forecast restaurant labor hours accurately
✅ How to determine how many employees you’ll actually need
✅ Why 33% of new hires typically don’t work out
✅ The real math behind the restaurant hiring funnel
✅ How labor supply and demand impact restaurant wages
Key moments:
00:00:45 Why Owners Don't Plan Ahead 00:02:25 Two Major Turnover Seasons 00:03:45 The Peak Hiring Calculator 00:06:05 How the Six-Week Staffing Crisis Works 00:07:45 Calculating Year-Over-Year Sales Trends 00:09:25 Forecasting Peak Season Hours 00:11:25 The 800-Hour Gap Problem 00:13:45 Running the Flat Growth Scenario 00:15:25 Hiring Efficiency and Funnel Math 00:17:45 Good Months vs. Bad Months to Hire 00:21:25 Why "No Good Candidates" Is a Timing Problem 00:22:45 Peak Season Profit Potential
If you own a restaurant and want to stop the cycle of burnout and bad hires, this episode gives you the exact framework to get ahead.
Hit play now and build your staffing plan before your next busy season hits.
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Claim your FREE Restaurant Weekly Financial Tracker to uncover thousands in hidden profits and optimize your costs (in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee):
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The 2026 Local SEO Playbook for Restaurants | With Claudia Tomina
23 Feb 2026
00:38:57
AI is changing how restaurants show up on Google - and most owners don’t even realize they’re invisible.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator, Andrew Scott sits down with local SEO expert Claudia Tomina to discuss important restaurant marketing updates.
They discuss how AI, Google’s evolving algorithms, and large language models (LLMs) are reshaping restaurant marketing.
If you're relying on just your Google Business Profile, QR codes for reviews, or old website content
…you may already be losing bookings, catering orders, and high-intent customers.
This conversation explains exactly what’s changed and what to fix immediately.
Tune in to discover:
✅ How AI interprets your restaurant (and why that matters)
✅ Why review quality now matters more than quantity
✅ The real risk of QR codes for Google reviews
✅ What “review jail” is… and how to avoid it
✅ Why outdated website content is hurting your rankings
✅ How AI booking and “agentic workflows” impact reservations
✅ The importance of review diversification (Yelp, TripAdvisor, Reddit, etc.)
✅ How to respond to negative reviews without damaging your brand
If you own or operate a restaurant and haven't audited your online presence recently, this episode is a timely reminder to do so.
Key moments:
00:01:15 Why AI Changed Restaurant Discovery 00:04:27 The Problem With Google-Only Strategies 00:07:33 How AI Reads Your Website 00:10:57 The QR Code Review Trap 00:13:23 Google's Secret Local Guide Questions 00:15:37 Review Quality Over Quantity 00:22:15 Missing Booking Links Kill Revenue 00:25:03 Agentic AI Workflows Are Coming 00:28:21 Three Steps to Fix Your Visibility
Hit play and find out what AI is telling your potential customers about you - before they even walk through the door.
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Claim your FREE Restaurant Weekly Financial Tracker to uncover thousands in hidden profits and optimize your costs (in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee):
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Why do so many restaurant owners keep ending up in survival mode… even after sales recover and things “get better”?
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott breaks down why survival mode isn’t just “part of the industry”.
You’ll also learn how leadership psychology, pressure-based performance, and lack of planning during good times keep restaurants stuck in a constant cycle of stress, firefighting, and burnout.
Tune in to discover:
✅Why restaurant owners perform best under pressure… and why that’s DANGEROUS
✅How being the “hero” in your business actually keeps you small
✅The leadership mistakes that recreate chaos, staffing issues, and cash flow stress
✅Why seasonal dips (January, staffing crunches, slow months) are predictable - and preventable
✅How successful restaurant owners plan ahead instead of reacting
✅The mindset shift required to move from firefighting to leadership
If you're tired of the feast-or-famine rollercoaster and want to build a restaurant that runs without you white-knuckling through every season, press play now.
Key moments:
00:01:00 The Survival Mode Trap 00:03:00 Why We Need To Be Needed 00:05:20 The Hero High 00:07:00 Training Decay Cycle 00:09:00 Pressure Drives Performance 00:11:00 Chaos Is Not The Industry 00:12:40 January Comes Every Year 00:15:00 The April Hiring Crunch 00:17:00 Busy Season Profit Levers 00:20:00 The Stock Market Principle 00:25:00 Extreme Ownership Applied
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
✅How to build restaurant systems so you’re no longer the system
✅What it really takes to scale from one location to multiple locations
If you want more sales, more profit, and more freedom, stop being the hero. Press play and learn how to build a team that runs without you.
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Claim your FREE Restaurant Weekly Financial Tracker to uncover thousands in hidden profits and optimize your costs (in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee):
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The Hardest Lessons From 20 Years of Owning Restaurants Part 2
15 Jun 2026
00:59:36
A profitable restaurant is built before it’s scaled. This is part 2 of Andrew Scott sharing the biggest lessons and mistakes from scaling his own restaurants.
You’ll hear how Andrew went from one struggling location to three locations - and back to barely surviving.
And why he spent years chasing sales when his real problem was something that no amount of sales could ever fix.
Tune in to hear about:
✅Why more restaurant sales do not always mean more restaurant profit ✅One thing that can destroy profitability even when revenue grows ✅How to review your P&L and bank account to cut expenses without cutting growth ✅When you should never ever cut marketing, even when things feel tight ✅How restaurant discounts can work when used strategically ✅The risks of opening a second or third restaurant location too soon ✅Why restaurant managers fail time and time again, no matter what you do
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:02:40 The cost control wake-up call 00:05:25 Watching staff waste food 00:07:05 The two-question P&L cleanup 00:09:15 Cutting marketing 00:12:00 Prime cost math 00:18:15 Mascot suit marketing 00:20:25 Adding delivery and catering 00:22:45 Smart discounting rules 00:31:35 Why second locations fail 00:36:45 Heir and spare hiring 00:43:45 Opening next to competitors 00:52:25 The ran-out-of-product lie
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Thinking of opening another restaurant? Avoid costly mistakes with my free guide:
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
If your restaurant labor is stuck above 30%, these simple scheduling and productivity shifts can drop your restaurant labor costs fast - without cutting wages or overworking staff.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, multi-unit restaurant owner Andrew Scott breaks down proven restaurant labor management strategies that help operators reduce labor costs.
You’ll learn how to schedule smarter, increase productivity, and align staffing with sales volume so your restaurant runs leaner, smoother, and more profitably.
Tune in to hear about:
✅ Why your restaurant labor isn’t “too high”... something else is
✅ The ideal restaurant labor percentage for full-service vs quick-service
✅ How paying higher wages can actually lower your labor percentage
✅ Staggered start & end times to instantly reduce wasted labor hours
✅ How to schedule staff based on the data that matters
✅ The simple reason why overstaffing actually causes teams to work slower and get less done
✅ Daily checklists, prep windows, and operational standards that work
This episode shows you how to match restaurant staffing to sales, reduce waste, and build a more efficient operation using data and systems.
Key moments
00:00:45 Why your labor isn't high, your output is too low 00:02:25 Paying more to attract top performers 00:04:25 Staggered start and end times 00:06:25 Using a productivity calculator 00:09:05 Making cuts 00:10:45 Why over-staffed teams are slower 00:13:25 Creating artificial pressure 00:15:45 The daily checklist 00:17:45 Identifying anchor employees
If you're tired of bleeding money on labor while your team still feels overworked, this episode gives you the playbook to fix it.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How to keep MORE of the profit your restaurant makes
20 Jan 2026
00:37:16
Running a restaurant is hard. Keeping it profitable is even harder.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott (Founder of OwnerShift) shares the four financial rules every restaurant owner needs to live by - if they want to keep their money once the profits start rolling in.
After almost 20 years as a restaurant owner and helping hundreds of clients grow their businesses, Andrew breaks down real-life scenarios.
Tune in if you want practical advice for avoiding the biggest money mistakes restaurant owners make.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅Why profit is unnatural… and why most restaurant owners lose it
✅The biggest cash flow mistakes restaurant owners make after success
✅How much a restaurant owner should actually pay themselves
✅Why your bank account balance lies to you
✅The correct way to take owner’s draws without hurting your business
✅How to avoid sales tax and debt mistakes that shut restaurants down
✅How to set up financial guardrails so your restaurant survives long-term
Tune in now to discover the financial rules used to build sustainable, scalable restaurant businesses.
Key moments:
00:01:10 - Client Success to Crisis 00:03:30 - Why Profit Is “Unnatural” 00:04:30 - Buy High Sell Low? 00:07:10 - Letting Go of Basics 00:12:30 - The Four Financial Rules 00:14:10 - Taxes 00:18:10 - The Buffer Rule 00:22:30 - Emergency Fund Setup 00:29:50 - Owner's Draw System 00:31:30 - Bank Account Bonus
If you've got money coming in and you want to keep it there, this is your blueprint.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
In this FAQ episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator, Andrew Scott answers real questions submitted by restaurant owners.
Including questions about navigating POS systems, tech stacks, AI tools, marketing decisions, and third-party delivery (while staying profitable and protecting the guest experience).
You’ll also hear about what restaurant technology is actually worth paying for, what’s not, and how to make smarter decisions.
Tune in to discover:
✅ The real pros & cons of POS systems and add-ons ✅ When restaurant software is worth the cost (and when it’s not) ✅ How restaurant owners should use AI the right way ✅ In-house vs outsourced restaurant marketing strategy ✅ How to create restaurant social media content efficiently ✅ Systems to manage DoorDash, Uber Eats, and third-party delivery ✅ How to protect the dine-in experience while scaling delivery
Key moments:
00:01:00 Tech Stacks Actually Worth the Investment 00:03:20 The Best Software Rule 00:05:20 Integrating Systems That Work 00:07:20 Using AI in Your Restaurant 00:10:40 Marketing In-House vs Outsourcing 00:14:00 Creating Content Easily 00:17:00 Evaluating Agency ROI 00:18:20 Third-Party Delivery Balance 00:21:40 Staffing for Actual Volume 00:24:20 Third-Party Pricing Strategy
Listen now to get straight answers to the questions restaurant owners are actually asking.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The #1 Belief Keeping Your Restaurant from Growing
05 Jan 2026
00:20:51
Is your mindset the real reason your restaurant isn’t growing?
If you're constantly blaming food costs, labor shortages, or the economy, this episode will challenge everything you think you know about restaurant success.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, multi-unit restaurant owner Andrew Scott dives deep into the mindset shifts every restaurant owner must make - to unlock increased profits, freedom, and long-term success.
Too many restaurant owners believe it’s impossible to run a profitable restaurant and have a great life. This is simply not true.
Tune in to discover:
✅The real cost of believing your restaurant can’t be profitable
✅Why “no one good to hire” is just a belief keeping you broke
✅The weird psychological phenomenon shaping your results… and how to change them
✅The mindset shift that helped Andrew grow by 30% in one year
✅Why venting with other struggling owners keeps you stuck
✅The key question to ask when you're not hitting your goals
Whether you’re struggling to increase profitability, lower food and labor costs, or just feeling burned out from 80-hour weeks, this episode offers a serious mindset reset.
Key moments:
00:01:00 The Belief Ceiling 00:03:40 Hiring Belief Trap 00:05:20 The $5 Beer That Changed Everything 00:07:20 The True Cost of Not Knowing 00:09:00 Why You Need a Bigger Room 00:10:40 Pity Parties Kill Progress 00:13:00 Stories We Tell Ourselves 00:16:40 Finding Someone Who Tells Hard Truths 00:18:20 Short-Term Comfort Costs
Listen now and discover the belief shifts that separate restaurant owners who thrive from those who just survive.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Restaurant sales crash every January... here’s how to stop the bleeding before it starts.
Welcome to the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast with your host, Andrew Scott.
Today, we're diving deep into how to plan for and survive the winter sales slump that hits many restaurants in January and February.
Listen now and build your winter-proof restaurant strategy before the slow season hits!
Tune in to discover:
✅How to compare January vs January (not December) for real performance insights
✅Why cutting marketing during slow months is the wrong move
✅The best types of promotions to run in cold weather months
✅Why planning winter marketing in November is crucial
✅How past financial patterns can predict future pain
✅Quick-win ideas to increase foot traffic and repeat visits
If your restaurant sales drop after Christmas, you’re not alone. This episode is packed with actionable strategies to help you.
Key moments:
00:01:25 Understanding your seasonal patterns 00:04:45 The January cash crunch 00:07:45 Emotional reactions vs. staying the course 00:09:25 Should you cut marketing? 00:11:45 Planning your marketing 00:15:05 The stubborn new location story 00:19:45 Why your reality can change 00:23:25 The power of value offers 00:26:45 Holiday promotions 00:31:25 The thousand golden BBs principle 00:33:45 Compare year over year
The restaurant cash crunch that hits in January can become a pattern you can predict, plan for, and beat.
Tune in to hear how.
-
✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Claim your FREE Restaurant Weekly Financial Tracker to uncover thousands in hidden profits and optimize your costs (in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee):
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How To Grow Restaurant Sales Without Discounting | With Kim Shapiro
09 Dec 2025
00:45:51
This episode will completely change how you think about restaurant growth, profitability, and freedom - straight from a multi-unit owner who scaled back and made more money.
Welcome to the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast.
In this episode, Andrew Scott sits down with restaurant powerhouse Kim Shapiro, uncovering exactly how she scaled, simplified, and systemized her multi-location restaurant business.
Kim shares her 40+ years of experience in the restaurant industry…
Including growing up in a family-run restaurant to managing 7 successful concepts and more.
She also reveals how she went from burnout and survival mode to building a profitable business that runs without her.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
✅ How to stop working in your restaurant and start working on it
✅ The exact moment Kim realized more sales don’t mean more profit
✅ How to hit a 55-60% prime cost (and what it means for your bottom line)
✅ The planning secret used by the world's top-performing restaurants
✅ How creative event marketing can explode your traffic
✅ The #1 mindset shift that will unlock time freedom and bigger profits
✅ The metrics you MUST track if you want to be profitable (hint: stop relying on your P&L)
If you're a restaurant owner struggling with profitability, stuck in the day-to-day grind, or unsure how to grow your sales without discounting - this episode is packed with real, actionable insights you can implement right now.
Key moments:
00:02:20 Growing up in the restaurant industry 00:05:40 Rent-to-sales ratio reality check 00:08:00 The "I can't" to "I don't know how yet" shift 00:12:40 Reactive vs proactive restaurant management 00:17:40 Planning three months ahead minimum 00:19:00 Creating viral experiences without discounts 00:22:20 Marketing is the tax for being unremarkable 00:27:00 Using vendors as intelligence sources 00:31:00 Time blocking for restaurant owners 00:39:40 The weekly tracker that saves months of guessing
Hit play now and learn the planning framework that took Kim from barely-surviving multi-unit owner to the profitable, freedom-filled restaurant life she has today.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
If you're planning to scale your restaurant business, this is the blueprint for buying existing restaurants the smart way - straight from a 20-year restaurant industry veteran.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott shares what every restaurant owner needs to know before purchasing an existing business or expanding to new locations.
From costly mistakes made on his first restaurant acquisition to insider tips on evaluating financials, negotiating leases, and spotting red flags...
This episode is packed with real-world advice to help you scale your restaurant empire (without going broke).
Tune in to hear about:
✅ How to assess if you’re actually ready to scale to a second location
✅ The exact financial documents you need before buying a restaurant
✅ What EBITDA multiple to use for restaurant valuation
✅ Negotiation tactics with sellers and landlords
✅ The pros and cons of buying vs. building from scratch
✅ Lease agreement tips that can save you thousands
Listen to this episode before you sign another lease or make an offer on that available restaurant.
Key Moments:
00:01:40 Are You Really Ready for Location Two? 00:03:20 Avoid Scaling to Bankruptcy 00:06:00 Purchasing an Existing Business 00:09:00 Equipment Assessment 00:12:00 Negotiating the Best Deal 00:18:00 Location Selection 00:22:20 Competition Research 00:25:00 Contractors & Timelines
Buying a restaurant can grow your empire -or bankrupt it.
The strategies Andrew shares could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of regret.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How To Get Restaurant Managers To Think Like Restaurant Owners
24 Nov 2025
00:26:02
Tired of restaurant managers who don’t take initiative, don’t know their numbers, and always need hand-holding?
Welcome back to the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast with your host Andrew Scott, a multi-unit restaurant owner with nearly 20 years of experience helping restaurant leaders grow sales, improve profits, and reclaim their time.
In this episode, Andrew is tackling one of the biggest challenges in hospitality:
"How do I get my restaurant managers to take ownership and accountability?"
If you're constantly pulling your managers across the finish line instead of coaching them to lead, this episode is for you.
Tune in to hear about:
✅ Why most accountability issues are rooted in selection or training
✅ How to shift from spoonfeeding managers to developing true leadership
✅ The power of scoreboards and measurable KPIs in driving performance
✅ How to structure weekly one-on-ones so managers come prepared
✅ The reporting secret that’s key to winning the week, month, and quarter
✅ How to identify if a manager has real initiative (or if they’re just holding a title)
This episode is packed with real-world examples, coaching approaches, and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to improve your restaurant management.
Key moments:
00:01:11 The Spoonfeeding Problem 00:02:48 Setting Clear Expectations 00:06:09 Making Unprepared Painful 00:12:08 The Scoreboard Principle 00:16:30 Leading vs Pulling 00:20:48 Training or Selection 00:23:46 The Two-Factor Test
Stop doing everything yourself.
Click play and learn how to build a team that actually takes ownership.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How Smart Restaurant Owners Use Data to Explode Profits | With Russ Hawkins
17 Nov 2025
00:48:08
Data is the secret weapon of today’s most profitable restaurants.
Join Andrew Scott and Russ Hawkins as they break down how to use numbers and data to scale your restaurant, cut costs, and increase your revenue.
If you're a restaurant owner, multi-unit operator, or manager looking to improve your profits, reduce staff turnover, or optimize operations, this episode is packed with actionable insights you can use today.
Tune in to discover
✅ How to use POS data to drive smarter decisions
✅ Why most restaurant owners are losing money… without realizing it
✅ Hidden margin leaks every operator should be tracking immediately
✅ The surprising way you can use data to reduce employee churn
✅ Real-world strategies to upsell and boost average check size
✅ Simple data points that reveal massive profit potential
By the end of this episode, you’ll know all the hidden profit leaks costing you thousands - that simple data tracking reveals instantly.
Ready to stop flying blind and start making data-driven decisions that actually grow your bottom line?
Listen now to discover the systems that transform overwhelmed operators into profitable business owners who work less and earn more.
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✅About Russ Hawkins✅
Russ Hawkins has spent over 35 years in the technology industry and is the president and CEO of the leading data technology and SASS Analytics company, Agilence.
Agilence, helps retailers, grocers, and restaurants improve their operational effectiveness and uncover preventable losses using the data already in their hands.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
If you’re a restaurant owner asking yourself, “Should I sell or fix my restaurant?” - then you need to know that getting this right could mean the difference between a six-figure loss or a thriving comeback.
In this episode, Andrew Scott is breaking down the real-world process of selling a restaurant - including the hidden costs, timelines, legal headaches, buyer red flags, and common myths that most operators don’t see coming.
You’ll hear about things like:
✅How to properly value your restaurant using EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization)
✅The truth about restaurant assets vs. actual profit
✅Why most restaurant sales fall apart
✅Common reasons owners want to sell… and why most are for the wrong reasons
✅The massive difference between a profitable business vs. a sellable business
✅When fixing your restaurant is often faster, cheaper, and more profitable than selling
Before you list your business or talk to a broker, listen to this episode!
Key moments:
00:01:40 Sell or Fix a Restaurant 00:03:20 How Business Valuations Work 00:06:00 Why Your Business Worth Less Than You Think 00:12:00 Hidden Costs Of Selling 00:20:20 Why Banks Won't Finance Your Sale 00:25:00 Supply and Demand 00:28:00 The “Fix It” Path 00:31:20 Your Business Beliefs 00:37:40 Paying the Ignorance Tax 00:43:20 Data Driven Decisions
Listen now to understand the real costs of selling versus fixing, and make the choice that protects your investment.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The Hardest Lessons From 20 Years of Owning Restaurants Part 1
08 Jun 2026
00:59:28
Andrew Scott (founder of Owner Shift) didn't plan to buy a restaurant at 20.
He just said yes when the owner offered it to him, and his dad co-signed a loan that put the family house on the line.
What followed was seven years of 80-hour weeks, no days off, zero profit, and a 100-pound weight gain.
In Part 1 of this raw series, Andrew sits down with his new Director of Marketing Joe DiRoma to crack open the early years of his restaurant journey.
From getting fired by his own great-aunt at a fried chicken shop to losing every friend he had, this is the side of restaurant ownership nobody likes to share.
You'll hear the birthday party story he's never told anyone, the Christmas party that taught him not to trust people, and the assistant manager whose resignation email broke him.
Andrew also shares the moment everything shifted.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
✅The hidden personal cost of restaurant ownership and burnout ✅How doing everything yourself can keep your restaurant stuck ✅Why restaurant owners struggle to trust employees and delegate ✅The difference between single-unit leadership and multi-unit leadership ✅How limiting beliefs can cap your restaurant’s profitability ✅Why systems, SOPs, staffing, and leadership are essential for scaling ✅How to avoid the painful mistakes many restaurant owners learn too late ✅What it really takes to build a restaurant business that works without you being there every hour
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:01:00 Meet Joe DiRoma 00:04:33 Fired from fast food 00:18:43 Radio days and writing 00:21:40 Moving to Ottawa 00:24:30 Buying at twenty 00:27:40 A normal Tuesday 00:33:50 The birthday party 00:49:00 Losing trust completely 00:53:20 The resignation moment 00:56:15 Finding good people
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How Much Should I Pay Myself As A Restaurant Owner? (Real Numbers & Strategies)
03 Nov 2025
00:34:54
If you're running a restaurant and not paying yourself properly, you're not running a business… you're running a liability.
Tune in today and see how to build a profitable restaurant that pays you like a real CEO.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, industry veterans Andrew Scott and Nathan Voulgaris break down strategies for setting your owner pay.
You also get a deeper understanding of profit vs cash flow and making sure you don’t sacrifice your personal income for your business's survival.
Tune in to discover:
✅How to calculate a sustainable restaurant owner's salary
✅Why not paying yourself is a red flag, not a sacrifice
✅Creating financial buffers and business savings
✅How to spot financial blind spots in your operation
✅What restaurant owners get wrong about slow seasons
✅Why "pay yourself first" is bad advice (in some cases at least)
✅ Practical advice on restaurant accounting, break-even analysis, and salary planning
Over the years, we’ve seen it all.
From owners who don’t pay themselves at all, to those who take too much and cripple their restaurant’s finances.
This episode will help you avoid these common and costly mistakes in your restaurant business.
Key moments:
00:01:20 Owner Pay Fundamentals 00:03:00 Common Compensation Mistakes 00:05:40 Profit vs Cash Flow 00:09:20 Managing Business Reserves 00:14:20 Understanding Financial Statements 00:19:40 Setting Profit Targets 00:23:40 Strategic Cash Management 00:27:40 Seasonal Profit Planning 00:31:40 Personal Finance Integration
If you're serious about building a profitable restaurant that pays you what you're worth - this episode is for you.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How A BBQ Restaurant Added $150,000 In Net Profit In Only 6 Months | With Donnie Saviak
27 Oct 2025
00:57:02
This restaurant owner turned a $110,000 loss into a thriving business, while taking back his time, team, and mental health.
Welcome back to the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast with host Andrew Scott - a restaurant owner turned restaurant growth coach helping operators increase profits, reduce stress, and reclaim their freedom.
Today, Andrew is talking with Donnie Saviak, a Calgary restaurant owner who went from losing $110,000 to earning $40,000 in profit in just a few months.
Donnie opens up about the real struggles behind restaurant ownership - including his crushing debt and burnout, to rebuilding his business and his mindset.
Tune in to discover:
✅How one restaurant owner turned a struggling business into a profitable restaurant
✅The mental health challenges of entrepreneurship and how to overcome them
✅Why restaurant profit margins don’t have to be 4-6%... and how to INCREASE margins
✅The truth about scaling from 1 to multiple locations
✅How better systems, hiring, and pricing can completely transform your restaurant
✅The dark side of restaurant ownership that nobody talks about
✅How to stop working 100‑hour weeks and finally get your life back
In this episode, you’ll also learn how to create processes, lead your team, raise prices confidently, and fix your margins so your restaurant works for you.
Key moments:
00:01:40 Mental Health Challenges 00:06:20 Catering to Smokehouse 00:09:00 Learning from The Wrong Mentors 00:14:40 The Reality Of Restaurant Profitability 00:21:40 The Breaking Point 00:29:20 Tracking and Metrics 00:36:00 Understanding True Costs 00:43:20 Team Building Strategy 00:50:20 Work-Life Transformation
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
If you’ve ever felt frustrated with restaurant employees, blamed the economy, or wondered why your restaurant's profitability isn’t improving - this episode will challenge you to look in the mirror.
Because it turns out, there’s a high chance you are the problem in your business.
But that's actually the best news you could receive.
Join Andrew Scott (Founder of Owner Shift) as he shares how restaurant systems, processes, and leadership skills directly impact restaurant growth.
Tune in to learn:
✅ Why every restaurant owner is both the problem and the solution in their business
✅ How to identify whether an issue is a people problem or a process problem
✅ Practical ways to improve restaurant training systems and accountability
✅ How to take full leadership responsibility and stop blaming external factors
✅ The mindset shifts that separate struggling operators from thriving multi-unit owners
Through real examples, like the "streaky mirror incident" that plagued multiple locations, you'll discover how seemingly small changes in your approach can eliminate problems you've blamed on everything and anything.
Key Moments:
00:01:40 The Core Question 00:04:40 Business Growth Equation 00:06:00 Everything Falls On Leadership 00:08:00 System vs People Problems 00:11:20 Anonymous Team Surveys 00:13:40 Asking Different Questions 00:15:00 Inaction Is Action 00:18:20 The Mirror Story 00:21:00 Common Sense Isn't Common 00:24:20 Changing The Inputs
It doesn’t matter if you're running one location or multiple units - this episode will help you reflect on your role, upgrade your skills, and ultimately unlock new levels of restaurant growth and profitability.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
5 Money Models to Boost Restaurant Profits in 7 Days
13 Oct 2025
00:44:49
Struggling with slim profit margins in your restaurant?
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott (founder of Owner Shift) shares 5 proven restaurant growth strategies you can use to boost profits and cash flow - in just 7 days.
You’ll walk away with actionable insights you can implement immediately.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
✅ How to increase restaurant profits fast with smart menu pricing
✅ Simple ways to reduce food cost without lowering quality
✅ Why portion control can make or break your margins
✅ Proven strategies for restaurant labor cost control and scheduling
✅ Practical upselling methods to increase average check size and boost sales
Key moments:
00:01:35 Pricing Strategy 00:03:55 Market Analysis 00:06:55 Product Management 00:09:55 Portioning Systems 00:13:55 Scheduling Optimization 00:17:55 Labor Productivity 00:20:55 Inventory Control 00:29:55 Upselling Techniques 00:35:35 Dessert Psychology 00:40:15 Server Metrics
Ready to stop working harder for less money?
This episode hands you the exact playbook to increase profits THIS WEEK - through simple adjustments to pricing, portioning, scheduling, inventory, and upselling systems.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
If you’re a restaurant owner who’s always covering shifts, stuck in 80-hour weeks, and constantly putting out fires - you need to know that restaurant owner burnout is real.
And it’s costing you your freedom, your profits, and your life.
Multi-unit restaurant owner and founder of Ownershift, Andrew Scott, and Client Success Director, Dave Doyle, break down why so many independent restaurant owners are burned out, stuck in the weeds, and unable to grow.
Tune in to discover:
✅Why restaurant owner burnout is so common (and totally avoidable)
✅How to identify the real root problems hiding behind daily chaos
✅The one simple tracking exercise that will expose every operational weakness
✅The 7-word phrase that shifts your team from dependent to empowered
✅How to stop acting like an overpaid line cook and start leading like a CEO
✅The reason your restaurant feels stuck… and how to systemize your way out
Whether you're running one location or several, this is your blueprint to stop firefighting and start scaling.
Key moments:
00:01:50 Marketing Won't Fix Time Problems 00:04:10 The Second Half Success 00:05:50 80 Hours Isn’t Impressive 00:08:50 Track Every Interruption 00:11:50 People Problems 00:15:10 Finding Real Solutions 00:17:50 Drama Vs Progress 00:21:50 Systems Beat Intentions 00:24:50 Deadlines 00:28:50 Tracking For Profit 00:36:30 Say These Seven Magic Words 00:39:50 You Get What You Tolerate
This is for independent restaurant owners ready to reclaim their time, increase profitability, and create a business that thrives without being chained to it 24/7.
-
*The book mentioned in this episode* “The One Thing” by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Smarter Kitchen = Bigger Profits: Restaurant Kitchen Systems That Work
29 Sep 2025
00:34:13
Your kitchen could be costing you thousands in hidden labor and wasted time.
In this episode of The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, your host, Andrew Scott, sits down with kitchen expert Bruce Nollert.
Together, they share how optimizing your kitchen layout, systems, and equipment can massively increase your restaurant’s efficiency, profitability, and team performance.
Whether you’re a restaurant owner, multi-unit operator, or kitchen manager, this episode is packed with real-life restaurant strategies that will help you:
Tune in to discover:
✅The #1 kitchen management question to ask your team daily
✅Why overstaffed kitchens often get less done (and how to fix it)
✅Real ROI examples of smart equipment purchases
✅How poor kitchen design kills table turns in full-service restaurants
✅The role of menu design in efficiency and profitability
✅Why simplifying your menu can be your biggest win to date
Key Moments:
00:01:45 Bruce's Mafia Pizza Beginning 00:07:05 Building New Restaurant Essentials 00:12:45 Labor Percentage Paradox 00:14:45 Kitchen Layout Design Strategy 00:19:25 Equipment Investment ROI 00:25:45 Portioning Everything First 00:28:45 Time Study Analysis 00:31:45 Menu Minimalism
You're probably bleeding money in your kitchen - this episode will help you fix your layout, streamline operations, and boost profits… starting today.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
High stress. Long hours. Angry outbursts. If your restaurant is running you into the ground, it’s time to get honest about emotional control - and how it could be killing your business
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, host Andrew Scott - Founder of Owner Shift, 20-year restaurant veteran, and multi-location owner - gets real about the anger, frustration, and emotional pressure that restaurant owners face every day.
Joined by Dave Doyle, Director of Client Success at Owner Shift, Andrew shares shocking (and hilarious) true stories from his early years as a struggling owner.
More importantly, he breaks down the anger management techniques and leadership tools that helped him transform from a reactive, overwhelmed operator into a calm, strategic restaurant leader.
Here’s what you’ll learn on this episode:
✅How to manage anger and stress as a restaurant owner so you don’t damage your business
✅The #1 mindset shift that transformed a toxic work culture into a high-performing team
✅Why staff turnover is often a leadership problem (and how to fix it)
✅Real-world examples of poor leadership reactions - along with what to do instead
✅How to recognize early warning signs of burnout and avoid emotional outbursts
Key Moments:
00:01:00 Restaurant Owner Anger Crisis 00:02:40 Living in Overdraft Hell 00:05:20 The $250 Scam Meltdown 00:09:00 Facebook Stool Throwing Incident 00:14:00 Learning to Take Breath 00:17:00 The Chef Base Disaster 00:22:00 Can't Change Feelings Can Change Actions 00:25:00 Recognizing Physical Warning Signs 00:28:20 The 24 Hour Rule Concept 00:34:00 Customer Complaint Responses 00:37:00 Getting Three Sides
Whether you're dealing with burnt inventory, staff mistakes, or the crushing stress of negative cash flow…
This episode gives you the tools to protect your business from your own worst enemy - your uncontrolled emotional reactions.
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✅About Us✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How This Bakery Owner Escaped 80-Hour Weeks and Built a Profitable Business
15 Sep 2025
00:39:44
From an exhausted bakery owner working nonstop to selling her bakery at a profit - Camile Sue’s story is proof that you can grow a bakery, restaurant, or any food service business AND get your life back.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott sits down with Camile Sue - a bakery owner who went from overwhelmed to building systems, doubling sales, selling her bakery at a profit, and finally achieving freedom.
Camile shares her journey of going from sleeping in her car after long bakery shifts to running a profitable business that gave her back her time.
Tune in to discover:
✅Restaurant success tips: How Camile doubled sales from $35K to $75K/month.
✅How to run a bakery profitably without working 80+ hours a week
✅Why most owners struggle with profit… and how to fix it.
✅Food service systems and operations that free up your time
✅How to set bigger goals, avoid burnout, and build a business that works for you.
Key moments:
00:01:00 Bakery Prison Story 00:08:00 Three Year Weekend Goal 00:12:00 Systems Not In Head 00:16:40 Hero Complex Problem 00:19:40 Revenue Stream Strategy 00:22:00 Marketing Planning Ahead 00:26:00 Team Transformation 00:28:40 Partnership Agreement Warning 00:36:00 Buyout Clause Necessity
Whether you’re a bakery owner, single-location restaurant owner, or multi-unit restaurant owner, this episode will show you practical steps to:
Create business systems that run without you
Increase sales with new revenue streams
Delegate tasks to your team so you can take time off
Build a business that is both profitable and enjoyable
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How to Fix Restaurant Management Problems Using DISC (Personality Testing)
08 Sep 2025
00:41:19
When you've been running restaurants for almost 20 years like I have, you start noticing patterns.
Eespecially when it comes to why certain restaurant managers thrive while others quietly (or loudly) drive top talent out the door.
And it rarely has anything to do with technical skill.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, we dive deep into the DISC personality assessment system and how it directly impacts your restaurant management, team dynamics, and leadership success.
You’ll discover how understanding each manager’s DISC profile can help you:
✅Build a more balanced and effective restaurant leadership team
✅Predict and prevent common restaurant staffing and turnover issues
✅Improve communication and accountability across your locations
✅Delegate smarter based on personality style (not just job title)
✅Reduce conflict and increase alignment using tailored DISC communication strategies
We break down real-life restaurant operations scenarios, from the disorganized closing manager who left the phone in the freezer, to the manager who avoided tough conversations.
Whether you're dealing with a D-style general manager who barks orders and drives turnover, or an I-style front-of-house leader who’s loved but never holds people accountable - you'll see yourself and your team in these stories.
This episode is essential listening for restaurant owners, general managers, and multi-unit operators who want to scale without losing control of culture or team performance.
We also cover how to use DISC to train restaurant managers, design better restaurant team building strategies, and make smarter hires by intentionally choosing complementary personality types.
Key Points
00:00:50 An Intro To personality types 00:03:50 D personality 00:06:50 I personality 00:09:10 S personality 00:12:30 C personality 00:15:10 Action vs analysis personalities 00:18:10 Delegation problems by type 00:19:50 D's issues 00:22:10 I's fear 00:23:30 S’s avoidance 00:24:50 C’s perfectionism 00:25:50 D manager meltdown story 00:31:50 Self-awareness through DISC 00:34:50 Building balanced restaurant teams
Stop wondering why your management team isn’t aligned.
Start using DISC to transform how you lead, delegate, and hold your people accountable...
And finally create a team that can grow your restaurant without you constantly stepping in.
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✅About Us✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Why Your Successful Restaurant Isn’t A Good Enough Business (yet)
01 Sep 2025
00:38:26
When restaurant owners are struggling, they’re often quick to blame external factors like the economy, lazy employees, or changing customer habits.
But here’s the truth - if other restaurants are thriving under the same conditions, the problem isn’t the economy…
It’s your business.
In this episode of The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, we deliver a reality check for independent and multi-location restaurant owners who are working 80-hour weeks - yet still not seeing results.
We break down the myth that effort equals success and show you how focusing on the wrong things can quietly kill your business. You’ll also learn the hidden profit leaks that bleed your margins daily.
Tune in to discover:
✅How to identify why your restaurant's profitability is lagging
✅Simple, zero-cost upselling strategies that can boost sales by 10-20%
✅How to fix a broken hiring process and retain staff beyond 90 days
✅The value of after-action employee reviews - and how to do them
✅Why a victor mindset (not more hours) is key to long-term restaurant success
✅How to measure performance and build real systems in your restaurant business
Whether you’re running a single-location restaurant or trying to grow multiple units, this episode reveals the small issues that compound over time and destroy profits.
Key Points
00:01:00 Your Business Isn't That Good 00:03:00 Victim vs Victor Mentality 00:06:00 Results vs Effort 00:08:40 Death by a Thousand Cuts 00:12:40 The Impact Of Upselling 00:18:00 Zero-Cost Revenue Growth 00:22:00 Hiring Metrics 00:27:00 After-Action Employee Reviews 00:30:20 Profit Knowledge Gap 00:34:00 Root Cause Analysis
If you're ready to improve your restaurant team culture, increase profits, and stop letting your business run you - this episode will show you how to grow a restaurant with clarity, strategy, and systems.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
What You Need To Know About Franchising And Franchises
03 Jun 2026
00:35:07
Franchising your restaurant can be a powerful way to grow a restaurant brand, create recurring revenue, and expand faster - without funding every new location yourself.
But if your restaurant isn’t already profitable, systemized, and able to run without you, franchising can create bigger problems than the ones you are trying to solve.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott and Dave Doyle share the real pros, cons, risks, and hidden challenges of restaurant franchising.
If you are a restaurant owner considering franchising your concept, opening more locations, or buying into a restaurant franchise - this conversation will help you understand what actually needs to be in place before you scale.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
✅What prospective franchisees should look for before buying into a restaurant franchise ✅Why franchising is not the shortcut many restaurant owners think it is ✅The biggest mistake owners make before franchising a restaurant concept ✅What must come before any meaningful restaurant growth ✅The difference between scaling a restaurant and building a franchise company ✅Why your flagship location needs to be profitable and repeatable
If you are asking yourself questions like “Should I franchise my restaurant?”, “How do I scale my restaurant business?”, or “Is my restaurant ready to franchise?”, this episode is for you.
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:01:00 Franchise Dream vs Reality 00:02:41 The Turnkey Promise 00:06:03 Wrong Reasons To Franchise 00:09:17 Build Flagship First 00:12:20 My Fourth Location Disaster 00:14:41 Shiny Object Trap 00:17:20 Franchisees Go Rogue 00:20:50 The COVID Collapse Story 00:23:20 Gross Sales vs Profit 00:28:00 Death By A Thousand Cuts 00:30:26 The Legal Letter Warning 00:33:34 How To Be A Good Franchisor
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✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅
Claim your FREE Restaurant Weekly Financial Tracker to uncover thousands in hidden profits and optimize your costs (in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee):
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Think hiring a restaurant manager will free up your time and boost profits?
Think again.
Many restaurant owners watch sales tank, staff turnover explode, and food costs spiral out of control - often within months - because they made one fatal management mistake.
In this episode of Restaurant Growth Accelerator, I share my personal story of opening a second location, hiring a manager, and watching my once-successful business collapse.
You’ll hear exactly how promoting the wrong person - without proper restaurant management training - led to burnout, lost staff, and more.
Tune in to discover:
✅The critical difference between worker skills vs. management skills most owners overlook
✅Why promoting your best worker can create your worst manager
✅How to hire restaurant managers who WILL do the job (not just those who CAN do it)
✅A proven 6 to 8-month restaurant manager training program that builds real leadership skills
✅The anonymous employee survey system that reveals hidden management problems before they explode
You’ll learn how to set management expectations, run performance evaluations, and build a restaurant management system that works in any multi-location or independent restaurant.
Key Points
00:00:20 Manager Disaster Story 00:01:40 Second Location Opening Chaos 00:04:00 Manager Demands Raise 00:07:40 Worker Skills vs Manager Skills 00:11:00 Burger Production Math Example 00:14:20 Setting Management Expectations 00:18:40 Anonymous Employee Surveys 00:23:40 Hiring "Will Do" vs "Can Do" 00:31:00 Systemizing Soft Skills Training
Whether you’re hiring your first manager or trying to fix a failing one, this episode gives you restaurant leadership skills you need to prevent burnout, reduce staff turnover, and create a business that runs without you.
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✅About Us✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Why Restaurant Owners Stay Broke - And How to Fix It for Good
18 Aug 2025
00:41:06
If your restaurant’s bank account is in the red while your staff just cashed their paychecks, you’re not alone… and it can be fixed.
In this episode, you’ll learn why so many restaurant owners end up the lowest-paid person in their own business. And more importantly, exactly how to fix it without taking on another soul-crushing merchant cash advance.
We bust the dangerous myth that simply boosting sales will solve your problems - and show why reducing your restaurant prime cost by just 10% can put far more money in your pocket than increasing sales by the same amount.
Tune in to discover:
✅The exact restaurant break-even analysis Andrew used to save his business when he couldn’t pay rent
✅Unique labor cost control strategies that prevent scheduling mistakes and increase restaurant profitability
✅The simple portion control test that exposed a cook using twice the protein everyone else did
✅The “perfect salad” visual control trick to keep your team consistent without slowing service.
✅How to run a restaurant expense audit that asks, “Is this making me money?” - and cuts the waste that’s bleeding your cash flow.
Key Points
00:00:00 Opening Reality Check 00:02:20 Business vs Charity 00:03:40 Breaking Even Analysis 00:07:20 Labor Productivity Planning 00:10:00 Prime Cost Calculations 00:14:40 Cashflow vs Profit 00:17:00 Merchant Cash Advances 00:21:00 Menu Pricing Strategy 00:25:00 Tracking What Matters 00:27:40 Portion Control Testing 00:31:20 Visual Control Methods 00:35:00 Expense Audit Process
Stop being the last person to get paid in your own restaurant. Apply these proven restaurant cost control strategies and finally flip the script on who’s really making money in your business.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How to Make Progress When You’re Putting Out Fires All Day
11 Aug 2025
00:30:14
Every restaurant owner knows that sinking feeling when their phone explodes with problems before they’ve even had their morning coffee...
But what if those daily fires are actually a roadmap to the real issues killing your restaurant operations?
In this episode, you’ll uncover a powerful, systematic framework to identify the root causes of your restaurant’s challenges - so you can solve the problems permanently.
Instead of endlessly managing symptoms - like staff calling out, customer complaints, or product quality issues - you’ll learn how to focus on restaurant leadership strategies that fix the core problem, making multiple headaches vanish at once.
We’ll break down why so many restaurant staffing issues are actually training failures in disguise, and how dialing in your processes will transform your bottom line.
This episode also tackles delegation for restaurant owners who feel like they’re answering every silly question, every single shift.
We share the “seven magic words” that train your team to think independently and build stronger problem-solving skills - a crucial move for multi-unit restaurant owners who want more free time.
Key moments:
00:02:20 The Walk-In Whiteboard Strategy 00:04:00 Finding Problem Commonalities 00:08:00 The Root Cause Question 00:09:40 Symptoms vs Problems 00:13:00 The Engagement Mind Trick 00:17:20 Delegation Without Leadership Teams 00:21:00 The Seven-Word Solution 00:26:40 Implementation Over Planning
If you’re ready to stop feeling like a part-time firefighter and finally build a restaurant that runs itself, this episode delivers the restaurant growth framework used by top operators to create freedom and profitability.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Is your restaurant always short-staffed? Are you constantly stuck covering shifts? And does it feel like it’s impossible to hire reliable restaurant employees?
Today we’re sharing restaurant hiring strategies that actually work - so you can break the cycle of constant turnover.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, you’ll learn how to build a restaurant hiring funnel, master restaurant recruiting tips, and transform your staffing process so you never feel short-staffed again.
If running your restaurant feels like an endless nightmare - constant no-shows, people quitting after two weeks, scrambling to fill shifts - it’s time for a better approach.
The real problem isn’t “nobody wants to work anymore” - it’s that you don’t know how to find, hire, and retain A players for restaurants who will stay long-term.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
✅ Why most restaurant owners struggle to hire the right restaurant staff
✅ How to write a restaurant job ad that attracts top talent
✅ Why your Indeed campaigns might fail -and how to fix them
✅ How to interview restaurant employees effectively (beyond just gut feelings)
✅ Tips to reduce restaurant turnover and retain great employees
Key Points
00:01:00 Short-staffing nightmare 00:03:20 Always be recruiting 00:06:40 Indeed isn't broken 00:08:40 Job ad transformation 00:12:00 Wage market reality 00:16:00 Interviewing misconceptions 00:19:00 Bias in hiring 00:22:00 Open-ended questions 00:27:20 Hiring playbook system 00:32:00 Employee heat maps 00:36:00 Learning from departures
Ready to stop being the one who always has to cover shifts? Listen now to transform your hiring process and build a team that actually stays.
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✅Get Your Free Copy Of The Restaurant Hiring Playbook Today!✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
The One System That Will Determine Your Restaurant's Next 5 Years
28 Jul 2025
00:42:50
Most restaurant owners buy themselves an 80-hour-a-week job earning $50,000 per year, thinking they own a real business - but in truth, they’ve just created another stressful job.
I was recently a guest on The Restaurant Technology Podcast (see links below), hosted by Jeremy Julian.
During the episode, I shared my journey and biggest tips for restaurant owners who want to be more profitable while working fewer hours.
You’ll discover my ‘Restaurant Freedom Formula’ - a proven three-step system that helps restaurant owners achieve 15–20% profit margins while working normal hours.
In this episode, you’ll learn exactly how to break free from survival mode and transform your restaurant operations:
✅ Cut prime costs to 55% (most restaurant owners are stuck at 70–80%)
✅ Reinvest those savings into smart restaurant marketing strategies
✅ Build the systems and team that let you step back from daily operations
We also dive into why restaurant owners get trapped in survival mode twice a year, the specific interview questions that reliably predict successful restaurant employees...
And how to plan for your restaurant’s seasonal labor shifts to avoid costly hiring disasters.
Whether you’re running a single unit or expanding to multi-unit restaurant ownership, these frameworks can help you stop working in your restaurant and finally start working on it.
Key Moments:
00:01:20 First Restaurant Reality Check 00:03:20 Dad’s House on the Line 00:11:00 Prime Cost Fundamentals 00:16:40 Three-Step Freedom Formula 00:22:20 Reference Checks 00:24:00 Past Behavior Interview Questions 00:35:00 Business Seasons 00:38:20 Seasonal Hiring Secret
If you’re tired of being the highest-paid employee in your own business - and ready to scale your restaurant profitably - this episode is for you.
Listen now and discover the exact frameworks to transform from a burned-out operator into a true restaurant entrepreneur.
-
Connect with Jeremy Julian of The Restaurant Technology Guys:
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
If Your Restaurant’s Managers Are Underperforming, Listen To This
21 Jul 2025
00:39:45
One of the biggest mistakes restaurant owners make is assuming that hiring an "experienced" manager will magically fix their problems.
Without a solid restaurant manager training system, clear expectations, and accountability, even experienced managers fail.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott and Nathan Voulgaris break down the real reasons why so many restaurant managers underperform - and more importantly, how you as a restaurant owner, can fix it.
You'll learn how a lack of structured management training, poor hiring practices, and missing systems lead to costly mistakes.
Discover how to implement proven restaurant management systems that help you build strong leadership, increase restaurant profitability, and create a scalable business that doesn’t require you to micromanage every decision.
Key Takeaways You’ll Learn:
Why most restaurant leadership fails from day one
How to hire managers who will actually do the job
How to create a restaurant management training program that works
Why you must set clear accountability standards
The critical difference between coaching and hand-holding your team
The ripped bonus check story that completely reshaped leadership philosophy
Why restaurant manager initiative can’t be trained… but must be identified
Key Moments:
00:02:40 Three root causes of poor management 00:05:00 Why common sense no longer exists 00:07:00 Setting clear expectations 00:15:20 Hiring the right management personality 00:19:40 Can do versus will do 00:24:20 Coaching through management roadblocks 00:30:00 The ripped bonus check lesson 00:33:20 Why initiative cannot be trained 00:35:40 The broken debit machine initiative story
If you’re ready to stop doing your managers' jobs for them, this episode gives you the exact systems, coaching frameworks, and hiring strategies you need to finally build a self-sufficient management team - while you focus on growing your restaurant business.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How To Deal With Bad Reviews (A Guide For Restaurant Owners)
14 Jul 2025
00:37:01
Customer complaints and bad reviews in your restaurant can be massive opportunities to increase profits, boost customer retention, and dominate your local search results.
In this episode of The Restaurant Growth Accelerator, we unpack the restaurant reputation management strategies that turn negative customer reviews into lifelong loyalty and recurring revenue.
Discover the exact psychology behind why guests complain (spoiler: it’s not about free stuff) and learn our three-step review response system that turns 1-star reviews into 5-star advocates.
Beyond damage control, we break down the review generation tactics that fuel consistent five-star feedback (on autopilot).
From QR code restaurant review prompts to smart server incentive programs that generate 25+ new Google reviews per week, you’ll get field-tested tools to boost restaurant reviews while building customer trust.
You’ll also learn:
👉The “Free Cookie Compliance Trick” that gets your team asking for reviews (without constant reminders)
👉How to measure and increase lifetime customer value in restaurants
👉Why a smart, timely reply to a bad review can be your best restaurant marketing strategy
Key Points
00:06:00 - Goodwill Bank Theory 00:11:00 - Complaint Transformation 00:17:20 - Lifetime Customer Value 00:24:00 - Getting Positive Reviews 00:27:40 - Compliance Tactics 00:31:20 - Review Marketing
Stop letting bad reviews kill your business - turn them into your most powerful marketing tool.
Listen now to master the art of handling customer complaints in restaurants and unlock the full power of review-based marketing.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Multi-Unit Restaurants: How To Go From 2 to 5 Locations
07 Jul 2025
00:37:30
Struggling to scale your restaurant from one to three or more locations?
Discover the exact systems, structure, and mindset shifts that every successful multi-unit restaurant owner must master.
With these new insights, you’ll understand how to build a sustainable, profitable restaurant operation with proper restaurant operations systems, a defined leadership structure, and a CEO-level strategy.
In this episode, Andrew Scott (20-year restaurant owner) and Nathan (regional manager overseeing 60+ million in revenue) share the structural changes that separate thriving multi-unit restaurant management operations from those that collapse under their own weight.
They expose why the skills that made you successful with one location will actually sabotage your growth - along with the exact management systems, compensation structures, and depth-building strategies that create scalable restaurant empires.
You'll learn how to shift from being an operator to becoming a restaurant CEO, develop regional leadership roles, and implement replicable systems that drive consistent results.
Whether you're in fast casual or full-service, this is your roadmap to scaling a restaurant business effectively.
Key Points
00:01:00 The shocking difference between single and multi-unit ownership 00:03:30 From racehorse to horse trainer mindset 00:05:00 Corporate knowledge and avoiding single points of failure 00:08:00 Essential executive roles and structure 00:13:00 Building job descriptions from daily task lists 00:15:40 Weekly regional manager routine breakdown 00:21:00 The trust but verify management system 00:26:00 Compensation structures that retain top talent 00:31:30 The three pillars of sustainable growth
Ready to build a restaurant organization that grows stronger with each new location instead of spreading you thinner?
Hit play and learn the blueprint for restaurant expansion strategy, team development, and multi-location restaurant success.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Turn New Hires Into Great Hires With THESE Training Tips (For Restaurant Owners)
30 Jun 2025
00:47:29
Many restaurant owners struggling with staff turnover, poor restaurant staff training, and chaotic onboarding are watching $1000s walk out their back door - disguised as "employees who couldn't cut it".
When the truth is: the owners were setting them up to fail from their very first shift.
In this episode of The Restaurant Growth Accelerator - you’ll discover how to train restaurant employees and improve your restaurant onboarding process.
Your hosts Andrew Scott and Dave Doyle, multi-unit restaurant owners with over 40 years combined experience, reveal the truth about why approaches like "throw them in the fire" is actually sabotaging your business.
They share real stories of employees walking out mid-shift, never to return, and explain how proper restaurant training systems can transform your team's performance while dramatically reducing employee turnover in restaurants.
The episode dives deep into creating systematic training processes in restaurants, including the controversial shift evaluation method that helps you identify whether a new hire will succeed.
From onboarding best practices to building a restaurant training checklist that scales across multiple units, this episode is packed with actionable insights for restaurant owners ready to scale and succeed.
Key Points
00:00:00 Friday lunch rush training disasters 00:03:50 The two-way evaluation of orientation 00:11:10 Creating systematic training processes 00:17:00 Training the trainers properly 00:24:20 Show, tell why, and follow up 00:29:00 The forgetting curve phenomenon 00:31:20 Five-minute debrief conversations 00:34:40 Measuring character over proficiency
Click play and discover how to reduce restaurant labor costs, improve retention, and finally train restaurant employees the right way.
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✅About Us✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Most restaurant owners are unknowingly overpaying for five expense categories that can drain thousands from their bottom line each month.
From hidden distributor markup schemes to the productivity-killing effects of overstaffing, these profit leaks are quietly sabotaging your financial success.
The good news is, each one can be plugged quickly with the right knowledge and systems - especially when you know how to lower restaurant expenses without affecting quality.
In this episode, Nathan Voulgaris shares battle-tested restaurant cost-cutting strategies from managing 700+ employees across seven locations, generating $90 million annually.
You'll discover:
✅How to reduce food cost in your restaurant by 20-40% by switching to branded equivalents and negotiating better prime vendor agreements
✅The cash flow killer hiding in your restaurant inventory… and how to fix it with smarter restaurant inventory management
✅Why adding extra staff can reduce total productivity and increase labor costs far beyond what most operators realize
✅The TRUE cost of employee turnover, and how better onboarding and training can save you thousands
✅A simple restaurant expense audit strategy using just your bank statement that can immediately free up hundreds each month
✅Plus, we reveal the sales per labor hour benchmark you should be hitting - and how to schedule your team for both efficiency and performance.
Ready to finally take control of your restaurant profitability and stop bleeding money from the inside out?
Listen now to uncover the five expense categories secretly draining your margins - and the exact systems to fix them fast.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Why One Franchisee Made 20% Profit and Another Lost Money
25 May 2026
00:13:05
Why do two restaurants with the same brand and similar sales produce completely different profit margins?
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, Andrew Scott breaks down why two restaurants can have completely different financial results.
Often, the difference comes down to something unexpected - the restaurant owner’s mindset, decisions, systems, and willingness to improve.
You’ll also hear why better bookkeeping and financial tracking matter and how growth-minded restaurant owners create stronger cash flow, more freedom, and more scalable businesses.
Tune in to discover:
✅Why two restaurants with the same brand and similar sales can have totally different profit margins ✅How owner mindset directly affects restaurant profitability ✅The blame game that sounds good, but keeps restaurant owners stuck ✅The importance of restaurant financials, bookkeeping, reporting, and systems ✅Why working harder in the business is not the same as building a better business ✅How growth-minded restaurant owners create more freedom, cash flow, and expansion opportunities
Key moments:
00:00:00 Intro 00:01:00 Two Restaurants Same Brand 00:04:40 Same Franchise Different Profit 00:07:40 Blame Versus Build 00:10:40 Why Growth Owners Win
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✅About Us✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
How To Stop Your Restaurant Employees From Quitting - Simple Tips To Increase Retention
16 Jun 2025
00:35:04
Your most reliable employees might be planning their exit right now, but you can still keep them if you know the warning signs.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator podcast, hosts Andrew Scott and Dave Doyle tackle one of the most frustrating challenges restaurant owners face: employee turnover.
Drawing from their combined decades of experience, they reveal that most employees start thinking about quitting 4-6 weeks before they actually leave, giving owners a critical window to intervene.
The hosts share a powerful system of meetings that not only helps identify issues early - but actually saves time in the long run.
Andrew and Dave also discuss reasons why good employees leave, the importance of tracking when and why people leave, and implementing proper feedback systems.
You’ll hear about how to decide how much to pay your team - along with practical examples from their own businesses.
Key Points
00:02:55 The emotional impact of losing trusted employees 00:06:45 Who drives away good employees 00:11:05 Warning signs before quitting 00:11:55 The power of one-on-one meetings 00:15:00 Regular communication 00:19:50 Track retention & conduct exit interviews 00:23:25 Relationship-based management 00:26:30 How much to pay 00:29:45 Giving feedback
If your restaurant staff turnover is through the roof, you’re sick of hiring and firing, and you want a stable, loyal team - listen now to discover the specific strategies that’ll help you retain your best people and create a healthier restaurant culture.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Most restaurant owners work IN their business when they should be working ON their business - one franchise owner flipped that script in just 120 days.
Brad Morton’s transformation of a failing Sonic franchise reveals the brutal reality most restaurant owners face, and the proven path to restaurant turnaround success.
Starting with a $10,000 investment in a store he'd never visited, Brad discovered broken equipment, 25-minute lunch tickets, and employees carrying switchblades.
Yet within four months, he achieved 20% profit margins and was ready to expand to multiple units - proving that growing a restaurant business doesn’t require massive capital or perfect conditions.
The secret wasn't complicated systems or massive capital investment.
Instead, Brad focused on three fundamental pillars: people, sales, and profit.
By prioritizing speed of service over food quality and implementing aggressive hiring practices, he transformed customer experience and drove sales growth.
His restaurant hiring and staffing strategies became a critical foundation for turning around operations and scaling fast.
This episode is a must-listen for multi-unit franchisees and restaurant leaders aiming to improve restaurant profitability, build lasting teams, and create scalable systems. If you're working long hours and stuck in survival mode, Brad’s story will show you how to shift from operator to true owner.
Key Points:
00:03:30 Investing $10,000 unseen (disaster) 00:11:00 People first strategy 00:15:00 Spotting hidden talent 00:17:20 Speed of service 00:24:00 The multiple unit mindset 00:29:30 Creating profit systems 00:39:00 120-day transformation 00:47:30 Guest experience formula
Tune in to discover the specific restaurant management strategies that transformed a failing franchise into a profitable multi-unit restaurant operation… and how you can apply these lessons to your own business.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Stop Covering Shifts! How to Slash Restaurant CALL-OUTS and Build a RELIABLE Team
02 Jun 2025
00:28:18
You can reduce call-outs in your restaurant by 90% - all while creating a team that actually has each other's backs.
The secret isn't threats or punishment.
It's systems and culture.
In this episode of Restaurant Growth Accelerator, Andrew Scott and Dave Doyle share proven strategies to significantly reduce call-outs and no-shows in your restaurant, including:
✅How to create breathing room with a highly effective staffing method
✅How to implement an effective attendance policy
✅Clear escalation protocols for handling call-outs
✅An unusual but effective "Attendance Golf" system that gamifies attendance
✅How to uncover who's helping versus hurting the team
PLUS, you’ll also hear about the simple spreadsheet system that has transformed entire restaurant cultures by aligning team interests with business needs. https://hs.ownershifttraining.com/optin-mupb?el=podcast Key moments:
00:02:00 Ridiculous call-out excuses 00:04:21 Tracking call-out patterns 00:05:31 The bad apple effect 00:06:21 Scheduling and staffing policies 00:08:41 The 110% staffing solution 00:12:11 Effective sick call policies 00:14:31 Addressing problem employees 00:16:21 Creating a supportive team culture 00:20:01 The Attendance Golf system 00:23:31 Gamification and transparency 00:25:11 Aligning interests for success
Don't miss this episode packed with actionable strategies to stop working in your restaurant, covering call-outs, and start working on growing it instead.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call
Multi-Unit Basics: Going From ONE Restaurant To TWO Restaurants
26 May 2025
00:57:30
Going from one restaurant location to two is the hardest and most dangerous expansion jump you'll ever make in your business.
And it's where most owners make catastrophic operational and financial mistakes.
In this episode, multi-unit growth experts Andrew Scott and Nathan Voulgaris share hard-earned wisdom from their combined experience managing multiple restaurant locations (Andrew with 4 units and Nathan with up to 7 locations and 700 employees).
They break down exactly why multi-unit restaurant expansion fails, including:
⚠️The inability to physically manage multiple locations effectively
⚠️The lack of scalable restaurant systems and processes
⚠️The financial strain of supporting an underperforming second unit
⚠️Why many owners don't realize they're not ready for growth until it's too late
You'll learn:
✅Why having an "heir and a spare" in your restaurant leadership team is essential
✅How to ensure your first location stays profitable while launching a second
✅The key restaurant management training your team needs before scaling
✅The routines and performance systems that must be in place to run without you
✅How to avoid multi-unit burnout, team turnover, and brand damage
This is the ultimate guide to going from one to two restaurant locations successfully (without sacrificing your sanity, profits, or reputation).
Key Points
00:00:40 Different stages of multi-unit expansion 00:02:00 Managing multiple locations 00:05:00 Dangers of not having proper manager training 00:09:00 Why two unprofitable restaurants never equal one profitable one 00:14:30 The cell division model for management expansion 00:20:50 A STRONG signal your business isn't ready for expansion 00:26:30 Multi-unit systems and management routines 00:32:00 Make processes that can be handed off 00:42:30 Tme management & establishing routines 00:51:00 Productivity hack for restaurant owners
If you're a restaurant owner thinking about expansion, this episode will help you avoid the biggest mistakes and know when you're truly ready.
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew Scott successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1,000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.
✅For Restaurant Owners✅
Interested in growing your restaurant business while working less? Book your free assessment call: 👉 Restaurant Assessment Call