Jerry A. Heilpern, CFBE, FMP's Page

I was speaking to a group of young entrepreneurs the other day. We were discussing the difference between national chains and owner operators as it relates to average P&L performances. We began talking about the various reasons and causes for the big differences between their respective performances. But, there was one underlying issue that seemed to come up over and over again. The issue was the difference between casual versus deliberate management.



In the world of small… Continue

I remember as a young assistant manager watching with dismay as employees, hourly and salaried alike, would walk by obvious issues/problems large or small and pass by without stopping to lift a finger to fix or help with anything. It was as if the issue/problem were invisible to them. I'm not talking about the earth-shattering "there's a bar fight in the lounge" type of issues. I'm talking about the operationally important and yet mundane kinds of problems/issues issues. For example the bev-nap… Continue

A long time ago (when I was still in direct operations) I was thinking about what I could do to be a more successful operator. I thought of the different roles I played in the course of executing my job. I thought of the perspectives of the guests. I thought of the perspectives of the employees and vendors. And, after a lot of thought and consideration I came up with a simple rule that I try to remind myself of each and every day---that rule is, "Would I?"



It is really a very simple… Continue

Recently an industry analyst at Goldman Sachs by the name of Steven Kron estimated that the restaurant industry especially casual dining was so over built that in order to for the laws of supply and demand to regain equilibrium that roughly 8% of the current restaurants now open need to close. That equates to 12,000! 12,000. That almost takes your breath away.



If you look at the restaurant industry and what is going on you will see that the main stream casual dining segment is… Continue

Every year it seems that I get at least a dozen or so projects that cross my desk which require financing. Helping clients with this aspect of their business is not outside our skill set here. However, their always seems to be a vast suspension of reality with these projects.



There is a complete disconnect between expectation and reality. If it were just once or twice I would dismiss it and not give it a second thought, however this is a reoccurring event. So I am going to try to… Continue