New Year, New Deals: How Smart Operators Keep More Profit

Running a restaurant isn’t just about crafting the perfect plate or creating an unforgettable experience for your guests, it’s about making money. And if you’re not treating every dollar like it’s yours to keep, guess what? It’s going straight into someone else’s pocket. Sure, your suppliers, vendors, and manufacturers are your partners, and some can even become your most trusted advisors. But behind the friendly smiles and occasional free merch is a strategy designed to make them as much money as possible. This isn’t a knock on them. Like you, they’re in this business to turn a profit.

The crime in our industry is that many operators (most operators) do not know how much power they have over their vendors. It’s almost a cover-up that starts in culinary school. Every year, culinary schools turn out tens of thousands of talented chefs who can create masterpieces on a plate, but many of them get blindsided by the financial realities of running a restaurant. These chefs…