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

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✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅

Thinking of opening another restaurant? Avoid costly mistakes with my free guide:
👉https://hs.ownershifttraining.com/optin-mupb

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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

✅Connect With Us✅

https://www.facebook.com/groups/multiunitempirebuilders/
https://www.instagram.com/andrewrichardscott
https://ownershifttraining.com/

As a busy restaurant owner, doing everything yourself might feel responsible. But it’s actually the exact reason your restaurant can’t scale.

Working longer hours, rescuing your team, and jumping into every problem may feel productive.

But in reality, it’s the fastest way to burn out and stall your restaurant’s growth.

This will help restaurant owners who want more profit, better systems, stronger teams, and true time freedom.

Tune in to discover:

✅Why restaurant owners doing everything themselves is a growth killer

✅The hidden opportunity cost of owner labor

✅How “hero” behavior prevents staff development

✅How to transition from doer to leader to teacher

✅Letting employees fail productively (with guardrails)

✅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.

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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):

https://ghl.ownershifttraining.com/weekly-tracker-lp

-

✅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

✅Connect With Us✅

https://www.facebook.com/groups/multiunitempirebuilders/
https://www.instagram.com/andrewrichardscott
https://ownershifttraining.com/

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.

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✅Tools For Restaurant Owners✅

Thinking of opening another restaurant? Avoid costly mistakes with my free guide:
👉https://hs.ownershifttraining.com/optin-mupb

-

✅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

✅Connect With Us✅

https://www.facebook.com/groups/multiunitempirebuilders/
https://www.instagram.com/andrewrichardscott
https://ownershifttraining.com/