Last week it was reported in our local paper that Angelo’s Restaurant in Woodstock, IL was sold. Viewers of “Restaurant Impossible” will remember Angelo’s as one of Robert Irvine’s 2013 two day restaurant turnarounds. The new owner was quoted as saying “You can’t remodel a restaurant in two days.” The article gave the impression that the “Restaurant Impossible” makeover didn’t work. But I don’t think this was the case.
Here is my assessment of this makeover and the business lessons learned:
Robert came in and identified the problems that were occurring in the restaurant. Management issues, too many menu items, systemic issues, not taking credit cards (experienced this one first hand – really? No credit cards in 2013?).
It was up to the owners to implement the changes.
When a consultant comes in and recommends changes to help a struggling business, it is up to the business owner to implement those changes. Too often, those same business owners who ask for help have the attitude of “I know my business” and only half-heartedly implement the changes needed or not at all. Many times they do not track if the changes are working and just give up on them and go back to what they know. Change is hard. But…
Robert wasn’t talking to the decision makers.
Every good salesperson will tell you that you have to talk to the decision makers when trying to make a sale. Robert was not talking to the owners, but their sons. It was obvious that the owner’s sons were not the decision makers and whatever changes Robert wanted the sons to make were not going to happen unless the owners were on board. Remember, the owners were the ones that did not want to take credit cards. And the owners were there pretty much on a daily basis. So do you really think the son’s were running this restaurant?
The owners claimed their customers didn’t like the restaurant changes.
Keep this in mind. These are the same customers that were not enough to support the restaurant in the first place. The owners put booths back in that were removed in the remodel. They added things back to the menu. Were these money makers or just things people said they liked? There is nothing wrong with adding some things back but you need to track these things to make sure they are benefiting the business and not dragging it down.
The restaurant was having problems for years.
A two day makeover can make the restaurant look nice but it is not going to magically fix issues that have been plaguing an under performing business for years. Habits and beliefs take time to correct. Too often business owners fail to recognize things that used to work are no longer working. Or fail to make changes that are needed.
Too often people see consultants like Robert Irvine as some sort of savior.
The “saviors” in shows like these only have a small amount of time to try to assess what is wrong with a business. It is the things that jump out at them that they try to fix. But 2 days does not give them enough time to fully assess all the issues that are wrong with a business. These can range from not knowing or understanding the market, poor or no systems in place and the willingness or even capability of the people in charge to actually make the changes. Good business practices or acumen cannot be taught in two days.
Lastly, nobody is going to hit a home run 100% of the time. And I think sometimes the changes they make on “Restaurant Impossible” are off the mark for a particular restaurant. They have a system that works but even systems have to be modified to fit differing situations.
