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Eric Burns is a former bar and grill owner, as well as a customer engagement consultant for a larger consulting firm. He used his past experiences to create a product that was made for restaurant and bar owners. The product, Gazella Wifi, provides free Wifi in restaurants in exchange for social media engagement.    Eric started consulting after college, but realized that working for a big firm was not his dream. He decided to buy a bar and grill in a small town in Nebraska. He says this taught him many lessons, considering he had no prior restaurant experience.   He attempted to automate everything he could so he could spend less time in the restaurant, and created the Gazella Wifi system, which automated different aspects of customer service. It replaced things such as surveys on back of receipts, rewards programs and comment cards.    He started offering the product to other operators, and when the concept took off, he sold his own restaurant.    Eric says his system is similar to “Net Promoter Score”, which essentially tells operators how likely a patron is to recommend their establishment to friends and family.  It allows you to find your “raving fans” and create a profile of them, so you can find more similar people through your marketing efforts.    Facebook ads are a great marketing tool because they are so targeted, but Eric shares that many people use them incorrectly.    He has a hard time quantifying a monetary value for a Facebook “like”, as it depends on how you’re using Facebook. He says it’s the good content you post that is really valuable. However, he does say that “likes” are validation from a customer as it will keep the restaurant fresh in the minds of people looking for places to eat.    The Gazella system has ratings of 1 to 5. If a customer answers 1 through 4, they are asked a what the restaurant can do better. If they rate the experience as a “5”, they are redirected to Yelp and asked to leave a review.    Rick notes that when negative

Scott Milas is the Director of Franchise Development for Wayback Burgers, managing domestic franchise development. They currently have over 100 stores operating in 26 states, with an additional 347 stores in development worldwide. Wayback Burgers is a fast-growing franchise in the competitive fresh burger category.  The Wayback Burgers concept was started in 1991 by John Carter in Newark, Delaware. He found that people love fresh-cooked, never frozen, beef burgers.  By 2007, he had 12 corporate owned stores and was looking to franchise. He took on two partners, who were developers, to grow Wayback Burgers nationally. The chain features a broader menu than its competitors in the better burger space by also offering fish, chicken, salads, turkey/veggie burgers and more.  The average restaurant has annual gross revenues of about $700,000, with less labour and overhead costs as typical stores are 1,500-1,800 square feet and express models being only 650-800 square feet. The turnkey investment is a maximum $325,00-$350,000 (for the larger stores), including the upfront franchise fee of $35,000. Discounts are available for groups of three stores. Scott shares that 26% of their multi-unit operators started out with a single Wayback Burgers restaurant.  The corporate office charges 5% for royalties on sales, guaranteed for 20 years with no renewal or re-licensing fee.  In addition to this recurring cost, there is also a 2% national branding fee.  The labour cost, without a manager, is 21-22%. With manager, this is increased to about 26-28%.  Food costs are approximately 25-31%, including paper and cleaning.  There are 5 or 6 different models that franchisees can open, including standalone stores, standalone with drive thru, express models, etc. Wayback Burgers don’t require franchisees to be owner-operators. According to Scott, some of their best franchisees are the ones that hired managers to run the store.  They’ve also had good success with franchisees that had no prior restaurant experience. On people with extensive restaurant knowledge, Scott shares the following:  “Their wealth of knowledge is great, but they tend to come in to a system and try to do things the way they’ve always done it” Scott himself comes from a restaurant background, starting out by making pizzas at the age of 8.  “Food has always been in my blood. Somehow or another

Brian Grinnoneau owns a company called WhizFish Interactive Marketing Solutions. The company helps restaurants use mobile apps to connect with customers on their phones and tablets, making it more likely they’ll spend more, come back more often and refer others.   Professional Story: Brian was previously in the radio and TV business, first on the marketing side and then in sales and advertising.  After a number of years, he believed he could do a better job himself and left to start his own marketing agency, creating campaigns for clients.  In early 2000, they started building websites and doing SEO. Five years later, the company helped develop a platform for mobile apps. It was difficult, as people didn’t quite get the concept at the time.  Over the years, the technology has become more accepted and Brian transitioned the company totally to digital outreach.  WhizFish develops apps specifically for restaurants, including loyalty and food ordering components.  “These apps are game changers for a restaurant; they’ll move the needle in terms of revenue enhancement.”  He says that mobile food ordering will typically increase the sales volume of take-out orders by about 30%.  This comes down to one thing, convenience, and with the app food ordering can take place in under a minute of the customer’s time.  Rick notes that customers are creatures of habit, and often order the same food item during each trip to the restaurant.  Brian’s company designs their apps to be user friendly for both the customer and the restaurant management.  “They have no time to be trying to figure out some process within the backend of an app”  According to the National Restaurants Association, 85% of people have ordered food online or with a mobile app at least once, with 50% downloading a restaurant app direct to their device.  More older people are using mobile devices to communicate with younger family members. A restaurant that is really committed to a good mobile strategy will have their servers help older customers in downloading their app. Brian encourages restaurants to upload videos to their own channel (on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.), to be integrated into the app. Proactive restaurants will allow customers to submit feedback directly using the app and have management fix issues immediately.  The company offers three packages to clients: 

Rivers Corbett, MBA is an award winning serial entrepreneur, speaker, startup business specialist and author of "13 Fears of Entrepreneurs" and "10 Insider Secrets all Business Owners Must Know." He has received numerous business honours: 2015 Business Person of the Year, Canada's Hottest Start-ups List and Canada's Fastest Growing Companies list through Profit magazine and recognized as one of Canada's 10 Mentor RockStars. Rivers is presently a member of Startup Canada's National Advisory Council, host of the StartUP Canada Podcast Show and founding entrepreneur of StartUP Fredericton. Most recently, he was the Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of New Brunswick. As a co-founding entrepreneur, he is now part of a team building an international business that "ZAGS while everyone else zigs"...with the reLiSH Gourmet Burgers restaurant chain. One of River’s primary responsibilities with reLiSH is franchise development, across Canada and into the United States.  He is a member of the International Franchise Professionals Group, an organization made up of members with common goals. “Any good businessperson continues to try to expand their network”  Rivers got together with his restaurant chain’s co-founder, Chef Ray Henry, in the summer of 2009. They opened their first store in downtown Fredericton in January of the following year, and now have 8 locations (four owned by corporate), with three new stores being built in Vancouver, BC. Plans are in the works for locations in Toronto, ON and Saskatoon, SK. Chef Ray noticed a lack of a good burger in Fredericton. Rivers considers himself the “farthest thing from a chef”, but saw the opportunity to introduce the concept to the city. “I hate cooking, but I love the food business. I was excited because it was a new business concept.”  Their burgers are based on a French concept of cooking, which uses layers and pairs different food and tastes together. They’re currently looking for franchisees that will develop at least two locations. As well, they’re searching for master franchisees to bring the concept to parts of the United States and United Kingdom, places where they don’t have “on the ground” experience.  The franchise fee for reLiSH is $29,000, with a 5% royalty and 2% marketing fee. The build-out costs vary from $50,000 to $350,000, depending on the amount of work that’s ne

Adam Toporek is the author of “Be Your Customer's Hero: Real-World Tips & Techniques for the Service Front Lines”, as well as the popular “Customers That Stick” blog. He’s also the co-host of “Crack the Customer Code” podcast. Adam owns CTS Service Solutions, a consultancy specializing in high-energy customer service workshops that teach organizations and front-line teams to deliver hero-class customer service.  Adam created the term “hero-class customer service”, which basically means you are a hero to your customers. For him, it’s all about delivering great service every visit.  He says that when you’re talking about the food service industry, consistency is very important.  Adam comes from a small business background, and had a vision to provide great service that led to an experience that would change a customer’s day. One day, he witnessed an employee of his not give a client a good experience, and he says he was shocked, angry and embarrassed. Incidents like this motivated him to write his book. He felt he failed as an owner in this case, to give his team the right customer-centric values. “I realized I needed a tool, something to teach my front-line employees what they needed to know about customer service”  In addition to the book, he also created new training positions and developed new programs. Rick and Adam both agree that it’s on the leaders, not the employee, to provide such tools, however, Adam doesn’t believe that every employee is made for a customer service type role. “When things go off track (negative situations), that’s when you see who is really designed to be in a customer-facing role” Based in Orlando, Adam says former Disney employees have a “leg up”, as the customer service/experience is such a priority within that organization.  “There’s more work to do with the digital generation, to give them the necessary face-to-face skills”  Adam explains the concept of “on stage” and “off stage” (on stage is customer-facing). Rick shares that employees always have to conduct themselves with that in mind, both inside and outside of the restaurant (for example, when in uniform but not on the premises).  The 7 service triggers that affect customer service, according to Adam, are:    Being Ignored  Being Abandoned Being Hassled

Bio: Craig Whitfield has over 35 years experience within law enforcement and corporate loss prevention. He has conducted thousands of criminal and internal investigations, and has spent the last decade protecting company profits and assets. He is currently an Assistant Chief of the Memorial Police Department in South Bend, Indiana. His book, “Guess Who’s Eating Your Profits?” emphasises the issues within restaurants and bars. It shows readers how to identify, investigate and prosecute those who are stealing from the business.   

Bio: Naresh Vissa is the founder and CEO of Krish Media & Marketing, a full service media and digital marketing agency. He’s the #1 best selling author of “Podcastnomics”, the book of podcasting that can make you millions and has been featured in US Today, Yahoo, Bloomberg and MSNBC. His latest book is titled “Fifty Shades of Marketing.”    Interview Links:  www.KrishMediaMarketing.com www.NareshVissa.com    *new book available on BarnesAndNoble.com and Amazon.com  

Chris Miles is the “Cash Flow Expert” and a leading authority on how to quickly free up and create cash flow for thousands of his clients, entrepreneurs and others internationally.  He’s an author, speaker and radio host that has been featured on US News, CNN Money, Entrepreneur on Fire and other shows. He has spoken to thousands, getting them fast financial results. Chris truly is “the” financial advocate for the entrepreneur.   

Dr. Kevin Mays has helped thousands of leaders and hundreds of teams revolutionize their performance. He’s a great conversationalist with a dynamic personality that your audience will love. A psychotherapist with a 10-year group dynamics background, he is the developer of the TOTEM Team Dynamics Model. Mays’ clients have included Proctor and Gamble, Pepsi Co., Golden Corral, Carolina Ale House, Burger King, and The Elf on the Shelf. Totem: Mastering Team Performance is his first book.   

 "Mary Beth Stenzel shares how payment processes are changing for the #restaurant industry"   - "We talk about the fees charged to #restaurants by credit card companies in this interview"   - "Mary Beth Stenzel shares why she isn't a fan of Square"   - "We hear about two trends for the #restaurant biz on today's Restaurant Ninjas with guest Mary Beth Stenzel"    - Hey restaurant owners - interested in BitCoin? Listen to my chat with Mary Beth Stenzel and get her thoughts "   

Jeannette Seibly has delivered “straight talk with immediate results” to business owners and executives of $1MM to $30MM enterprises for the past 20 years, achieving dynamic results. Along the way, she created three millionaires. Her book, "Hire Amazing Employees" shows how to setup a strategic hiring system and use all the tools legally available to collect the information required to hire right the first time.  

Bio: Corey Simpson is a Jamaican native businessman and entrepreneur. He has an impressive list investments he can attach his name to, and "restaurant owner" is now at the top of that list. He purchased Yoko-San Hibachi, Sushi & Sake Lounge to take it to a whole new level. Yoko-San is located in Boca Raton, Florida. Professional Story: Corey left Jamaica at the age of 15, coming to the United States to attend school and study law. He obtained a Bachelor degree in Criminology, with a minor in Criminal Justice. He worked years in customer service industries, including 13 years in the field of structured settlements. He started creating his own brand and looking at investment opportunities. He partnered with the original owner of Yoko-San, who had closed it down. They reopened the business, with Corey as a silent partner. However, the former owner wasn’t truthful and Corey had to take over based on his default.    Interview Links:    www.YokoSanBoca.com @YokoSan (Twitter) @YokoSanBoca (Instagram) Corey@YokoSan.com (Email)   

Andre Pellerin as President and Co-Founder is the visionary behind FoodTender.com. With an accumulation of more than 20 years of expertise in the food service industry, he has always prided himself with a dedication to giving excellent customer service.  As a former Marketing and Sales Associate for a major food distribution company and as a previous restaurant Owner/Operator, André has extensive knowledge from both the Food Establishment and Supplier side of the business.  A well-respected member of the industry, André has dedicated himself to helping others succeed.  As a Marketing and Sales Associate, he has worked with numerous types of large and small food establishment’s accounts, providing them with his knowledge and expertise to best suit their needs.  André has always strived to remain current with the new trends in the industry by attending workshops, training sessions and trade shows.    A native of Shediac, New Brunswick, André is well respected by his peers.  André has demonstrated his professionalism and leadership skills by chairing on many different non-profit committees and organizations in his community.     André is very enthusiastic and believes that 

"Torn together" is the memoir written by today's guests, Shaaren Pine and Scott Magnussen, detailing Scott's substance abuse recovery and the movement that it started"    - "Scott and Shaaren talk about their "Restaurant Recovery Program" on today's show!"   - "We discuss liability issues for restauranteurs in this interview"   - "Employee handbooks are key for the success of your #restaurant!"    - "Today's guests hire people who are "moldable" instead of based on experience!"   - "Shaaren Pine gives some great tips on how she hires with Craigslist and interviews!"   - "Over 17% of #restaurant employees have a drug or alcohol problem. Hear how you should handle it as a business owner"   -"Hire well ... and fire well!" - Shaaren Pine and Scott Manusson on today's Restaurant Ninja's!"   

Roger Beaudoin is a successful restaurant entrepreneur who has founded and operated 4 restaurants/hospitality companies over the past 18 years. He recently sold the Matterhorn SKI BAR in Maine, a seasonal restaurant and bar that generates $1 MILLION dollars sales in just 4 months Roger has a B.S. degree in Business from Bryant College, Rhode Island and an M.B.A. in Business from Babson College, Massachusetts. He is a former President of the Bethel Maine Chamber of Commerce and Board of Directors and former member of the Maine Restaurant Association Board of Directors. Roger is a classic car enthusiast, skier and passionate mountaineer/alpine climber with numerous ascents to his credit including the Matterhorn in Switzerland and Grand Teton in Wyoming. Roger currently lives in Sun Valley Idaho with his wife Thea and two young daughters.  His passion is use his 20+ years of expertise in the industry to help other restaurants ROCK their business!   - "Roger fell into the restaurant business"   - "SalesStars is a turnkey online program to train your front-of-the-house team!"   - "Roger Beaudoin hires for his restaurants based on personality, approach and attitude."   - "Roger Beaudoin and I talk about the "Flash of Lightning" on today's Restaurant Ninjas podcast!"   - "Learn how to turn $100 into $1000 on today's Restaurant Ninjas!"  

Wesley Belden is the Founder and CEO of Waffle, a social media marketing software application that showcases the best of your social media directly on your website. Wesley has a Masters of Business Administration, two years of business and management consulting experience, and three years experience as a financial analyst at American Financial Group (AFG).   - "Waffle is a powerful branding tool for #restaurants!"    - "Learn how to monitor and monetize online conversations about your #restaurant!"    - "Hey restaurant owners! Get a special discount on Waffle when you mention this interview"    - "Wesley Belden and I discuss #SEO for restaurant owners on today's Restaurant Ninja's!"    - "Wesley Belden takes out his crystal ball and shares what he sees for the restaurant business in the next 5 years!"   

David Barnett is a graduate of the Williams School of Business and Economics at Bishop’s University, and a graduate of UNBSJ’s Electronic Commerce Management Program.  Since the late ‘90s, Mr. Barnett has been building his profile as an expert in the field of small and medium sized enterprises. Over a 3 year period, Barnett helped intermediate 35 business buy/sell transactions as a business broker.   Talking Points    "Hear why today's guest won't order beverages in restaurants while travelling!"    - "Dave Barnett tells us the biggest succession planning issue for restaurant owners (it's not what you think!)!"    - "Dave Barnett explains "Dead Capital" on today's Restaurant Ninjas podcast!"    - "Today's guest explains the difference between an entrepreneur and an investor"    - "The terms of sales are the most important part of a restaurant sale!" - Dave Barnett on today's Restaurant Ninjas   - "Learn how buyers employ leverage when buy