ABOUT
Hello! My name is Zachary, and I started this blog because I believe that restaurateurs and their teams should not be overwhelmed by the world of finances and accounting. In an industry where the success rate is less than 10%, anything to help you get ahead of the competition is invaluable (and exactly why I started this blog).
Oftentimes, restaurateurs and their teams simply do not have the basic tools or understanding to conquer the world of finance. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably experienced:
- Inaccurate financials
- No financial reporting
- Unknown operating margins
- A desire to better understand your business’s performance
- Overdue payables
- Out-of-date tax returns
- Mounting business losses
- So much more (that I cover in this blog)
I completely empathize with all of the above. As a former restaurant group CFO, professional consultant, and author of one of the top The Restaurant CFO books, I’ve learned:
- How to solve The Restaurant CFO and finance problems in a simple and concise format
- Which software and services are cost-effective and essential
- Affordable, simple, and DIY “finance hacks” to help keep your books in order and expand your business’s working capital
Why is all of this important?
Whether we like it or not, our restaurants, bars, and cafes are our livelihood. Our sales, cost, margins, profit, and business all impact our personal lives and loved ones. Isn’t it time we got our business in order and subsequently everything else?
Fortunately, we can control most of these things. We can choose what accounting software we use. We can create systems to properly record income and track expenses. We can practice good financial literacy, make better decisions, and become better operators. We can choose to be better executors of our mission and goals.
Of course, there are also certain inescapable limitations. You can improve your menu, but you can’t actually improve the location of your restaurant (a.k.a. why foot traffic is important). You can try to generate accurate financial forecasts, but without decades of experience, those will likely fall short.
So, what should restaurant owners do in spite of all these challenges?
Are we to spend our lives wishing it was tomorrow? Hoping that our business was magically fixed? Should we settle for things as they are: losing money, bad margins, unhappy staff, etc. Are we to actually believe that success and financial freedom are designed only for the bar owner down the road?
No way! Instead, we will do everything we can to level the playing field . We will work to abandon any lingering notions of not understanding. We will respond to the thoughts of “I can’t” and respond with “I will.”
And, we will have fun doing it (yes that’s right, accounting can be fun).
This website was created for all restaurant, bar, and cafe owners who just need some great advice. All of your questions about accounting, finance, working capital, margins, and business success will be answered here. And if you just want some inspiration, I’ve got you covered.
Sincerely,
Zachary
P.S. If you are curious, here is a post about How to Start an Accounting or Finance Blog