Why “how much is in the account?” and late P&Ls are too slow—and what a fractional CFO does instead When guest counts start to wobble and every invoice feels a little heavier, the numbers in your business stop being “nice to know” and start being survival tools. But most restaurant and taproom operators still manage
Category Archives: Strategy
The pain points a finance partner can actually take off your plate If you own or operate a restaurant or taproom in 2025, you do not need another reminder that the math is tight. Industry data keeps coming back to the same picture: Average restaurant profit margins still sit in the 3–5% range, even as
If you run a restaurant, brewery, or taproom in a four-season market, you probably don’t need a calendar to tell you when slow season hits. Covers drop. Prep lists get shorter. You start wondering if that second server or extra line cook is really necessary on a Tuesday. For most operators, the instinct is simple:
Most operators still “measure” labor when payroll hits the bank. The problem? Pay dates are arbitrary—they don’t line up with when service actually happened. That mismatch hides real staffing needs, dilutes productivity insights, and muddies profitability. If we care about labor productivity (not just labor percent), we have to measure labor where it lives: in
In the food & beverage world, labor is one of your largest—and most delicate—levers. Too many operators lean into labor efficiency (i.e. hitting labor as a percentage of sales) as their north star. That framing often backfires: when sales dip, hours get slashed, service suffers, team morale erodes, and long-term growth stalls. What if we