How Cooking Classes and Micro-Influencers Built This Top 50 Texas BBQ Restaurant

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I've heard from other restaurant owners that don't want influencers or creators coming in there and posting up about them.
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I think you're missing a big opportunity by turning those people away.
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People's expectation of experience now is getting so much higher, and people will go and find those experiences and they'll repeat the ones where they feel special.
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If you're struggling with anything to do with money, business, how to do anything, there's not any coach or leader out there that did not have a mentor in their life that helped them get to where they're at.
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Welcome back to Make Restaurants Profitable.
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And today I'm joined by Legend Cooper.
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Cooper, who are you?
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Where are you from?
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Yeah, I'm uh Cooper Abercrombie.
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I own Bar A Barbecue.
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We are a uh craft barbecue joint in Montgomery, Texas, about an hour northwest of Houston, Texas.
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So opposite side of the world.
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Uh just as hot though.
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It's it's steamy hot right now.
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All right.
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Bro, how long, how long have you been in the game for?
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When did you stop?
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I am I'm a youngster, man.
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I'm I uh we started as pop-up uh in a tent, actually, me and my wife.
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Uh we started about seven years ago.
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And uh until about three and a half years ago, it turned into an actual brick and mortar restaurant.
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And um we've we've been lucky.
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We've gotten we've gotten some accolades that have that have helped, you know, Texas Monthly Top 50, which is like the barbecue Bible over here in the United States.
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Um it's we're just lucky, man.
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We've we've got a lot of uh lot of good things that fall in our way.
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Uh I think maybe you've made some of your own luck.
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How's that journey been?
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Like, you know, why did you start in the first place?
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Were you just passionate about barbecue?
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Is that what happened?
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Like did you just wake up and you're like, fuck, I'm gonna start with the city.
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No, I was uh what we were in North Carolina there for a while in our life, um with my sales job.
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And I'd always told myself I was never gonna work for someone my entire life and uh moved back to Texas.
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And it's actually in the contract.
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When you when you buy a house in Texas, you have to buy a smoker.
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And so I went to the store, bought a smoker.
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First thing you do is you throw a brisket on there and just made awful, awful, awful brisket.
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And um, I do not handle being bad at things.
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I have to understand everything, I have to figure out how to be good at it or great or elite at it.
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And um, every free moment and even moments when it was not free, when the company that I was working for was paying for, I was cooking brisket trying to figure it out.
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And I can say that now it's been long enough.
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But um, man, I I spent every second I could trying to get better and trying to figure it out until it went from really bad to kind of bad.
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And um, you know, and over here in the US, there was this really kind of cool underground barbecue scene going on where people were just selling barbecue out of the back of their house.
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You know, they had a tent and they would kind of secretly tell where the location was, and they would do them on a day where they knew the health department was not working.
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And uh I thought, man, that looks cool as hell.
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Let's try that out.
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And um we did our first one seven years ago, and I think we sold$1,000 in food at a little brewery over where we were at at the time, and uh thought, hey, that was pretty damn cool.
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And uh it just kind of kept growing, man.
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I went from doing one of those a month to two a month, and then every weekend and went from the tent to a trailer for about nine months, and then trailer to the now building we're in currently, and we're about to tear this building down and go into a building that's about five X the current space.
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Um, just because I mean we're busting at the seams, is putting it lightly where we're currently at.
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Um we're we're in a we're in a 1400 square foot prior vegan sandwich shop that we turned into a barbecue restaurant that uh fortunately has a line out the door six days a week uh down the ramp.
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So we've uh we've worked our tail off, we've built an incredible team, and I'm so fortunate to to be a part of the process and what we're doing.
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Okay.
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Um, dude, I've got so many questions.
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Number one, um, I just we just gotta just recognize the fact that uh you took over a vegan restaurant and started cooking brisket out of it.
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Yeah, I don't know what that person thought, man.
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There's about three vegans in Montgomery, Texas, and they thought they uh needed the a whole building to support that demographic.
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So it didn't last for obvious reasons.
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No, no.
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Um, and this is nothing against vegan.
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If you're out there and you're a vegan, uh that's you that's okay.
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Um, okay, man, let's let's talk about it.
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So um from pop up to you know monthly to fortnightly to weekly to now you've got to line up out the door six days a week.
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If if we were to sit down and really talk about um that there's a couple of things here, because obviously to get a lineup out the door, um, you've got to be good.
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Let's talk about the lineup.
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So, what do you think you did differently to everyone else who starts barbecue um and is media mediocre at it?
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And what do you think you did differently to end up with a lineup out the door six days a week?
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I, Tim, I'm a I'm a football coach's son.
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Granddad was a football coach.
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Everyone in my life has been a football coach.
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And I was always taught find the best guy in the room and just go do everything he does.
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Shadow him, do whatever you can, be around great people.
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And I recognized pretty early there were some guys in Texas that were elite at um just barbecue and and what they were doing.
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And I was not afraid, I was in sales, I was not afraid of no.
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Uh rejection has never been an issue for me.
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And so I just went and bugged them and was like, hey man, let me come sweep the floors, do the dishes, take the whatever.
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You don't have to pay me a dime, just let me be around it.
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And that happened to be uh another barbecue spot called Goldie's.
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And um, Goldie's was eventually named the number one spot in Texas um six six years ago, I believe, five years ago, somewhere around that timeline.
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And uh I would leave my work on Friday, I would drive up to Fort Worth about four hours north of here.
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I would work for 48 hours nonstop over there, just doing anything that asked me to do before I could get back and for free.
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And then I would drive back uh home Sunday night and go back to work Monday and lead a lead a sales team.
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You know, that was my job, I was a uh sales manager.
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And um I did it as much as I possibly could.
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And I just knew that if this is what I wanted to do, it was gonna take some sacrifice on a physical uh standpoint.
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And again, it was just what my dad always said, you know, find who's the best and just go be their friend, basically.
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Go figure out how you can be in their life and and see what they do and study it and then go be better than them.
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And um, so that's always kind of been my my mentality.
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And um, I'm not afraid to ask to learn from anybody.
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I think a lot of people I talk to now, they're so scared to to ask the guy down the road or anywhere, you know, for help and understanding.
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But in reality, there's a lot of good freaking people in this world that are willing to help everybody.
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Uh, you're just afraid to ask them.
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Do you think it's fear or do you think it's fear or do you think some of it can be ego as well?
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People don't want to ask because they don't want to.
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Yeah, that's that's the better way to put it.
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I mean, there's some fear involved.
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You know, I I've trained too many sales guys, and I I understand there's a there's a big fear of rejection uh for a lot of people on this earth.
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And um, but ego too, you know.
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Um that's I didn't come from the restaurant world, and and I've been fortunate enough to be around a lot of really good chefs.
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We're in a crazy spot, Tim, where we have guys like all over the world that come here to bar A to learn that we allow them to come in and do paid stages.
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And um there's been some chefs at some Mission Star restaurants from all over the place that have come here and hearing some of their stories about people they've thought to, that people I thought I looked up to, um, that are in well-known publications all over the world, um there's an ego problem in the restaurant world.
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And it's probably not just the restaurant world, you know, it's the same way in the football world.
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There's some football coaches that have some big old egos too.
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And um, I I just think when the ego gets in the way, it just limits it limits where you can really take your craft and anything you're doing.
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And um people have an issue trying to they see it as a way of you know, they don't want to humble themselves.
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Yeah.
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But in reality, it's gonna make you better, and it's probably gonna make that person that's teaching you better too.
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Because there's not, there's never been a time where I haven't left a barbecue class that we do or any sort of class setting, and and I don't feel like I learned something after teaching someone whatever I was doing.
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Now, if you're listening in right now, I want you to just stop and I want you to just think about this conversation.
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Here's a guy seven years ago was cooking shitty brisket in his backyard.
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To seven years later, he's now got people flying in from around the world to learn his craft.
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Now, seven years to become like one of the one of the tops of the industry.
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You know, not many people have people flying in around the world to learn from them.
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And so if you're an owner right now and you've got you've got some young people coming through, this is probably a podcast for them to listen to, to understand that if you just stick with something and show up and put in the effort and do the things that other people won't do, you can become an expert.
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You really think that's fair to say, Coops?
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Oh, 100%, man.
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It's it's you you in anything in life, I'm a firm believer, you get what you put into it.
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And um does it always pan out for you?
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No.
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But if if you put a lot of hours into it, you tend to get pretty fucking good at it, in my opinion.
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Yeah, I think I think there's a thing.
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I think some people think, oh, if I just keep putting hours into it, it's gonna get better.
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But I think you've got to put the hours into the right thing.
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You know, you put hours into like learning the craft, getting better at it, not putting hours into just repeating the same shit over and over.
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Um, like you went and found the people to learn off to get the skills to become great, not just try and figure it out yourself.
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100%.
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And that there was some sacrifice to that.
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You know, there was some money spent in hotels and and and fuel and uh the the personal standpoint of not, you know, with the wife and kids and stuff.
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But um I knew I knew at that time deep down, this is really the path I wanted to walk down.
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So if this is the path I'm gonna I'm gonna walk down, I'm gonna go all out.
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Yeah, we're gonna figure this out and try and be really, really good at it.
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Yep.
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Um now, okay.
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So next step is how do all these people hear about you?
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Because obviously, you know, you're in Texas, you got people flying in all around the world.
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How do these people know about you?
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How did you get from like, you know, you know, because people there's barbecue everywhere, right?
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Um, well, not everywhere, but there's quite a bit of barbecue.
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So, what have you done differently to everyone else to for people to be like one, we just got to go line up out the front, and you that happens six days a week.
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To two, people flying in from around the world.
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What have you done?
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There, there's several parts to that, Tim.
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And it's it's social media, for one, has always been a very um integral part of what we do.
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Yep.
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I made a vow seven years ago when I got into it, you know, and I made the little Instagram page that I was gonna learn it.
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I wasn't just gonna use it, I was gonna learn it.
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And I spent, I spent probably as much time as I was trying to learn barbecue as into trying to understand social media and how it works.
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You know, how do you get higher on search pages?
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How do you how do you get in front of more people?
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How do the ads work?
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Um, you know, how does the profile need to be set up?
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There's so many small details that um play into social media, which is why Taylor, me and her work so well, because I have a pretty deep understanding of how the systems work now and what's actually going to get eyeballs, how why, you know, what content is gonna get pushed out there, uh, and being able to look at the the data and analytics in it and then make corrections off of that.
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Um I I still to this day spend probably four to five hours a week just catching up on what are the updates on social media, what is um, you know, what are some trends going on right now within the restaurant space, what are, you know, uh, you know, a big issue right now is the whole use of hashtags and whatnot.
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So it's just you have to you have to immerse yourself in in kind of that world if you want to, again, if you want to be good at it, you gotta understand it, you gotta spend time doing it, understanding it.
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And a lot of our early days when we started doing pop-ups, we were getting writers and bloggers to come out strictly because they found us on Instagram.
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They they saw there was good photos, they saw the profile looked professional and looked clean.
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Um I think that's what really kind of started the buzz for us was just our focus on putting out really good food, but we were also going to capture it for content and let that work for us.
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Because, two, it was the cheapest form of advertising for us, was just taking good pictures with good lighting.
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And again, it was spending time trying to understand how do you create good lighting?
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How do you, you know, how do you get good photos with just an iPhone?
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Uh, how do you edit some of these photos?
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So I I'm just I'm I'm real obsessive and compulsive when it comes to trying to be good at something.
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And I realized quickly that we had to have good food, but if we wanted this to be a legitimate um thing someday, we had to put a lot of effort into social media and marketing as well.
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And we get uh, you know, we host these classes now, and uh, I I bet probably once a month we have someone from Australia in our class, someone that flies all the way across the world to spend three days with us and um learn the craft of barbecue.
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And uh it's it's it's been really fulfilling for me to to kind of get to help some people just get a little bit better each day.
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Your um what's your YouTube channel up to?
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Because you got a YouTube channel as well, right?
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You you don't just we're not just talking about Instagram.
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I did uh God YouTube is a whole nother beast.
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Holy shit, man.
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Uh I I I would almost tell people now if you're thinking about doing YouTube, don't.
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But um we we've I think we're up to 63,000 subscribers, um, which is great.
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I've got big aspirations there too.
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You know, I'm trying to get to a hundred thousand and a hundred thousand to five hundred thousand, and it's like anything, just set goals, get to them, and just keep reworking them.
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But um we started YouTube because uh people were wanting to come in again because of Instagram and the food and the content we're putting out.
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They'd message us through Instagram, ask to come in and do a video on us, you know, our story and and and what we're doing and the food we're putting out, and then use it for their channel.
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And every time a creator would come in, we would see a great big bump in foot traffic, you know, for a period of time.
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And I thought, well shit, if YouTube has such a high conversion rate for foot traffic, why don't we just make our own channel, put our own content out, and we'll just keep getting the foot traffic from our own content.
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Yeah.
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And that's kind of what's happened.
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It um, I mean, every day we're having I would say 10 to 20 percent of our daily foot traffic is just people coming in because they watch the YouTube channel.
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How often are you posting on YouTube?
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Oh man, uh, it used to be every week and then it went to every other week.
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And um now it's probably about every three weeks, is a pretty consistent number.
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Uh there for a while, I had a producer that was helping me do a lot of the background stuff, the editing with the because I'm telling you folks right now, if you're thinking about starting YouTube, you do not know what you do not know.
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It it is a it's a 40-hour a week job to get one video out a week for good content.
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You know, you can just put something up, but if you want it to be really good and and and to to actually get pushed out by the algorithm, it's gotta be good content.
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And uh that's a that's a whole nother job by itself.
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But we were when we had the producer crew, we were doing it every week, and then um, you know, I learned too, it's it's it's hard to put out content every week.
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You kind of get to a point where you're like, shit, what do we want to talk about now?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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And you gotta repeat yourself.
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It's like how many times can we show someone how to cook a brisket?
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But um it's uh it's we still do it every about every three weeks.
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I do have plans to kind of spend a little bit more time over the next six months, really kind of diving back into it again, just because it it's just such a good conversion rate for us as far as our time spent and the time spent that actually converts to people coming through the door.
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Yeah.
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I I don't think there's many, there's not a lot of owners out there who have dedicated so much time to one learning the craft, but then two, going through and and sharing that craft.
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Because a lot of the stuff you're sharing, you're teaching you're teaching people how to make your product.
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Is that fair?
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You're teaching people the process on how to make the product, what you do.
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Um and but that's bringing people through the door.
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I think so many people get afraid to go, shit, I don't want to teach me how to do it because I'll go and make it themselves.
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:51.519
But man, I'm never gonna go make a brisket, not ever.
00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.119
I don't and it's not like just barbecue.
00:17:53.200 --> 00:18:01.839
I think if you're in any restaurant space, I'm telling you, right, we started doing classes because I saw that it could be another revenue stream for BarA.
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:09.680
And uh it's it's a it's a great revenue stream for us, but it also it's great marketing for us.
00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.680
No one leaves these classes and it doesn't go tell all their friends about it on social media.
00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:19.680
Yeah, they take pictures, they take videos of it, they put it up on social media, and every time they do that, we get tagged in it.
00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:27.039
And I'll look a week later at that tag, and it's got 57 comments, 30 shares on it from all their friends and family.
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:39.759
And then when those people are coming down to Texas, we have this guy that took the class is our biggest supporter and one of our biggest ambassadors for bar A, is telling everyone when you go to Texas, you got to go to Bar A.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:47.759
And again, we get all these friends and families from these guys that took a class one time that paid to take that class.
00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:49.440
That's real revenue for us.
00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:50.000
Yeah.
00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:57.680
And then we get the revenue from their friends and family coming in, and we just keep spider webbing this whole, you know, um customer base, I guess.
00:18:57.759 --> 00:18:58.079
I don't know.
00:18:58.319 --> 00:18:59.680
My mind went blank.
00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:13.839
So your advice if someone else is sitting here right now going, shit, I really need to start getting myself because I think most owners get so caught up in doing the doing that the social media becomes the the afterthought.
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.599
It's like the last thing on the list.
00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:23.119
So do you you obviously prioritized your product first, but social media comes pretty high up on your high value task list that you had to learn?
00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.200
For for Cooper Abercrombie, it does.
00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:25.440
Yes.
00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:27.200
I don't want to speak for anybody else, man.
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.279
There's a lot of guys who've been there a lot longer than me.
00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:30.880
Um hats off to them.
00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.039
That's just that's been my approach.
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:36.559
I'm not saying it's the right approach, but um it's worked.
00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.279
I I can tell you it it's worked for us so far.
00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.799
It's gotten people to the to the restaurant, and it keeps bringing more every day.
00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:47.920
So I think if you already have a great product and you have a great concept, why would you not spend the time?
00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:49.039
Because it's gonna pay you.
00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:50.000
So that's the whole goal.
00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:52.480
I mean, we all work for money, we don't do anything for free.
00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.799
So if we didn't have to work for money, we'd all be on the beach stringing pena collidals.
00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:58.000
Yeah, yeah.
00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:06.640
And you know, when we speak to Taylor, Taylor talks a lot about founder-led content right now, and it's something that I've really been preaching as well.
00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:16.880
That, you know, if you're the owner or if you're that attractive character inside the business right now, now's the time where if you're already behind the eight ball, if you're not sharing the shit out there.
00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:37.519
Even though you're saying YouTube's probably like a prof becoming a professional game, and I man, I agree with you, you know, like to get out the content we get out, and we know when even near close to your level, there's still a pretty big setup in the background just to just just the processing and and the filming and the planning and so much to do, but the back end of it's been huge.
00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:42.319
Um, so if you're out there right now and you're listening in, you're not doing it, I'm gonna make a suggestion.
00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.000
Um, is probably start thinking about how you can just get started.
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.400
Um yeah, and it I think Taylor says it all the time.
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:51.359
Just just turn the camera on and just record yourself.
00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:54.240
Like just get content out there.
00:20:54.400 --> 00:21:01.200
I mean, it it's also social media, and I and this is again Cooper's beliefs.
00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:04.000
I I am wrong all the damn time, people.
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:07.440
But my belief is it's a lot like the slot machine.
00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:09.920
Just keep putting money in it.
00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:12.319
Eventually, and when I say money, I'm saying content.
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:22.559
Keep putting content, keep feeding the machine, and eventually you're gonna have something pop, and something's gonna go viral, and you're gonna gain a thousand followers from that one, that one clip, that one beat or that one post or whatever.
00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.720
And you never know which one it's gonna be.
00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:35.200
I used to beat myself up, you know, over spending three hours editing a video and then being so excited about it, and then I post it and it gets like a hundred likes, and I'm like, shit, man.
00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:39.119
Spent half my day on this damn thing I was gonna pop off and it didn't.
00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:45.599
And then the reel that I spent 30 seconds on is the one that gets 20,000 likes and 10,000 shares, you know.
00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:50.000
It's there it while there is an algorithm, there's math to it.
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.880
I think at the end of the day, it's a lot of it's a lot of luck.
00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:53.279
Yeah.
00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:58.799
You know, um, but I do think you have to do a couple core principle things.
00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.759
And I've always said, you know.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.960
So make sure that your profile is optimized.
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.000
Make sure it has a professional looking profile picture.
00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:10.559
Make sure it has all your information as far as your address, your phone number.
00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.079
What do you do?
00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:12.559
Yeah.
00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:13.759
What are you?
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.079
And Taylor can speak on that.
00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:19.119
She at her pod did a great job on telling you how to optimize that.
00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:20.640
But make sure it looks great.
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:25.680
And then spend 30 minutes on YouTube on how to take better photos of your food.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.480
You know, I can't say how many times I go to look at someone's social media and they haven't been on there in a year.
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:34.240
And it's got smudgy camera lens iPhone photos on there.
00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:36.000
I'm like, man, this is yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:40.079
You're just wasting time even having this account with this stuff on there.
00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:44.240
But it's going to bring you people, it's going to bring, it's going to pay off.
00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.279
Just get the content out there and do it consistently.
00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:50.960
People are, I don't believe in the once a week, twice a week.
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:54.480
And me and Taylor, me and Taylor have argued about this, and I will still fight it on it.
00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:01.519
Post every day at the same time for 90 days and see what a difference it makes to your account.
00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:06.480
I guarantee your engagement is going to go up and you're going to increase your followers.
00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:09.599
Post every day for 90 days at 9 a.m.
00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:12.079
and just put it out there for night and see what happens.
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:12.559
Yeah.
00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:15.200
I guarantee you your engagement will go up.
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:15.759
Yeah.
00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:21.759
And, you know, what I get excited for with restaurant owners, and when I say restaurant owners, I say that broadly.
00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:35.359
It doesn't matter if you're in bar, cafe, you know, whether you're smoking brisket, whether or not, you know, you're peeling prawns, whatever, or shrimp, um whatever it is, hospitality's got such a story to tell.
00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:36.880
You've always got something happening.
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:38.480
Like you've got an order coming in.
00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:43.920
You could just showing people the meat when it comes through the door, it's still an education.
00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:45.200
People want to see this shit.
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.680
People, you know, you look at like my kitchen rules and all the cooking shows.
00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:52.799
People, I don't know, people got this weird fascination with food.
00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:58.400
I think hospitality's in the spot to get the most amount of engagement and people connect with it.
00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:00.160
But yet so many owners don't.
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:08.960
And probably my my comment, I'd love to hear what your opinion is, is I feel like there's a lot of fear from owners to get behind the camera because they're going to look silly.
00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:15.920
And your first video is going to be rubbish, and your tenth video is going to be slightly less rubbish.
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:21.359
And by the time you get to your hundredth video, it's going to be a hundred times better than your first video.
00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:23.039
But I don't know about you, Coops.
00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:26.319
I'm still watching myself back and going, oh shit, you sit differently.
00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:27.680
Oh shit, say this differently.
00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:33.680
Like you, it's just a just a do learn, do, learn, do, learn, and you just get better and better over time.
00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:37.200
I think so many people, Tim, are afraid to suck.
00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:37.759
Yeah.
00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:50.480
You know, and not, and and I think you have to understand that there is no one walking this earth, past or present, that ever started anything and did not suck at it immediately.
00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:50.960
Yeah.
00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:55.359
They just stuck with it long enough to eventually get pretty damn good at it.
00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:58.480
Um and sometimes elite at it.
00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:06.559
And you can't you can't let the fear of just being bad at something keep you from achieving greatness.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:09.759
And um, I think I'm a walking testament of that.
00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:22.319
You know, I we made awful, awful food seven years ago, and we made really bad food six years ago, and we made bad food five and four years ago, and eventually it got okay and then averaged.
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:25.920
And I think now we're we're making pretty damn good food, but we still have a lot of work to do.
00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:28.400
We can still get a lot better on everything we do.
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:28.960
Yeah.
00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:32.160
Uh and I'm not afraid of the work, and neither is my team.
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:49.119
But I like I said my main point is I just I just think so many people they they they start something and then they're bad at it, and they just can't handle being bad at it long enough to find out that hey, they're actually pretty damn good at it compared to a lot of people out there.
00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:50.160
Yeah.
00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:50.880
Yep.
00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:52.319
Yep, that's good advice.
00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:55.599
Keep being bad at it until you're good at it, and then you'll start enjoying it.
00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:59.440
Because you also, when you're bad at it, you usually hate it for a period of time as well.
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:01.440
And it's it's you've got to grind through it.
00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:02.720
You've got to grind through it.
00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:07.680
Um, at what point do you reckon you went from what what was the turning point?
00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:10.400
When did the lines out the door start slowly?
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:23.759
Or was there one or two things that happened and you just woke up one morning, you're like, shit, we got another line today, and like, shit, we got another line today, and it just kept happening, or did they gradually just start building from when you started doing classes and the content started ramping up?
00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:32.400
It was definitely a it was a gradual build for a while in the brick and mortar, and then it was a couple YouTube videos came out.
00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:39.200
Some people told our story that really, I mean, that people that did not have big channels, you know.
00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:42.319
Yeah, the micro, the micro influences, the small girls.
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:47.759
You know, and uh you can you can YouTube barre barbecue.
00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:56.400
There's two or three videos out there that have 1.52 3 million views on them, and that really was a great boost for us.
00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:00.400
Um you know, it's and and sidetrack on that.
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:09.519
I I I've heard from other restaurant owners that don't want influencers or um creators coming in there and and posting on about them.
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:15.599
Um I I think you're I think you're missing a big opportunity uh by turning those people away.
00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:30.079
But um we had two or three videos that really popped off, and I mean within seven days they went from okay, we were doing$25,000,$30,000 weeks, and now we're doing$50,000 weeks, now we're doing$60,000 weeks.
00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:43.680
You know, and and what what I think really helped us, Tim, is we already knew we had a really, really good product, really, really good environment and service and team.
00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:48.160
And we just needed that story to hit the right people.
00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:53.519
And because I've often said it's it's not hard to get someone to your restaurant one time.
00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.039
It's very hard to get someone to your restaurant five times.
00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:57.680
Yeah.
00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:03.519
Um, that's when you have a fanatic on your that's that's that's really gonna push your brand out there.
00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:20.559
And when we got those people in, they never stopped coming because they realized we were doing something really, really special and they keep coming back and they keep bringing friends and they keep telling friends, and that's that's when it really turns into something really beautiful and really, really cool.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:24.880
Um can we just can we just rewind to the influencer thing?
00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:31.119
I think sometimes, you know, I feel I feel like the whole getting influencers in can be a hit and miss situation.
00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:36.720
You know, you hear some stories, influencers come in and and you know they want free meals or they come in and they want cash.
00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:47.759
And then, you know, I'm I'm a big believer in in the micro influences are probably gonna do more for your business in your local area than what someone coming in with a million followers is gonna do.
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:54.240
Um, you know, depending on where you are, like obviously, if you're in, you know, metropolitan, it's probably gonna be a bit different.
00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:57.200
What's what's your strategy on influences?
00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:58.720
What's your outlook on it?
00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:02.640
Just to give someone who's sitting here listening going, I've never tried influencers.
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:05.759
Like, what could you explain that in a little bit more detail for us?
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:09.119
Absolutely, because I I do kind of have a process behind it.
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:21.200
Uh, because we get we get probably two or three requests a day uh for people wanting to come in and and want money to film us or a free meal or whatever um at this point.
00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:28.319
And I go through, I go straight to their profile, I go look at their content, I go look at the number of views on their content.
00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:31.680
I want to know, okay, how many eyeballs you get into your content.
00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:33.920
And then I go and I look at interactions.
00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:40.480
Um a lot of uh, you know, you can definitely buy followers, you can buy lights, you can buy stuff like that.
00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:48.799
But you can you can tell pretty quick on, you know, if that person has a hundred thousand followers and each one of their videos has 3,000 views.
00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:54.079
I guess they don't really have 100,000 followers, they got 90,000 bots and probably 10,000 people.
00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:54.559
Yeah.
00:29:54.880 --> 00:30:02.319
Um, you know, go look at how many views is each one of their videos getting, you know, and compare it to you.
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:03.839
You know, it's different for everybody.
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:14.960
If you're already a great um operation and your your social media is getting 20 plus thousand views every time you post something, and this person's gonna get you there, they're getting five.
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:17.039
It's it's probably not worth you paying them.
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:18.559
Uh, and that's okay.
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.599
Uh, there's a lot of there is no shortage of creators out there.
00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:24.319
I promise you, there's more every day, too.
00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:38.240
Um, you know, look and see what the engagement is, you know, because sometimes they'll have uh great engagement, and then I'll go look at it, and it's just you know, if it's if it's a female influencer, it's go girl, good job, girl, great girl.
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:43.119
And it's like, okay, there's 3,000 comments, 2,500 of them say go girl.
00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:47.680
This is probably someone that's just paying to have these comments farmed on their account.
00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:48.160
Yeah.
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:53.200
Um, there's there's just little bitty things, and again, I'm a YouTube university pro, man.
00:30:53.359 --> 00:31:01.200
Uh, you can there's there's videos out there that'll help you spot some of these things if you spend five, 10 minutes just watching a video on it.
00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:11.680
But um, to your point, some of my favorite people to work with are the ones that live within 25 miles of Montgomery.
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:24.720
Um, and that those are the ones that lately I've been spending more time um talking to and direct messages and face-to-face about doing some content promotions with them because um it's great.
00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:38.559
You know, we definitely want all of our reels to pop off, but it means more to me if that girl that lives two miles down the road that has 5,000 followers, and every time she posts uh something, it's getting 20 shares, which is great.
00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:41.519
That's a that's a good amount of eyeballs for most local restaurants.
00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:46.640
Her contract gets 20 shares, and she's got a hundred comments on there, and it's all people you know.
00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:49.680
Like I know that person, I know that person, I know that person.
00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:51.680
That's probably someone you want to work with.
00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:54.640
They're they're gonna do really well for you, you know.
00:31:54.799 --> 00:32:07.279
Um, I I look for a lot of the the mom followers and stuff like mom influencers or whatever in our area, because I'm a family person, we're a family environment restaurant.
00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:14.400
Um, I want people that are gonna come in and showcase that, yeah, man, bring your kids out, have a great time and sitting outside in the shade trees at RA.
00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:19.279
You know, so I would say the lesson there is who do you want to attract?
00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:24.319
And then just go find the people in your area that are already at those events that you like to be at, you know.
00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:26.319
Dude, that's such a good summary.
00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:29.519
Rarely, rarely people explain it like that.
00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:34.960
And I think if you're not doing micro influences, you're missing out in in your spot.
00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:40.960
Um well, we all we all follow people on in on social media that that interest us.
00:32:41.119 --> 00:32:41.519
Yeah.
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:51.039
Um, you know, we all have interests outside of the restaurant, and in, you know, whether it's it's anything, writing or or whatever, there's there's events for all those interests.
00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:55.359
Well, who is at those events that you're following that's shooting content for all the time?
00:32:55.759 --> 00:32:59.440
Yeah, go approach those people and bring them out to your restaurant.
00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:02.799
Talk about your love for the passion they have when you have.
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:06.799
And I content creators, guess what, folks?
00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:09.759
They need content, they're begging for content.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:11.279
Get them out to your place.
00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:14.079
They they need the content for their channel too or their page.
00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:14.960
Yeah, yeah.
00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:22.480
And do you uh and I'm gonna I'm gonna get off content in a second, but I've got one last question because I'm I'm learning a lot from you today as well.
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:30.880
Um, the when you talk about content creators, do you have like a uh um an avatar?
00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:32.799
Do you have like an ideal client?
00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:38.480
You know, um, you know, like Lululemon's got like the the girls in activewear.
00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:45.599
Like, do you have you know dudes with beards who like drinking beers and you focus on them as content creators, or do you just look at everybody?
00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:50.079
You know, do you have an ideal demographic or or just spreading it?
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:53.119
Yeah, um, there's a there's a lot of answers to that question.
00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:53.440
Yeah.
00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:58.559
Um, because I I actually have a spreadsheet broken down of kind of who I like to go after.
00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:04.480
Um, but you know, I I find a lot of our our higher conversion is with uh football fans.
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:07.759
I'm a big football guy, I love football, I'm passionate about it.
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:18.400
Um we do a lot of um charitable events and donations for our local football teams and programs and also like I love sports.
00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:21.360
So anything to do with sports, we're gonna find a way to be a part of it.
00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:26.960
You know, we've we have one rule that we uh we never turn down a kid for a donation here in Montgomery.
00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:32.880
They now a caveat is the kid has to come in and ask me face to face for the donation and tell me what it's for.
00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:36.480
I don't do it where the parent comes in and asks for the donation for the kid.
00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:38.800
I want to hear from the kid what they're doing.
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:48.639
Um, and there's been times where um, you know, now all these kids have forms and the forms like, hey, there's a thousand dollar, two thousand, five thousand dollars.
00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:57.360
Well, I don't have a thousand dollars a lot of times to give the kid in that moment in time, but I've always said I will give you something, and I may give them a check for 150 bucks.
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:07.920
Yeah, and it doesn't matter, like you're supporting a sports team, a program, something in your town, that kid appreciates it, those parents appreciate it, they tell their family and friends about it.
00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:09.760
Yep, you're on their radar now.
00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:11.440
Um, that's one of the rules we have.
00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:19.119
But so to answer your question, I I've got people, I like to go after sports teams and sports people and figures.
00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:27.519
Um, we also try and cater towards guys that um are outdoors, you know, barbecue and outdoorsy guys, fishing, hunting, stuff like that.
00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:29.440
Uh, and then we go after families too.
00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:34.559
A lot of our, if you look at our content, a lot of it's is it's all family friendly.
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:40.880
You don't have any uh you know cursing on there or anything that's derogatory or stuff like that.
00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:46.320
Um we we try and stay as neutral as we can on social media uh on every topic.
00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:46.960
Good idea.
00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:53.360
Don't ever I don't ever think it hurt it it helps you to alienate anybody on your social media.
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:54.320
Okay, good.
00:35:54.480 --> 00:36:00.000
All right, I'm gonna we're gonna pull this up here for for content and marketing because I I think there's so much to take from it.
00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:09.920
So if you're an owner out there listening right now, I think number one, um, you need to build a sh build a sheet of like who your ideal market is and who your ideal targets are because everyone's gonna be different.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:19.599
And that doesn't matter if you're a cocktail bar that only opens at 10 o'clock at night, or whether or not you're a breakfast cafe that only serves uh no vegan eggs.
00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:21.039
I don't know.
00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:25.360
But um so get clear about who you who you're going after.
00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:40.159
Um start start building a following of just sharing out what you love and your passion about what you're doing, and then get other people who are in your community who could potentially help share you out there and help get more content out there to share as well.
00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:44.960
I think that's a probably a fair, uh, a fair to-do list from the last 40 minutes.
00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:49.360
Now, I I want to shit, I want to shift gears, Cooper, if that's all right.
00:36:49.519 --> 00:36:56.079
Um, you mentioned before, like people come in, you get donations, and and you're all never say no to kids, and I absolutely love that.
00:36:56.320 --> 00:37:01.119
What about what have you learned about building a profitable business over the last seven years?
00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:03.840
Because obviously, you know, we've worked together for a period of time.
00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:09.840
What's some of your biggest takeaways you could help someone who may be coming up through the ranks who loves barbecue?
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:11.039
What could you help them?
00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:16.960
What information could you share with them today to help them skip some of the mistakes that you skipped?
00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:19.199
Get your ass in foodie coaches now.
00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:22.079
That's why listen, no, no bullshit.
00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:26.559
We uh I knew nothing about business seven years ago.
00:37:26.639 --> 00:37:30.239
I knew nothing about business um two years ago.
00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:39.599
Uh but um foodie coaches taught me everything that we do from how to actually run the business and actually have it make money.
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:45.440
Because I think like a lot of people, um just because you're busy doesn't mean you're making any money.
00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:47.840
Yeah, and the top line is vanity.
00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:54.079
Um, it's it's about what you're keeping in the bank, is what actually matters uh to you, your staff, and your family.
00:37:54.159 --> 00:38:01.679
And don't ever get it twisted because um I don't ever want to look at my team and say we don't have the money to pay you guys, and that's never gonna happen.
00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:07.039
But um that I it's not just because I'm on the pot.
00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:10.639
I mean, I there's it no bullshit 100%.
00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:19.039
If you're struggling with any anything to do with money, business, uh, how to do anything, you need to get in the foodie coaches program.
00:38:19.119 --> 00:38:21.519
It's it's it's an investment, it's worth everything.
00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:31.519
Um, and I also recognize that um there's not any coach or leader out there that did not have a mentor in their life that helped them get to where they're at.
00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:40.079
Yeah, and that's how I viewed uh FC was um it's gonna be my mentor and get me to where I want to go, and it has.
00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:46.239
And um it's it it made a guy that loved numbers.
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:53.119
I always kind of loved numbers and I loved um sales forever, and then I, you know, and barbecues got into my life and my passion.
00:38:53.280 --> 00:39:24.000
But man, I I can't tell you how much I love the numbers now and in the systems and the processes, and and just it fascinates me how um I had this conversation with uh another business owner last week, and we were talking about my my spider web view I have on how you know food cost and labor cost and overhead and marketing and the the tickets through the door, like there are all these different levers, and I think I've even sent you this email, Tim.
00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:26.079
I know you were too busy to get to me too big time.
00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:33.039
But uh it's um there's these levers I call them, and there's all the you know, you're your food lever, your labor lever.
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:36.880
And it they're not independent.
00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:51.039
And I thought that for so long, it your labor cost affects your food cost, your food cost affects your labor cost, your your overhead effect, it's all interconnected and all spider web together.
00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:55.760
And for so long I did not understand that.
00:39:55.840 --> 00:40:09.599
And FC really helped me kind of figure out what the levers were, how they worked together, and then I kind of took it from there and just got, and like anything, I was bad at it, so I got enveloped and I just could not get away from it.
00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:13.599
And I'm reading books that I thought I would never read in my entire life.
00:40:13.760 --> 00:40:24.960
I'm reading, you know, accounting books and and trying to understand these these concepts and principles of money and time and all these different things, and um it's just so fun.
00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:48.960
It but I was you know, I have a whole system now when I've talked to some of my buddies in the industry that have seen the changes that we've made and what it's done for me, and I've kind of told them my theory on all this stuff, and it's just fun to watch their eyes light up now and go, that I've I didn't think my food costs were that important, which sounds absolutely ridiculous to say out loud, but yeah, uh, I'm sure you hear it all the time.
00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:58.400
And so many people, I think just because there's a line out the door or every seat's full, they think, oh man, fuck, it's all good, dude.
00:40:58.480 --> 00:40:59.039
We're making money.
00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:01.599
There's there's there's like all this money in the register right now.
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:09.599
And then they don't realize they're running 51% food cost and 38% labor cost, and you know, oh, did you set aside your quarterly taxes?
00:41:09.679 --> 00:41:12.880
Or did you know the answer is no for a lot of people out there?
00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:16.880
I've I've talked with my friends in the industry, and it's it's the answer is no.
00:41:17.199 --> 00:41:19.679
Uh, and we didn't do it for a long time either.
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:28.719
And um, now that we have the now that I have the understanding I do, and the system's in place, and it just makes everything so much easier.
00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:30.320
There, there is no stress.
00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:34.639
I'm I'm a systems and ops guy, and when I build a system, that's what we do.
00:41:34.719 --> 00:41:35.519
That's the game plan.
00:41:35.599 --> 00:41:38.400
That's what we're going into this game with, and that's what we're gonna execute.
00:41:38.559 --> 00:41:47.599
And then we're gonna wake up Monday and we're gonna review that game plan, whether we we won or we lost, and we're gonna make changes from that, and we're gonna just keep getting better every single week.
00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:51.760
And um, that's just how I've operated forever.
00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:53.039
Yeah.
00:41:53.199 --> 00:41:56.159
So you're a guy who loves numbers, but you love them more now.
00:41:56.239 --> 00:41:57.840
There's more cash in the bank, I would imagine.
00:41:58.000 --> 00:41:59.199
Yes, yeah, for sure.
00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:13.360
It's a it's amazing how how much stress is relieved when you start making money, when you start banking decent cash, how much brain, like how much extra brain power you've got to think about other things.
00:42:14.239 --> 00:42:32.559
When you just understand the numbers before you even put the money in the bank, yeah, the level of clarity I think it gives your mind, your body, everything is it's like, oh, I just need to work on this and this and this, and then boom, look at the NOI go up.
00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:35.519
Yeah, it just gives you everything you need.
00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:38.639
Just understand the numbers, spend the time to do it.
00:42:38.880 --> 00:42:52.000
Even if you have to shut down for a day, you are going to, it is going to make you so much more money over your entire life than just to keep running blind and keep one month there's money there, and the next month we did this, we were still busy and there's no money there.
00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:52.559
What the hell?
00:42:52.639 --> 00:42:55.920
And you just you get back in this mental funk like, I don't know what I'm doing anymore.
00:42:56.079 --> 00:42:56.400
Yep.
00:42:56.639 --> 00:42:58.159
I just I don't have those anymore.
00:42:58.239 --> 00:42:59.519
I it's just it's clear.
00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:01.119
I know the path, I know the plan.
00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:04.400
We make adjustments when something gets off and we just keep working the plan.
00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:04.880
Yeah.
00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:07.199
If you're listening here, I want to point something out.
00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:17.679
Is one thing that I've noticed Cooper's really good at is he figures out something that he knows he sucks at, whether or not it's cooking barbecue when he first started.
00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:24.239
So you focused on how do I not suck at cooking barbecue, and you just you spent the time trying to get better.
00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:26.000
And then you're like, cool.
00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:28.239
At the same time, I've got to get better at content.
00:43:28.320 --> 00:43:31.440
So you've spent the time diving into content.
00:43:31.519 --> 00:43:35.360
You know, you you spend more time a week understanding the algorithm than what I do.
00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:41.360
I'm gonna be 100% honest with you, just four to five hours a week just understanding the changes, what's going on, how it looks.
00:43:41.599 --> 00:43:44.400
You know, so you went down there, and what do you got?
00:43:44.559 --> 00:43:45.920
60,000 followers on YouTube?
00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:48.079
Like that's that's a fucking feat, man.
00:43:48.239 --> 00:43:49.760
That's a huge feat.
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.559
And then now to the point where your brand's so big, you've got people flying in from around the world.
00:43:54.639 --> 00:43:59.760
Now, if you've ever been on a trip from Australia uh to America and you fly economy.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:06.800
I'm going to be honest, like 16, 18 hours in a plane and economy, especially when you're a dude, it's not comfy.
00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:10.719
So, you know, that's that's the brand that you've now built.
00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:12.880
And then the next thing is like how you've done the numbers.
00:44:12.960 --> 00:44:16.880
And it's rather than going day in, day out, it's like, how do I get better?
00:44:17.039 --> 00:44:18.400
What do we need to do that's better?
00:44:18.639 --> 00:44:20.079
Okay, last week we sucked.
00:44:20.239 --> 00:44:22.000
What are we gonna do this week to get better?
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:24.320
And do you share that with your team as well?
00:44:24.400 --> 00:44:28.400
Like what numbers do you share with your team and how do you go on along that journey?
00:44:28.559 --> 00:44:30.719
Yeah, we we have no secrets anywhere.
00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:35.119
Um if people ask, they're more than welcome to get the information.
00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:37.280
Um, we couple couple things.
00:44:37.360 --> 00:44:38.719
You know, we have our whiteboard in the back.
00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:42.000
Yeah, we have uh every day it's updated by our managers.
00:44:42.079 --> 00:44:53.440
It's got um this week's sales to date versus last week's sales, um, ticket count versus this week versus last week, um, average customer spend.
00:44:53.519 --> 00:44:56.000
And we have goals that's to each of those.
00:44:56.079 --> 00:44:59.519
You know, hey, we want the ACS to be this, we want this many tickets this week.
00:44:59.679 --> 00:45:02.159
This is what we're looking at to do top line.
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:09.840
Um, I've built dashboards with Clyde for uh myself, my managers that tracks the big KPIs.
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:18.400
Uh it sets budgets for the spend they can spend on their front-of-house labor, their back-of-house labor, their food spend, cleaning supplies spend.
00:45:18.480 --> 00:45:20.800
It's got all these budgets written out for these guys.
00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:32.800
So uh because I've put in that back end work, it's again, it's given my my team the clarity they need to make decisions without Cooper uh making them all.
00:45:32.960 --> 00:45:33.199
Yeah.
00:45:33.360 --> 00:45:50.159
You know, I spend I spend my 20 minutes every week looking at last year's sales data, forecasting this these next couple weeks sales projections based on weather patterns, based on events in the area, based on our uh per year growth trend.
00:45:50.320 --> 00:45:59.760
Yes, you know, and I apply that to the next couple weeks and then um put it into our our dashboard we built, and then it just updates the sheets for those guys.
00:45:59.840 --> 00:46:01.039
I got I'm so sorry, Tim.
00:46:01.119 --> 00:46:01.840
I got off track, bro.
00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:03.360
I lost my no, no, no.
00:46:03.440 --> 00:46:08.800
I'd like how much dude, you just you gave a whole summary of the question, which was how much information do you share with your team?
00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:18.559
So you you're pulling all this data in through Claude and then it's distributing to the team through dashboards that they got they can see, and then obviously it's gonna be on a and you've got a whiteboard out the back as well.
00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:20.239
Yeah, I'm I'm a big whiteboard guy.
00:46:20.400 --> 00:46:32.159
I love you know, we have we have the apps that the team uses and stuff to communicate, and uh I I still tell them to use that, but whiteboard, where it's at, it's the first thing when you walk into the back of the house, you you can't miss it.
00:46:32.639 --> 00:46:34.079
Is that from your sales days?
00:46:34.320 --> 00:46:35.119
Yeah, yeah.
00:46:35.679 --> 00:46:41.599
That and and just coach, I mean, there's not a coach's office in America that doesn't have a whiteboard, it's got today's game plan written on it, what we're doing today.
00:46:41.760 --> 00:46:48.880
Yeah, but um the reason we do it is it it it eliminates the whole, oh my phone died, I didn't see the message, you know, bullshit.
00:46:48.960 --> 00:46:51.280
It's on the whiteboard, it's been on the whiteboard for three days now.
00:46:51.519 --> 00:47:08.639
But it's got our sales data, it's got prep needed from the night crew to tell the morning crew on prep that they didn't get to or prep that's needed because they were busier last night than anticipated, uh catering orders for the day, catering orders for the week, uh cleaning focus for the day, cleaning focus for the week.
00:47:08.880 --> 00:47:09.440
So they're good.
00:47:09.760 --> 00:47:14.960
Um, it's just it gives everyone there there's no room for error.
00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:17.599
It's it's right there, it's black and white.
00:47:17.840 --> 00:47:18.880
This is our focus.
00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:23.519
We also actually have a um upsell item of the day focus too.
00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:30.719
We like to kind of rotate certain items on our menu that we really want to uh make special attention go to.
00:47:31.119 --> 00:47:32.159
You know, you'll love this.
00:47:32.239 --> 00:47:38.480
I've got I have upsell sales scripts at every station at our front of the house.
00:47:38.719 --> 00:47:39.119
You're right.
00:47:39.199 --> 00:47:40.159
I do love that.
00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:43.280
We have so we're a counter, we're 100% counter service.
00:47:43.360 --> 00:47:46.960
You know, we cut, we cut all the protein right in front of you.
00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:53.280
You're you're three feet in front of us, you're you're seeing us pull it out, cut it, plate it, it's all right in front of you.
00:47:53.599 --> 00:48:02.320
And and the one, the little half wall we have for the scenes guard, it's got little note cards that say, Hey, cutter, here's the five upsell chances you have.
00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:05.679
You have to say one of these five lines to the customer in front of you.
00:48:05.920 --> 00:48:10.159
The side person, they have five in front of them, garnish and register.
00:48:10.719 --> 00:48:14.480
And um, you know, I've given them exactly what to say.
00:48:14.639 --> 00:48:18.480
Now they eventually put their own their it's funny watching the evolution.
00:48:18.559 --> 00:48:23.119
They they all go from verbatim to uh putting their own spin on it, yeah.
00:48:23.199 --> 00:48:24.159
Um, which is great.
00:48:24.400 --> 00:48:39.440
It's what you need to do is be comfortable in your own skin, sell it how you want to sell it, um, but using our messaging and having to teach them and every new person we teach them, it it's okay to hear no more than one time.
00:48:39.760 --> 00:48:41.840
Um, it's it's often needed.
00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:53.760
You know, if if three of you in a row are really pushing cornbread, that hey, guess what, has an 8% food cost on it or whatever that number is, yeah, we want you pushing that cornbread.
00:48:53.840 --> 00:48:58.000
If three people in a row are pushing it, that customer's gonna go, man, that's looking pretty fucking good cornbread, man.
00:48:58.159 --> 00:48:58.639
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:48:59.360 --> 00:49:25.840
Throw it on there, you know, and now that that ticket went from 50 to 54, you know, and then and then showing them that hey, the higher that ticket is at the register, the higher the tip total is because it's going off a percentage off of that that it's suggesting 15, 20, 25, whatever the percentage is, that puts more money in your pocket, um, which is great for them.
00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:36.639
But it's also in and your program really opened my eyes to this was we don't want to upsell just to be greedy upsell people, you know.
00:49:36.719 --> 00:49:38.079
Don't don't think of it as that.
00:49:38.239 --> 00:49:48.480
It's you know, we we sat down as a team of we have 28 people on our staff now, and we we sit down as a team about every six months.
00:49:48.800 --> 00:50:12.559
And then I sit down with my managers every week and we try and meet every quarter with all the employees individually, but we talk about what we call our our our rock star tray, and that's that's if if the coolest person in the world that you really adore walked into your restaurant and you were not gonna charge them for it because you want to just give them the coolest experience ever, what would you put on that tray?
00:50:12.880 --> 00:50:23.440
And for us, it was you know, a half pound of mixed brisket, uh a half rack of pork ribs, a link of both of our sausages, a piece of cornbread, and then a pint of cheese tater casserole.
00:50:23.519 --> 00:50:25.280
So it's like that's our rock star platform.
00:50:25.840 --> 00:50:39.199
So we tell our team say this is what we want to push people to because we in our own beliefs, because we eat our own food, we think this is the best experience we can provide that rock star guest.
00:50:39.920 --> 00:50:47.840
If we think it's the best, it's our duty to make sure every customer that shows up gets the best experience they can have at bar A.
00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:48.400
Yeah.
00:50:49.039 --> 00:50:55.280
And we want them to experience that because if we think it's the best and they get to try it and they get to go, yeah, that's the that's banging.
00:50:55.440 --> 00:50:56.000
Well, guess what?
00:50:56.079 --> 00:50:59.280
They're gonna go tell their friends about it and their neighbors about it and everyone about it.
00:50:59.360 --> 00:51:00.719
And it it just helps us.
00:51:00.880 --> 00:51:07.119
But while, you know, and it might my what I'm driving home is that you you need to upsell.
00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:08.960
Everyone needs to increase their average spend.
00:51:09.039 --> 00:51:13.519
There's not a restaurant out there that doesn't need to increase their average spend, it's only gonna help everything involved.
00:51:13.599 --> 00:51:17.920
But don't do it just to be a greedy, yeah, slum, slimy salesperson.
00:51:18.159 --> 00:51:21.679
Do it because it genuinely is better for the guest.
00:51:21.920 --> 00:51:22.320
Yep.
00:51:22.559 --> 00:51:28.639
If you're doing it, if you're doing it just to make more money, you're gonna go out of business eventually because you're not focusing on the guest experience.
00:51:28.719 --> 00:51:31.199
They're gonna get to the end of the day and go, fuck, I feel ripped off here.
00:51:31.360 --> 00:51:37.519
They've just sold me stuff I didn't need, versus we want every, we want every I love that too.
00:51:37.599 --> 00:51:40.159
We want every single guest to have the rock star experience.
00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:41.280
That's so cool.
00:51:41.440 --> 00:51:41.840
So cool.
00:51:42.079 --> 00:51:48.480
Well, it's I mean, and I've heard you say it in different ways, but it's just I and you know, I grew up in a no excuses household.
00:51:48.559 --> 00:51:57.199
And and the fact that people want to point to restaurants closing at the current rate because the economy or this, that bullshit, man.
00:51:57.280 --> 00:52:01.599
There are restaurants that are jam-packed every Friplin second they're open, man.
00:52:01.679 --> 00:52:02.639
They are killing it.
00:52:02.719 --> 00:52:03.119
Yep.
00:52:03.280 --> 00:52:05.119
Um, go and study those guys, man.
00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:05.920
What are they doing?
00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:09.440
And I just think I don't think there's less money out there, Tim.
00:52:09.599 --> 00:52:17.119
No, I think just consumers now are more conscious of value than they've ever been at any point in time in history.
00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:25.360
I think that you have to have great food, but you have to have incredible guest experience, incredible customer service, like incredible ambiance.
00:52:25.440 --> 00:52:33.840
It all has to work together and be just this harmonious, just throughout every portion of the of the of the restaurant.
00:52:34.079 --> 00:52:44.000
And, you know, uh we're fortunate, you know, one of the people I have a person on my staff that we pay that their uh title is guest experience.
00:52:44.159 --> 00:52:53.920
All they are in charge of doing is shaking people's hands when they walk in the door, looking them in the eyes, welcoming them in, thanking them for coming.
00:52:54.079 --> 00:52:57.679
Because again, the most precious resource we have on this earth is our time.
00:52:58.079 --> 00:53:14.400
If someone's willing to fly from Australia, stand in line for two hours on a Saturday with 105 outside, and spend$250 on this enormous tray of food, we better make damn sure well they feel welcome and thankful and that we're thankful for it.
00:53:14.639 --> 00:53:20.719
And um, that guest experience position is so freaking vital to what we do, man.
00:53:20.960 --> 00:53:23.760
It's uh A just making someone feel special.
00:53:23.840 --> 00:53:26.639
That how many times you walk into a restaurant now and no one acknowledges you.
00:53:29.440 --> 00:53:36.239
Making someone feel that you you've shown them that you see them, you're here, you're thankful they're here, it's a big deal.
00:53:36.480 --> 00:53:42.159
Um, they also they have a chance to talk people through, you know, what are they about to experience?
00:53:42.320 --> 00:53:44.079
How does how does this line work?
00:53:44.239 --> 00:53:51.679
I've never I've how many times have you, I mean, Tim, how many barbecue restaurants have you been to where you have to go wait in line and then how much food do you order?
00:53:51.760 --> 00:53:54.719
How many times have you gotten there and go, I don't know, do I a pound of brisket?
00:53:54.880 --> 00:53:55.280
It's just me.
00:53:55.360 --> 00:53:55.920
How much do I need to order?
00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:56.400
I have no idea.
00:53:56.559 --> 00:53:56.960
Yeah, man.
00:53:57.119 --> 00:53:57.360
Twice.
00:53:57.440 --> 00:53:59.360
I've only ever been to barbecue twice.
00:53:59.599 --> 00:54:04.880
And uh both times I was like I was like uh total fish out of water.
00:54:05.039 --> 00:54:08.639
So because like we don't have barbecue like America's got barbecue and not, right?
00:54:08.719 --> 00:54:09.599
It's totally, totally different.
00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:12.079
Yeah, I mean you've got a couple badass spots over there.
00:54:12.159 --> 00:54:14.400
I can tell you about some later because I talk to them all the time.
00:54:14.559 --> 00:54:22.400
But um, but but my my point with that position is and back to customer spend, you know, it's it's not cheap to do what we do.
00:54:22.480 --> 00:54:28.239
Well we we're buying prime products, yeah, or scratch kitchen, uh, zero waste program.
00:54:28.559 --> 00:54:32.079
It's expensive to do what we do, and it it reflects it on the menu.
00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:36.880
And um unfortunately it's not an us, it's it's a meat pack of products.
00:54:36.960 --> 00:54:37.519
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:54:37.760 --> 00:54:38.559
It is what it is.
00:54:38.800 --> 00:54:47.920
But trying to teach a guest that has never done this before, that maybe their their only experience at barbecue is a baked potato or a one-meter, two-meat plate.
00:54:48.079 --> 00:54:49.679
Well, how much brisket do I order?
00:54:49.840 --> 00:55:09.519
Yeah, you know, well, that guest experience gets to show them and teach them what we believe is the correct portions for a person because it does us no good, Tim, if if Susie Q comes in and has no idea that she orders three pounds of brisket for her, she spends$125 to get that.
00:55:09.760 --> 00:55:13.039
She's gonna leave there and go, I can't afford to eat that place, man.
00:55:13.119 --> 00:55:14.239
It's too expensive to eat there.
00:55:14.400 --> 00:55:14.639
Yeah.
00:55:14.880 --> 00:55:17.920
When she doesn't realize that she ordered enough food to feed six people.
00:55:18.079 --> 00:55:18.800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:55:19.039 --> 00:55:30.400
So that that guest experienced person, they get to show people what the proper portions are to order, they recommend the upsell items, the items that we really believe are our best items.
00:55:30.639 --> 00:55:32.800
Um, they hand out free beer.
00:55:32.960 --> 00:55:35.760
Best marketing you can do is give away give away someone a free can of beer.
00:55:35.920 --> 00:55:37.599
So it costs you almost nothing.
00:55:37.760 --> 00:55:44.639
We have two Yeti coolers every day we load with uh a couple cases of beer and 200 bucks a week or whatever.
00:55:44.880 --> 00:55:47.360
And uh every review we get mentions free beer.
00:55:47.440 --> 00:55:50.559
It's a great form of marketing, but um but it's on its comments.
00:55:52.719 --> 00:55:53.679
You just want a free beer, man.
00:55:53.840 --> 00:55:58.400
Dude, so you're giving free beers to the guys in line, like, but it's unexpected stuff, right?
00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:03.679
You're making people feel special, like they're seen, like, oh man, it's the experience, it's it's everything.
00:56:03.920 --> 00:56:06.320
The line that the line sucks.
00:56:06.400 --> 00:56:11.199
It's the worst part of barbecue, but it's also what I believe is the most intimate part of barbecue.
00:56:11.679 --> 00:56:17.119
It's where you get a chance to to talk to a total stranger and maybe form a new friendship.
00:56:17.280 --> 00:56:20.159
Uh, it's where we get a chance to spend time and talk to you.
00:56:20.320 --> 00:56:22.320
I like to spend my Sundays, you know.
00:56:22.400 --> 00:56:28.960
I I go to church in the mornings and I I our service gets out, and I'm about 10 minutes from the restaurant, and I get there right before we open up.
00:56:29.119 --> 00:56:34.320
And a lot of times there's a line of I don't know, 20, 25 people before we open up on a Sunday.
00:56:34.639 --> 00:56:37.840
And um there's more cars coming in and people walking up.
00:56:37.920 --> 00:56:48.400
And I like to spend about 15, 20 minutes on Sunday, again, just being the first guy to shake their hand and tell them thank you for coming in and recommending on Sundays we do our smoked tri-tip.
00:56:48.480 --> 00:56:51.280
You know, say, hey, it's the one day a week we do it, you gotta try it.
00:56:51.360 --> 00:56:52.159
It's fantastic.
00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:54.639
The team killed it with it today, it's awesome.
00:56:54.880 --> 00:57:00.719
But again, my my major focus is is shaking their hand, looking to mind, thanking them for coming in.
00:57:00.960 --> 00:57:03.840
Um it's just those little bitty things, Tim.
00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:11.119
I I think I think hospitality has uh and I'm not I have not been in this for long, but I've I'm a fat dude.
00:57:11.199 --> 00:57:12.559
I've eaten a lot of food in my life, man.
00:57:12.639 --> 00:57:13.840
I've eaten out a lot.
00:57:14.159 --> 00:57:21.119
And it's just it's it's gotten so um sterile.
00:57:21.280 --> 00:57:21.599
Yeah.
00:57:22.159 --> 00:57:39.280
A lot of restaurants, you know, and the places that me and my family go to quite often are the ones that we feel special and the ones that we feel heard and seen, and um the owner talks to us and you know and makes us feel special.
00:57:39.360 --> 00:57:42.639
And um it just goes a long way, folks.
00:57:42.880 --> 00:57:47.920
Just 30 minutes of leak, spread over seven days, spend some time with your guests out there and thank them for coming in.
00:57:48.159 --> 00:57:50.000
Yeah, something that you said earlier.
00:57:50.079 --> 00:57:52.960
I want to I want to rewind back to and then I want to wrap this up.
00:57:53.119 --> 00:58:00.239
Um you said earlier that you know there's there's a lot of murmurs around businesses shutting down in this space and the economy.
00:58:00.320 --> 00:58:02.719
And you know, I think that's fairly worldwide.
00:58:02.880 --> 00:58:04.800
But you know, it's interesting.
00:58:05.039 --> 00:58:07.679
We were discussing backroom earlier.
00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:11.119
The guys in Backroom, we had a meeting this week.
00:58:11.360 --> 00:58:20.320
All of them, every single one of them, had either a record profit month or were like 20, 30 percent up on the same time last year.
00:58:20.559 --> 00:58:30.639
And I think it comes down to that, I think we're gonna start seeing a shift in the industry where if you're average, you're you're sliding slowly down the ladder.
00:58:30.800 --> 00:58:43.280
Like, because people's expectation of experience now is getting so much higher, and people will go and find those experiences and they'll stick to the ones and they'll repeat the ones where they feel special.
00:58:43.440 --> 00:58:48.639
But if you're average, man, I think you you're gonna you're gonna slow, it's gonna be a slow, slow slide.
00:58:48.880 --> 00:58:50.800
Um, so I appreciate you bringing that up.
00:58:51.039 --> 00:58:54.320
Name name one industry where average average survives.
00:58:54.480 --> 00:58:54.880
Yeah.
00:58:55.039 --> 00:58:55.360
Yeah.
00:58:55.519 --> 00:58:56.159
There's not one.
00:58:56.239 --> 00:59:01.119
There's not one concept in any industry across the entire world where average survives, it just doesn't happen.
00:59:01.280 --> 00:59:01.599
Yep.
00:59:01.679 --> 00:59:02.000
Yeah.
00:59:02.079 --> 00:59:17.280
And I think, you know, hospitality is always the last one to cat to catch up, and I think that's where we're going to start seeing a shift, which is I I think it's super exciting, man, because it means that the the people who are focusing on it are going to do phenomenally well.
00:59:17.679 --> 00:59:21.280
Um, so it's a really cool time to be in hospital.
00:59:21.440 --> 00:59:23.840
Um, let's let's wrap up, Coops.
00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:30.239
Earlier on, before we started, we're talking, you know, if you spent two years, you're closer to your North Star ever.
00:59:30.480 --> 00:59:37.199
Two years ago, when you started with FC, or you started going down the frame of focusing on your numbers, focusing on yourself, the business.
00:59:37.519 --> 00:59:39.199
Did you think you'd be where you are now?
00:59:39.440 --> 00:59:43.360
Yes, because I know I know who I am and and how I am.
00:59:43.519 --> 00:59:48.880
And I was willing to make the investment and I believed in in FC uh from day one.
00:59:48.960 --> 00:59:56.800
You know, uh I was fortunate enough to work with Jimmy, and um Jimmy, Jimmy makes it hard to not believe in uh the program, I'll tell you that.
00:59:56.960 --> 01:00:03.679
But um the program does a really good job on getting really quick wins that show you, you know.
01:00:03.760 --> 01:00:13.599
I think that's that's set up really well to show you um there's money to be made, and it doesn't have to be um a two-year process to make it.
01:00:13.679 --> 01:00:16.559
You know, you can start making money essentially tomorrow.
01:00:16.719 --> 01:00:19.360
You know, how many I was guilty of it.
01:00:19.440 --> 01:00:24.079
I had probably 1,500 bucks a month and subscriptions and and to different various things.
01:00:24.239 --> 01:00:26.719
I was like, I don't even know what half this shit is.
01:00:26.960 --> 01:00:34.559
Um yeah, you know, it was a couple thousand dollars a month just sitting in what the hell is this and why are we paying for this over here?
01:00:34.800 --> 01:00:36.719
Yeah, that's before we even dive in, right?
01:00:37.119 --> 01:00:39.280
Um all right, Coops.
01:00:39.360 --> 01:00:45.679
Uh, any last advice to anyone in in hospo right now who isn't where they want to be but uh are still working on it.
01:00:45.760 --> 01:00:46.800
What what have you got to tell them?
01:00:46.960 --> 01:00:48.559
It doesn't have to be join FC.
01:00:48.800 --> 01:00:51.760
Um, but like what what are you what's your personal message to them?
01:00:52.000 --> 01:00:53.039
Just keep getting better.
01:00:53.199 --> 01:00:55.199
Yeah, find the one percent daily.
01:00:55.280 --> 01:01:05.360
You're not gonna go from zero to twenty percent better overnight, but uh you can find a half percent better in in your life, in your personality, in your business.
01:01:05.519 --> 01:01:08.719
Find a half percent every day and just try and get half percent better.
01:01:08.800 --> 01:01:12.719
And that if that's just half a percent more effort, then then do it because it compounds, man.
01:01:12.800 --> 01:01:14.320
The greatest thing we have is our time.
01:01:14.400 --> 01:01:17.039
And what's really cool about time is time can compound.
01:01:17.280 --> 01:01:18.559
Yeah, yeah.
01:01:18.639 --> 01:01:25.119
And if you get half a percent better on say two million dollar business per month, in 24 months, you're 12% better.
01:01:25.360 --> 01:01:34.480
And that's you know, a quarter of a million dollars a year better in two years than what you were before you even started, and that's only half a percent a month, and certainly adorable.
01:01:34.559 --> 01:01:36.079
Cooper man, I'm just gonna say thank you.
01:01:36.239 --> 01:01:36.960
Thank you for your time.
01:01:37.119 --> 01:01:39.599
Thank you for sharing so much information.
01:01:39.760 --> 01:01:42.639
Um, I could probably sit here and speak to you for another hour, I reckon.
01:01:42.719 --> 01:01:43.679
But mate, I appreciate it.
01:01:43.840 --> 01:01:45.679
I hope I hope someone got some value, man.
01:01:45.760 --> 01:01:47.039
I I can ramble for sure.
01:01:47.119 --> 01:01:49.119
But Tim, I can't thank you enough, bro.
01:01:49.199 --> 01:01:52.639
You've been a huge help to us, and you inspire a lot of people, dude.
01:01:52.719 --> 01:01:53.679
So keep doing what you're doing.
01:01:53.760 --> 01:01:54.880
It's it's greatly appreciated.
01:01:55.039 --> 01:01:55.519
Thanks, brother.