YouTube video excerpt by Donald Burns (July 16, 2025) giving direct advice to restaurant owners: the primary problem is not ignorance but doing things in the wrong order. Burns warns against focusing on surface solutions (hiring anyone, more marketing, checklists, or new software) and emphasizes establishing the right culture and getting the right people before training or systems.
Here's the thing I'll tell every restaurant owner listening to this podcast today. It's not that you don't know what to do. You just are not doing the right things in the right order. Exactly. You're spinning your wheels. You're doing. You're paying attention to things that you think are important. Like, you think if I just hire people, you know, anybody, or if I just market more, I get some checklist or I get a new software system. There's tons of restaurant coaching companies out there that will, hey, you just need our software. You just need to track your data. You need to train your people better. Well, training people is great. We love training, you know, but it's more important if I have my culture right and I get the right people on board.
If your restaurant only works because you work 80 hours a week, it doesn't work.
