Blueprint for Thriving Restaurant Operations and Ecosystems.

Hello everybody, my name is Christian. I'm the host of the Disruptive Chef Entrepreneur Show, and I know I say this at every episode, but you guys gonna love today's person. How often have you thought, I need somebody who's looking out for me, I need somebody who creates systems for me? Not just that, you need to create somebody, or you need somebody who can build systems to make you Successful. And you guys meet this person right after this. Hello again, my name is Christian. I'm the host of the Disruptive Chef Entrepreneur Show. And I'm really excited to have today's conversation. And full transparency, we had one of our online events, and this person came to our events. And as we started talking to that person, I started making myself notes. And as I started to make notes, I was like, oh my God, she's a, she's a mom, she is a wife, and she's still trying to build something on the side. And her mission is to make restaurants' ecosystems successful. I absolutely love that. And she calls herself the Restaurant System Girl. You guys are going to meet her in a little bit. She's not only an amazing human being, she's really good in what she does. And she's Out to change the industry. With that, I wanna say hello to Ms. Summer. Ms. Summer, welcome to—

Hello. Hi, Christian. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, thanks for being here today. So our audience, for the ones which don't see on video, give everybody the 5-minute Cliff Note, um, who you are and what do you currently do?

Yes. Um, so I'm, um, I'm Summer. I'm a creator, designer, entrepreneur. I empower businesses to make the impossible possible. So if you are building a business, you know it's chaotic. It has a lot of moving parts. So I bring system, operation system to your business, make it help you to stay organized. So on top of that, I help you with web design, content marketing, and So how did you get started in all of this?

So, you know, as we started, you're a mom, you have a young child at home. Where did that passion for hospitality come in?

Yes, actually the journey started when I was 14 years old. I was working and living in a boat body shop. At that time, I was in Taiwan. The first floor is the business. My room was in the second floor. So imagine this, the high school kids get out of the school, they're sweaty, it's close to 100% humidity and heat. They want their drink fast, quick. Teenagers, they don't want to wait. So I start grabbing the shaker to put some ice, tea, sweetener. So I close the lid and shaking and mix up the drink, create a texture, the foaming texture, incorporate the ingredient. So that's where I learned about creating assembly line. So with all the ingredients, and then that's how I gain insight, how I learn into efficiency, the process, the system. The operation system. Fast forward, during college, I applied this summer program to travel and work in United States for 3 months. So during the— so doing what? Doing what? Doing American's first job, flipping burgers. At NASCAR Tennessee Park. So after the program is finished, I stopped at LA for a week. That really opened up my eyes. So after I returned back to Taiwan, I just cannot get enough of American dream. I want to come back. So I chose San Francisco. I want this big city experience. And then I really— it has the best food in the world. Some people might say no, they have best food in the world, but if you came to San Francisco, you know, you will know what I'm talking about.

Mm-hmm.

It has the oldest, the biggest Chinatown outside of Asia. So if I miss home, that's where I will go find food. And then especially, I really like this trendy, flashy tech in San Francisco. Time flies. I have been in San Francisco close to 15 years now.

Wow.

In my early career, I helped founders to bring their product ideas into production. I work closely with manufacturers so my design can go into production.

Yeah.

So the product I have been— I have designed are sold at retail store and online. So the product ranges from like consumer electronics, cookware, kids' lunchboxes, and backpacks. Nowadays, I just say like, I'm a designer, I'm a creator, I'm an entrepreneur. I empower business owners to make the impossible possible.

That's awesome. I love that story. So where was that shift, or what inspired you to shift your focus to help restaurant startups in particular to build operational systems?

To build an operational system, the shift is not like, not so much of inspiration. It's more like from the founder, hey, Summer, can you help me to open up a ghost kitchen? Have I ever opened up a ghost kitchen and know how to set up a ghost kitchen and operation system? Hell no. It was 2 years ago and it was challenging. It was accelerating. It was so exciting. I love solving problems. So for the operation system, actually there's 4 parts. into it. So I will say building up the ghost kitchen, the first step is the setup.

Yeah.

They need to have a concept. They have to define their restaurant concept. Location is really important when you open up a restaurant. Target audiences, you need to know about that geographic, the people, what they are looking for food-wise. Applying licenses, permits, and then purchase the equipment to figure out how everything works out inside of kitchen. That's the first step, set up. The second step I say is operation internally. So it's the service team you have to build, it's the tech you have to invest, it's the staff you have to hire and train. So what I see a lot of restaurant owners, their struggle is build up this service team. Like there's cleaning service, there's apron, there's security, there's fire department, the recurring service need to set up.

Mm-hmm.

That's really important. On top of that, it's like they have to invest money in this POS system. It's for the integrations to how you run the restaurants, how you schedule the employees, and then all other devices will help you to create efficiency how you run the restaurant. The staff must train your staff. You cannot expect in them that they did other jobs and then you're expecting them to be able to do the same thing for your restaurant. Every restaurant's different. You run it different. Every owner run it differently. So the third thing is marketing externally. So it's about branding, website, the building signs, the package.

Yeah.

The packaging, how you deliver to the customer, the flyers.

Yeah.

And also the partnership. You need to be visible to other delivery partners, catering platform delivery partners, social media. I will say you need to collaborate with the influencer. They're gonna be the advocate for your restaurants. You need to build a long-term relationship. You cannot just reach out when you need them right away. I have things to sell, can you help me to sell it? No, I think the relationship need to build up. You want them to be advocate for you, your business. And in terms of email marketing, I see it's more effective for catering business, not so much of ghost kitchen, All there to go. Also ads and SEO. The 4th step, usually the restaurant will be stopping right here. So we're talking about the setup, operation, marketing. They will stop right here. But for me, I usually feel like they can move forward. After they train their staff, their staff is ready. They are ready to scale up. So they must invest in their staff, hire the best chef, provide competitive benefit package. So you and I know the restaurant turnover rate is so high. The employee only stay on the job for average 120 days.

Yeah.

So here's what I think, like the restaurant operators need to stay organized. And be prepared, not just responding.

So on all of the things you just listed, um, help our listeners to understand what are 2 or 3 of those things they need to focus on, because those are the key decision makers or the key linchpins to make you successful. Uh, we talk a lot about, you know, location, location, or being really clear, who do I serve? Talk to us a little bit, with as many people as you worked, where do people fall short a little bit? Or what is one of the things they don't really pay as much attention to because, oh, it's kind of work itself out? So help us understand, what are 2 or 3 things which can make the biggest impact in those points you just gave us?

Yes, I noticed, like, there's one thing, they're trying to save money. They have the wrong thing. wrong business mindset. They try to cut down the workers' hours because they want to save the labor cost. So the intention is wrong. They should be putting themselves in their shoes because they're employees, they work for you. The reason why you are not busy is not employees' fault. It could be the food you're serving, the price, or these other things. It's not your employee's fault. So once you hire the employee, don't ever cut down their hours, try to save the labor costs. I personally, I think it's not ethical thing to do. So that's the first. Treat your employee well, then you'll be able to scale because they invest in your business. They bring out the smile to your customer. They work for you, so treat them nice. The second is I think they try to do too much. The business owners, they're trying to do too much. They have too many things juggling. They cannot prioritize it very well. They focus on the wrong thing. They should work on the business, not work inside of the business. I think you heard this terminology often, but it's hard because the cost of running business, they try to survive.

Yeah.

Yeah. There's like mental thing. It's like the owner who is running the business and then the owner try to save them the money they need to invest the money into their employee.

Yeah, I love that. And I think, you know, what you just said, I think it goes across industries, not just food service. You know, if you treat your employees right, they do the right thing for you. And if you are not really clear with sometimes, you know, what you expect of people, it's really hard for them to kind of live up to it. And you said that, that know, people kind of work in their business and not on their business. It's tough because I feel in what I see with people, they have a hard time letting go. They feel if somebody else is doing this, it's not going to be as good as I do it.

Allow other people to flourish.

That's right. And we see this all the time. But I love what you said because these points are so cross other sectors. It does not just pertain to food service. So, if anybody out there doesn't have a restaurant, they have a food truck, same principles. If you start a plant-based food company, same principles. And for me, that's super powerful, um, what he said. So now coming back to the restaurants, so talk to us a little bit, how do you help restaurants integrate technology? You talk a lot about technology of self-serving kiosks, mobile ordering systems, and how do you help them integrate those into operations? Because a lot of restaurant owners are scared of technology. So how do you work with them to get that integrated?

Yes, I break it down to 2 parts. So the first one is what makes sense for the restaurant owners to have the system into their operations and then everyday operation. The second is The customer experience, what kind of customer experience they want to deliver. So if kiosk makes sense, like because they are this type of restaurant, they are fast food, fast casual, grab and go. So this type of restaurant makes sense to have kiosk. So the owner oftentimes asks me to set up the kiosk for their restaurant. The main reason is always, it's almost always, is to reduce the cost, the labor cost.

Yeah.

After the installation, then integrating the kiosks, they find out the order quantity has increased. And then because of the kiosk machine has like this upselling screen and then there's add-ons recommendations.

Yeah.

For customers, it's nice. It's nice picture presentations. There's no time pressure. If the user interface is good, it's easy to navigate. User will make the customer happy. Another reason to have kiosk machine is to keep up with the big chain, like my downloads, and meet the customer expectation. So the other ordering system is like we need to have mobile-first mindset. We need to give options to the customers.

Yeah.

So it's not just only ordering through the restaurant website, but also being visible on all the platforms, DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats, and then there's Yelp. You need to make the reservation easy for the customers.

Yeah.

So like Google Maps, Bing for Business, like find out what works and maintain it and keep it up to date. And then if the restaurant wants to order catering service, then EasyCater, Relish. Business travel, I find with Marriott Bonvoy is a good channel, good network to be on as well. But it's not easy to get on. They will want you to show your P&L to showcase you are making money, you have business coming. So be where the customers are, how they're going to order the food, and then make it easy for them to order from you. I think there's one other tool we didn't mention here is the handheld device.

Yeah.

So I find out it's like, it's so helpful for the servers to be able to process the payment faster. So there's like—

walk back and forth. I love that.

Yeah, yeah. It's like, get rid of that nonsense. Um, this— they can use it in like, uh, at the farmer's market, the pop-up shops, the sports event. So you save time. Like you said, it's more efficient if the server have the handheld machine, reduce the error so they don't need to manually log in the numbers. Overall, it provides better experience for the customers and the servers. So to sum up—

I love that. Yeah, I love that.

Yeah. So yeah, it's really important for the restaurant to invest in technology and pick up a POS system with a very powerful integration is really the key. So the integration is really important. So that's the money the restaurant operational, the restaurant owner don't want to save.

Yeah, I love that because I, for me, as you talked about integration and really leveraging that, it really resonated with me. I traveled for the last 3 days. And this was the first time I went to this particular store in the airport. And they had self-serving kiosks. And everybody's in line with the person. Very few people use the kiosk. So I think people are still afraid of technology. But I used the kiosk and I bought a bottle of water. And as I checked out, this little screen came up. You know, you talk about upselling.

Right.

The screen said to me, oh, 83% of the people buying the same water as you do also bought snacks and they bought hand sanitizer. And I was sitting there, I was like, oh, I should get some hand sanitizer. I didn't need hand sanitizer, so I bought hand sanitizer. You know, at the airport, it's, you know, it was this little thing, it was like $5. And, but I loved it because, um, I think that's missing. And I love that, that you integrate this in your client's business because upselling is huge. So I went there for a $3 bottle of water. I walked away with an $11 check. And because I bought hand sanitizer. And the system, I love that it said, oh, 83%. For me, it's like, am I missing something? Do I need to answer? That's the kind of question. So, but I love that. That's really, really cool. So, um, talk to us a little bit, and you talked about Yelp and everything else, so marketing overall. So what do you think, what, uh, role does marketing play in today's successful restaurants?

So, um, When considering marketing, there is 4 key elements. I like to use number 4 for a lot of reasons. 4 key elements. So there's awareness, education, desire, and delight.

Yeah.

So awareness, like imagine opening up a ghost kitchen. No one knows you exist. You just open up. You need to introduce your brand to a new neighborhood, new market. So what comes really important is the referral. So someone is talking about it, maybe I should try it. Another way to think about it, to create awareness is like being very targeted, focus on the very specific group and their behavior, their preferences, and be consistent to show up in their feed.

Yeah.

Either it's at the local event, like right now Halloween is coming up, so there's a lot of fair. You can be at where the customer hang out. And then you create this curiosity, making the potential customer aware and notice you, your restaurant existence.

Yeah.

The second one is education. You want to inform the customer about what you, you're offering. So like, it could be special of your dishes, it could be the atmosphere, unique service style, or maybe something fun, something different, you know. The third one is a desire. After you educate the customers and And then they were like, okay, maybe it's time. I want to try it out. So attract customers and create a demand. Create a demand. There's a long waitlist or there's a long line at the door. So I really like this book called Oversubscribed by Daniel Preston Lee.

Yeah.

So he shares strategy for making the business highly desirable. Ensuring that they have customers lining up, engaging with their products and services. I really like that book. Then finally will be delight. Elevate the customer expectation. Make sure they are happy, they feel cared for, and then the food is excellent. 45% of the customer, they only go to your restaurant one time. So how can you help them, or how can you make them want to come back to you again? That's another topic we can discuss.

Yeah, it's interesting. I love what you just said. It's so right on. And then people coming back, you know, there's the study done where 43% of the people having a good experience coming back a second time. And then the percentage actually goes down coming back a 3rd time.

Right.

And so, and then where you're about at with that 3rd point, and I don't remember what the exact stats was, but for me, it was eye-opening because we talk a lot about word of mouth and everything else. But today, where we're so overrelated yet underconnected, how do you get to that word of mouth? So I love how you kind of overlaid that marketing piece. So If you think about marketing, let's help somebody here in our audience and to our listeners. What is one or two tools you would implement today if you have a new restaurant to get to that audience you normally wouldn't get to? Just give our audience a little bit of tip or trick, what would work if you have to start over.

If I will start over?

So if you have a restaurant, yeah. Because the reason I'm asking this question, um, uh, what I see a lot people think of marketing is I have the chef make a dish and I push it out as a Facebook post. That's not marketing, you know. And so what is one or two things which takes very little effort but has a, a big or positive impact in your marketing? Help our audience understand, because there's marketing and there's marketing. So What would you do if you have a restaurant? What would be the first 2 things you do around marketing?

The first thing, of course, I'm going to test out the market to see if people, they want this dish or this concept of a restaurant. So I want to have a pre-promotion before even I open up the restaurant, invest my money in it. So that will be like something I want to test out, refine it, and make sure there's a market for it. before I open up. So I don't want to open up a burger shop in this and competing with all other fast food chain next to me. So yeah, just test out the market, pretest the market, and always think ahead.

Yeah.

And then experiment. Try A/B testing. Don't ever think there's only one way of doing things because it might not work. Try a different way. Do A/B testing because the customers are evolving. Technology is ever-changing. You never know, maybe you come up with something different, new, because by experimenting and You'll surprise yourself.

And I love that. And for me, I also tell our clients, just be consistent. And for me, sometimes I sign up to a website because at the time I thought it was a great idea. And then, you know, I get notifications and ignore the first 10, 15, and then said, oh, they're still texting me, they're still emailing me. What is going on? There's something which comes across which sparks my interest. And, you know, they have a customer. And, um, with a lot of restaurants, they think, oh, for a week I pushed out brand new meals, what the chef just created. It just didn't work. And I love what you just said. If it doesn't work, try something else. If that doesn't work, let's try something again. And for me, that's super powerful. So after you work with people and you help them to be successful, talk to us a little bit. What are some of the long-term gains your clients are currently Benefiting from by partnering with you?

The longer game, after the operation system is settled, we move into the scale of the operation, testing the capability of the team, the space, how big the event we can take on, how many people we can serve. Take this catering business, for example. I hope to apply And secure a government contract. So that contract revenue was $300,000. It's 10 weeks for Oakland Summer Lunch Program. I'm based in Oakland, California. So average 500 lunches per day with snacks and drinks. We have done it for 2 years in a row. So I believe we will continue. Second example is I organize the high time. If I organize 8 events in a month, from 30 people to 600 guests event. So the system is really important. The system needs to be standardized. And then there's checklist for every part of plane operation, and there's confirmation. And within the confirmation, it's like you need to have this open channel of communication. You need to be able to reach the channel command to make the decision. There's urgency happening, who you can reach out.

Yeah.

And the team, I have a list of temporary staff I can trust, tender chef, server, package, Full packers these days. So then we will run through the workflow and make sure the event runs smoothly. So here comes really handy system organization and will create this efficiency for making sure the event is successful. So always ask for the customers, the clients' feedback afterwards as well. So then We can reevaluate. And then what I like to do, the business owner doesn't want me to do because I will gather everybody and then understand what goes well, what didn't go well. And then so then, yeah, it's just taking up time for their time, but it's for the long-term benefit.

I absolutely love that. And I appreciate you sharing that. Because sometimes that feedback loop, we forget about it, how important that is. And if you get proper feedback, act on it. Don't let it die with the last person you told, act on it and make an impact. Because what we try to do in our business here, we try to constantly improve and provide better service to the marketplace. And because it worked yesterday doesn't mean it works tomorrow. And if somebody gives you proper feedback, Honestly, look at it. Don't look at it as criticism. Look at it as constructive feedback, which can— because if one person says it to you, I think there's another 50 or 100 which think about it, just they never say anything about it. So it's a challenge. So I really love that. I think feedback is absolutely important. So my last question for you today—

And also, the feedback is like how you reengage with the customers.

Love that.

They feel It's like a loop, you're going back. They feel they've been cared for, and then you will stress that issue for the next event. You will tell them, this is what we're going to improve for the next event. Then they will be like, wow, you put in all the effort, you really want to get better. Then they'll come back to you next time.

My last question for you today is, doing it as long as you have done and what you've been doing currently in the marketplace, What would you tell somebody, or what advice would you give to an aspiring restaurateur or, you know, food entrepreneur who is going out there and starting something new? So what would you tell them? What is a strong, um, fountain— foundation for success they need to follow?

Um, opening a restaurant and owning A business is very stressful. It's not easy. So I think the right mindset is really important. I think make money is important, but also I recommend the restaurant owner, business operator need to give back to their community. Find a cause they believe in and contribute.

Yep.

Yeah, for the long run. And of course, funding. Have enough money, have enough runway before you open up a restaurant.

I love that because for me, I always tell our clients, remember, it will take twice as long as you think it takes, and it takes 3 times as much money as you think you think. So it's really important to have that because it's tough to start. anything if after week 1 or 2 you need to worry about money. So I absolutely agree with that. So with that, we have a little segment if you're up for it. It's called Rapid Fire Questions Food Service Edition. So are you up for playing Rapid Fire Questions Food Service Edition?

Yes, let's do it. I love games.

So I have here 25 brand new questions from my team. And this is Rapid-fire question, food service edition. I have 25 questions. So the way the system works is I will ask you for a number between 1 and 25. You give me the number, I read you the question, and then, um, give us an honest, quick answer about it. So you up for it?

Okay, let's do it.

Give me your first number between 1 and 25.

12.

12. Oh, very good question. If, uh, how would you disrupt a 5-star restaurant If you only have a hot dog cart?

Uh, if I only have hot dog cart, um, how— okay, can you please repeat the question? Too fast.

How would you disrupt a 5-star restaurant if all you had was a hot dog cart?

Oh, okay.

Um, I would—

what I would do is make it fun, you know, like a little bit music, a little bit performance, entertainment. Uh, it could be an outfit. Could the server become a hot dog themselves? I think it's cheesy, but it's really fun. People, they like to take pictures with characters.

I know, agreed.

So yeah, there's like— well, it's always like also presentation. Even if it's a hot dog, you can make it look clean. You can make it look really presentable, appetizing. I think there's a lot of ways of doing it to make it entertaining. Yeah, love that.

And you can advertise it. You know what? If you're still hungry after eating in the Michelin-star restaurant, come over, I'll give you a hot dog. Give me another number between 1 and 25.

Okay, 22.

22. Oh. If cooking were a crime, what be your signature offense?

How would you phrase it differently?

Yeah. So if cooking if if if it's criminal to do something during cooking, why would why would you be guilty?

What else thing I do or feel guilty?

Yes.

Uh, I, I'm pretty guilty of taking on this business meeting tomorrow morning when my son is having Halloween parade at school, but not really guilty because I'm so glad I can skip it. I love that.

Give me another number between 1 and 25.

Um, let's see, 19.

Ah, 19 is an old favorite. Pineapple on a pizza, yes or no?

Yes, yes, of course yes. I'm from tropical country Taiwan. I love pineapple.

We did so good.

I put pineapple in the fried rice. I put pineapple. That's such a bad thing. Oh, it works.

No, it does not.

It does not. Slowly. Whoa, hamburger. Oh my gosh.

Okay, last question. Give me a number between 1 and 25.

Uh, 2.

2. Uh, what one dish would you ban If, if you were given the power forever, what is one dish you would ban forever if given the power?

One dish, if I have a power to ban, um, people, they will disagree with me. I don't like cinnamon, so cinnamon roll at a bakery, at coffee shop, it's not allowed. I want to be able to enjoy my coffee. I don't want to I can smell that cinnamon smell.

Oh, you just made a line for gravy.

The cinnamon roll is finished.

There's a whole movement around doing more cinnamon, and we in Connecticut, we do not make steaks, so it's very, very upsetting. So, but thank you for playing rapid-fire question food service edition. That was awesome. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's so fun. Thank you for having me.

Before we log off, What is one final word of wisdom you have for our audience and how can they learn more about you?

So final wisdom, just enjoy your life. Do something you love and you will excel. So focus. I think Seth mentioned something in his book, enjoy the process. disconnect with the result because the result is something you cannot control like weather. So enjoy the process and enjoy the moment. So yeah, I'm available. I'm just a DM away. I'm active on LinkedIn to share my learnings, my frustrations, my success on LinkedIn. So you can find me on LinkedIn. Summer Chang. And then if you see me at conference, uh, just say hi. I would like to meet all of you.

Awesome, we really appreciate it. And to our listeners, there was really for me 3 takeaways today. Number one, it doesn't matter if you start a business, make sure you do your research, make sure you have everything in order before you start something. I love that you talked about make sure you have the right location, you make you do your market research where you know what people want to buy. And there was an interesting study come out just a very short time ago from Harvard where they talked about why do restaurants fail and what do people talk about when they fail. And 50% of them all said, I was ahead of my time. The marketplace wasn't ready for my product. So I really love that. The second thing, what did they do? Take care of your people. We talk about this all the time. There's a lot of companies which talk about it. They really don't do it. So, for me, that's really super important that you make sure that you take care of the people which take care of you. And for me, the third thing is, and you said it a few times, have fun with what you do. It doesn't really matter if it doesn't work. You know what? Let's try something else and be persistent. And for me, that's really super powerful.

Yeah.

With that, I want to say thanks for being here today. That was super awesome. Ms. Summer, thanks for being here at the Disruptive Chef Show. And to our audience, until next time, remember to disrupt your kitchen, fire up your career, stay hungry for change. I'm Christian. the Disruptive Chef Entrepreneur host. I am getting here with Summer, and we are out of here. So be the change, be the challenge, and be the chef who sets the world on fire. Miss Summer, thanks again for being here. And to all listeners, go out there and stay disruptive, everybody.

Thank you.