Introduction

Hey restaurant owners and operators, where are you going to be and what are you going to be doing 20 years from now?

Chick-fil-A opened its first restaurant in 1946; now they have over 2,300 stores. Not an overnight success story. In-n-Out opened its first location in 1948; now they have 347 stores. Not an overnight success story. It’s so easy for us to look at things and say, “Well look how big they are, look how much they’ve grown in the last 5 or 10 years.”

What we’re not willing to do is to look back in time at the twenty years it took for them to become an overnight success story. Look at some of the most famous actors in the world, like George Clooney for example. George Clooney went audition after audition – he failed, struggled, was broke, and then he was an overnight success from the time he got on the show ER. Overnight success! Best Actor in the world! All these awards, best-looking guy alive, etc….20 years in the making.

20-year plan

What’s your twenty-year plan? My twenty-year plan started about six or seven years ago and it’s to be the most trusted restaurant coach, consultant, and resource in the world. I’m 6-7 years into that plan and I love that. I’m not in a hurry; I have 20 years. I don’t feel the pressure, I’m not rushed, and I don’t need to grow at 300-1000% a year. I just need to keep investing in myself. I just need to keep getting better and leveling up my game every year because I still have thirteen years left to get to my goal. Because my goal is to be the best, to be the most trusted, and not to just be average.

Many times I hear restaurant owners say, “In five years, I want to have 100 locations.” I think that’s great! But when I start asking about all of their systems, processes, procedures, finances and their plans, I don’t know if they’re going to be able to do that. I think that goal a little aggressive. I’m not here to shoot down your goal! I’m just here to encourage you to think a little longer, 20 years is not that far off! We think it is, but think back to your childhood and you’ll notice that ten years can go by just like that. 

Commit to being the best and commit to mastery over a long period of time, and all of your goals and dreams are going to come true. I’m the tortoise in the race, not the hare. I’m not going to run out of energy. Everybody else who’s running a sprint will run out of energy just like the hare did and they’re going to take a nap. But the whole time that they’re taking a nap, I’m gonna be the slow and steady tortoise that’s going to win the race because this is a marathon. I’m in it for the long haul and I’m committed to being the best. Where are you? Are you in the restaurant business just so you can try to make a quick buck? Or, are you the restaurant owner committed to being the best? Because if you’re committed to being the best, there’s no timeline on it.

The reason I bring this up is that there’s a book that I want you to read by the person that helped me develop my twenty-year plan. His name is Bo Eason and he wrote a book called There’s no Plan-B for your A-Game. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read! Bo is a powerful, motivational, and incredibly talented speaker. He’s actually one of the highest-paid speakers in the world and a professional football player – those were his goals. 

Bo is one of the people that helped me shape my twenty-year plan and I am so honored to have called him my coach, to have worked with him, and to have been through his workshops. The reality is his book is fantastic! I’m suggesting you read it because I’ve been through his stuff or because he’s a friend of mine, but because the book is phenomenal.

The book talks about your twenty-year plan, how to be the best, and help you develop that plan. The book will also put some of the pressures at ease like “I need to be here tomorrow” or “I need to have this many units by this day”. I hear those comments all the time and I think it’s destroying what it actually is going to take for you to build the business that you want to build, which is a commitment to being the best and not a commitment to growing fast.