Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Make Restaurants Profitable
BusinessManagementEducationHow To

Make Restaurants Profitable

Foodie Coaches

1 in 4 restaurants ran at a loss last year.And if you’re honest?You’ve probably felt just one bad month away from being part of that stat.I’ve recorded a few episodes for this podcast now and after speaking with some of the best restaurant owners in Australia … nearly every single one of them has been through the same stuff that you’re facing right now.Whether it's finding staff, 80 hour weeks, rising supplier costs, struggling to balance family, no money left to pay yourself, fires, floods … you name it - the guests I’ve spoken to have seen it all.Some of them are now industry leaders and experts, with successful restaurants, franchises, turning over millions in revenue, and even stocking their products in supermarketsThis podcast is about what really made the difference.The stuff no one talks about.The mindset shifts, the messy moments, and the moves that actually worked.So if you’re: Sick of grinding with nothing to show for it Ready to finally pay yourself properly Wanting a business that runs without you there 24/7Then this is for you.Every week, we’ll break down how to make restaurants profitable againNot just with theory, but real strategies that are working right now.If you need help right now head over to foodiecoaches.com and book a call with our team otherwise hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re tuning in and I’ll see you every WednesdayCheck out the behind the scenes over at @foodie_coaches and @tim.kummerfeld

Play
Open in
  • 23 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 44 min
  • English

Episodes 23

NewestOldestLongest
All3Unplayed3In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • April 28 · 47 min

    From Food Truck to Full Restaurant: The Kings of the Wings Share 13 Years of Hard Lessons

    Dylan and Katrina started King of the Wings from a little food trailer in 2013. They were among the first food trucks doing wings in Australia. No blueprint. No safety net. Just a gap in the market and a bet on themselves. Thirteen years later they're running a restaurant, a food truck, popups and an interstate operation. But the road there was anything but straight. A collab that went sideways on opening day. A food court concept that COVID killed two weeks in. A Commonwealth Games that turned Surfers Paradise into a ghost town. And a moment where they had to roll up in the middle of the night and take back what was theirs. In this episode, Dylan and Katrina share the real story — the hard lessons, the partnership mistakes, the pivot to bricks and mortar, and why after all of it they'd still do it again. You'll hear: 00:00 – From food trailer to one of Brisbane's most recognised wing brands 03:00 – The collab that looked like a no-brainer — and fell apart on opening day 06:00 – Rolling up in the middle of the night to take back their equipment 08:00 – COVID, a food court concept and pulling the pin after 12 months 09:00 – Going all in on their own — signing the Stafford lease 12:00 – Food truck vs bricks and mortar: what nobody tells you about the switch 18:00 – Why the food truck makes in 2 hours what the restaurant makes in 10 22:00 – The menu engineering lesson that changed everything 28:00 – How JobKeeper changed the labour landscape and why they're still salty about it 35:00 – How to find and keep staff for a food truck operation 42:00 – Hire on attitude, train everything else 45:00 – Their advice for anyone thinking about opening a food truck today If you're ready to build something that actually works — food truck, restaurant or both — book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E46
    April 21 · 1 hr 2 min

    The Man Behind Brisbane's Best Bars on What It Actually Takes to Build Them with Martin Lange

    Martin Lange has opened eight bars in Brisbane since 2006. He currently runs four. Takes three and a half months off a year. And has trained bartenders now working in some of the best bars in Paris and London. He didn't do it by cutting corners or chasing trends. He did it by committing to a 10-year minimum on every lease, never taking over another venue's location, spending hundreds of thousands on R&D, and building a team culture so strong that the staff who leave for bigger money keep coming back. In this episode, Martin sits down with Tim to talk through what it actually takes to build bars that last — the landlord lessons, the location rules, the obsessive craft standards, and how he built a business that runs without him for months at a time. You'll hear: 00:00 – From Argentina to Brisbane — how Martin ended up in bars 02:00 – The 10-year lease rule and why most operators think too small 05:00 – Paying a year's rent upfront on his first bar (and what it taught him) 08:00 – Why you should never take over an existing venue's location 12:00 – Building a specialty cocktail bar in a city that wasn't ready for it 14:00 – How knowledge trickles down through a team without Chinese whispers 16:00 – Staff who left for bigger pay — and came back within a year 18:00 – The R&D warehouse, the $15K ice machine and why craft is the business model 25:00 – Finding the right landlord (and why it matters more than the location) 35:00 – The block ice business nobody saw coming 53:00 – Cutting ice, losing fingers and taking safety seriously 56:00 – Three and a half months off a year — and why the bars thrive because of it Book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    • Transcript
  • April 14 · 48 min

    How John Rivera Built His Dream Restaurant Without Sacrificing Time With His Kids

    John Rivera spent his twenties in fine dining kitchens. Working every Saturday. Missing birthdays. Missing weddings. Then he opened his own restaurant — and found himself video-calling his kids from the pass just to see them awake. Something had to change. In this episode, John — chef and owner of Ascal Restaurant, Inman bar, and Filipino gelato concept Carton — talks about the decision that shifted everything. The boundaries he set, the systems he built, and how he went from working every day on the tools to dropping his kids at kinder before heading into work at midday. He didn't give up the craft. He just refused to let it cost him everything else. You'll hear: 00:00 – Born in the Philippines, raised in New Zealand, built in Melbourne 02:00 – 10 years in fine dining and what it conditions you to accept 05:00 – The viral dish that was costing more than it made 08:00 – Why your numbers are scarier to avoid than to face 13:00 – Two turbulent years and what the growing pains taught him 15:00 – Three days without seeing his kids awake 17:00 – The decision: set the boundary before the burnout 25:00 – Letting staff take risks and why protecting your ego costs more 30:00 – Partnership lessons the hard way 40:00 – Building community vs chasing foot traffic 45:00 – What's coming and how to get ahead of it Book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    • Transcript
Showing 21–23 of 23 episodes