The E&D Playbook

Practical guides for restaurant owners and multi-unit operators, written from work we have actually done. Not industry commentary, and not search-engine filler.

Everything here sits under one of five subjects: restaurant consulting, restaurant operations, revenue growth, franchise development and franchise sales. Each guide is meant to be usable on its own, by someone with a problem in front of them today.

What a restaurant consultant does, when to bring one in, and how engagements are structured. The entry point for operators who know something is wrong but not yet what.

• What a Restaurant Consultant Actually DoesThe six capability areas, and six signals it is time to bring someone in.Read the guide
• How We Think About GrowthThe E&D Growth Framework, the readiness gate, and our operating principles.Read the guide
• Restaurant Operations Audit GuideWhat a proper operations assessment covers and what it should deliver.Read the guide
• Restaurant KPI Dashboard GuideThe dozen numbers a multi-unit operator should see weekly, and why.Read the guide

Prime cost, systems, training and the documentation that lets someone else run your store correctly. The unglamorous work that decides whether a brand can be repeated.

• Restaurant SOP GuideHow to write standard operating procedures a new hire can follow without you.Read the guide
• Restaurant Training SystemsManager certification, station training, and how to test that it worked.Read the guide
• Multi-unit Restaurant SystemsWhat changes structurally between three stores and thirty.Read the guide
• Restaurant Organizational StructureWho you need to hire, in what order, as unit count grows.Read the guide
• Restaurant Technology Stack GuidePOS, back office, scheduling, inventory and reporting: what to run and what to skip.Read the guide
• Restaurant Opening ChecklistThe ninety days before a new store opens, week by week.Read the guide

Catering, off-premise, third-party delivery and trade-area marketing. Where most restaurants find their next margin point without opening anything new.

• Restaurant Catering Growth StrategyBuilding a catering channel from nothing: menu, packaging, sales motion, operations.Read the guide
• Restaurant Local Store Marketing PlaybookTrade-area programs, community accounts and the grand opening timeline.Read the guide
• How to Grow Catering RevenuePractical tactics for operators who already have a catering menu but no volume.Read the guide
• Restaurant Revenue Growth GuideEvery lever available before you consider a new location.Read the guide

Turning an operation into a system a stranger can run, and the honest assessment of whether yours is there yet.

• How to Franchise a RestaurantThe six stages, in sequence, from unit economics to first franchisee opening.Read the guide
• Restaurant Franchise Readiness ChecklistThe twelve-point diagnostic, and what to do about each gap.Read the guide
• Why Most Brands Franchise Too EarlyThe specific failure pattern, and what it costs to unwind.Read the guide
• Restaurant Expansion Planning GuideTerritory strategy, site criteria and pacing unit growth.Read the guide
• Franchise Entity Structure GuideThe three-entity model, and why retrofitting it later is expensive.Read the guide
• Franchise Fees and Unit EconomicsInitial fees, royalties and marketing funds, set from the unit model.Read the guide
• Franchise Territory StrategyDefining, protecting and sequencing territories you cannot take back.Read the guide

Finding and qualifying operators who will run your brand well, and supporting them once they sign.

• Franchise Sales SupportCandidate marketing, qualification, discovery days and development agreements.Read the guide
• How to Qualify a Franchise CandidateCapital, operating experience and cultural fit: what to test and how.Read the guide
• Restaurant Leadership PlaybookBuilding the franchisor-side team that supports the system you sold.Read the guide
• Restaurant Due Diligence ChecklistWhat investors and acquirers examine, and how to be ready for it.Read the guide

Written from work, not research

Every guide here is drawn from engagements we have run. That is why they contain sequences, thresholds and failure patterns rather than general advice, and why they occasionally say something you will not read elsewhere.

If there is a subject you need that is not covered, tell us and we will write it.