I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses.

In this episode, I talk about the importance of internal reflection in the hospitality industry. I believe restaurant owners should build their businesses around their own desires and experiences, instead of constantly trying to guess what customers want. I share some actionable strategies for creating authentic marketing campaigns that truly resonate—by marketing like a fan and designing offers that we, as owners, would genuinely be excited about. For me, alignment and truth in marketing are key to deeper customer engagement and long-term profitability.

Takeaways:

• Most restaurant owners think they need more guests.
• Profit isn't random, it's engineered.
• Stop guessing what guests want and start solving your own problems.
• You are your target customer.
• Design your next event or menu through your own desires.
• The most profitable thing you can do is build for you.
• Marketing like a fan creates genuine engagement.
• Audit your last three campaigns honestly.
• The right people show up when you build from truth.
• Create offers that you would buy.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Hospitality Insights
01:50 The Importance of Internal Reflection in Marketing
03:44 Building for Yourself: The Key to Success
07:33 Creating Magnetic Marketing Through Authenticity

If you’ve got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at [email protected] and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.