97: 4TH PILLAR: PRODUCT = QUALITY

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97: 4TH PILLAR: PRODUCT = QUALITY

We dig into the fourth pillar of a successful business: product & quality. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality.

Quality is where product, service and time blend togther. It is an elusive concept. One that each business owner strives to achieve. 

Considering testing and tasting your main product. Remind yourself  where your quality standard lies, and let it be a part of the foundation of your business. 

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96: OPERATIONS: SWISS WATCH ANALOGY

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96: OPERATIONS: SWISS WATCH ANALOGY

Operations in a restaurant are a set of tasks, SOPs, best practices and equipment that all need to blend together in the right combination to ensure every day goes smoothly... or ticks along like a Swiss Watch. Why not use the analogy of a Swiss Watch? ... and a full description of what a Swiss Watch is, to reveal the similarities of daily operations in a restaurant. 

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95: 3RD PILLAR: OPERATIONS

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95: 3RD PILLAR: OPERATIONS

We dig into the third pillar of a successful business: operating efficiently. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality.

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94: FINANCIAL STABILITY: THE PLANNING PART

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94: FINANCIAL STABILITY: THE PLANNING PART

Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality.

The jargon of financial stability is broken down into digestible morsels. 

How can you build healthy habits that will support and grow your businesses financial stability. You'll learn how to be mindful and aware of your food costs and labor costs, and how to define the benchmarks into your situation.

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93: 2ND PILLAR FINANCIAL STABILITY WITH SARI KIMBELL

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93: 2ND PILLAR FINANCIAL STABILITY WITH SARI KIMBELL

Kicking off the third year of Holy Guacamole we go deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality.

In this episode guest Sari Kimbell shares her method of ensuring Financial Stability.  Guest Sari Kimbell and host Martha Lucius have a lively conversation on how to ensure that a new or established business charts their future today, with profit and long-term holistic planning in mind. These theories work for owners of cafes, breweries, bars, food based businesses and of course restaurants.

Financial Stability is a means to an end: build your business to be profitable from the start. Sari Kimbell's entire business, Food Business Success, is based on baking in profitability from the start.  Her specialty is helping CPG businesses, and her methods are explored in the this episode.

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92: BRANDING AT PHILLY CHEESE SCHOOL WITH JULIA BIRNBAUM

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92: BRANDING AT PHILLY CHEESE SCHOOL WITH JULIA BIRNBAUM

Founder and Cheese Enthusiast, Julia Birnbaum, come on the pod to share her two year journey to opening Philly Cheese School. A place for learning about cheese, cheese tasting, and sharing these experiencing this with a friend, or getting to know other people. We dig deep into Julia’s new business, and the intentional journey to create a queer-friendly, inclusive environment with the branding and messaging that matches her fun personality!

In context, Julia Birnbaum’s business is a shining example of good branding, and why she was chosen to represent this part of the Six Pillar Story. She’s nailed a whole new direction for food businesses — experiencing food without being a restaurant, without being a bar. Julia’s visioning melded with a completely stellar new type of business, and a dynamic look is unsurpassed. It’s an environment to nurture food lovers, with education that marks an eleven on the scale of geeky food knowledge. Gone is the dark wood, dark green and heavy interior design of established food markets.
Bring in your creative thinking — how could “experiences” be central to your business, with low food and labor costs. This one is very creative.

This Six Pillars System is the backdrop for this and future episodes.  It's a method I've leaned into with my client work, and allows for a common language and strong progress. The first pillar in the Six Pillar System is Strategy.  Each topic will reflect one of the pillars with real live examples that help you put these ideas into action. As a former owner, and now host of Holy Guacamole, listener have tools to help them become stronger, more resilient and healthy business owners. Profits and a good internal culture is key to staying in business. For a business to come to life some basics need to be solved: mission and vision statement, logo design, branding.

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91: 1ST PILLAR, BRANDING WITH KEVIN KERNAN, GDLOFT

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91: 1ST PILLAR, BRANDING WITH KEVIN KERNAN, GDLOFT

Today's episode is with owner Kevin Kernan of GDLoft. He explains the many elements you need to gain that complete picture of your graphics. Listen and learn about a logo (in it's many forms), fonts, black and white vs colors, a brand book and the voice a brand conveys with those elements. It's a geeky converation, but building an identity does not happen in an hour...like a fine wine, it takes time.

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90: SIX PILLARS EXPLAINED

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90: SIX PILLARS EXPLAINED

In this episode Six Pillars is defined. Future episodes focus on each pillar, one pillar at a time. This is the method host Martha Lucius, Restaurant Strategist uses in her client work, and reveals in weekly podcasts for 2023. This method is useful for owners of cafes, breweries, bars, food based businesses and of course restaurants.

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EPISODE WITH A PLAN

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EPISODE WITH A PLAN

We are taking a much needed hiatus from our weekly podcast. Looking forward to sharing our new season in early 2023. It’ll be about the Six Pillars of Business.

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BIZ TIPS: HIRING 2022

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BIZ TIPS: HIRING 2022

How to staff a restaurant when shorthanded? This episode identifies not only hiring, but the necessary positive culture you want to nurture, and the ways to pay staff. It's necessary to have different practices for managers than for team members.

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89: TOM CAT'S KITCHEN

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89: TOM CAT'S KITCHEN

Anna Kent of Tom Cat's Kitchen came on this weeks' episode to share the business she is building. She sells plant based individual meals that can be purchased at Farmers Markets and through a subscription service. She is also serving at Roots Market and Brewing Good Coffee Company. Find her at 32nd Street Farmers Market and Catonsville.

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88: BALTIMORE SPIRITS COMPANY PART DEUX

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88: BALTIMORE SPIRITS COMPANY PART DEUX

Our interview with Owner Max Lents of Baltimore Spirits Co was filled with so much interesting information we created a second episode. Listen back if you want to hear the origin story

This episode explores the other reasons to love Baltimore Spirit Co—their Shot Tower Gin, Green to Gold Brandy, three different amaros (and what makes each unique), their whiskey tour and their cocktail room.

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87: BALTIMORE SPIRITS COMPANY, PART ONE

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87: BALTIMORE SPIRITS COMPANY, PART ONE

Our interview with Owner Max Lents of Baltimore Spirits Co was filled with so much interesting information we had to turn this into two episode.

Our first episode dives into the early days at Baltimore Spirits Co — finding their niche, financing a dream, and becoming the first rye distillery in the second generation of rye distilleries in the state of Maryland. Their attention to the process of distilling will delight you, as will their nerdy search for the history of rye whiskey. This led the three owners — Ian Newton, Max Lents, and Eli Breitburg-Smith -- to create Epoch Rye

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86: ESOTERIC HISTORY: HOSPITALITY IN POMPEII

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86: ESOTERIC HISTORY: HOSPITALITY IN POMPEII

Let's scoot back to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79. Pompeii was buried under a thick layer of ash and lava. A thick layer -- 19 feet! Pompeii is the world's oldest archaeological dig. It was a gem of a dig! Archeologists began digging Pompeii in 1748. Because of this volcanic ash blanket, scientists were able to see, literally what people were eating and drinking the moment the volcano blew.

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85: SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVIN' IS EASY

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85: SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVIN' IS EASY

It's summertime and this week is just a quick reminder of good episodes gone by! Highlighted are episodes that I've loved doing and others that you have made popular.

Our podcast is now over two years old. If you are a regular listener would you hope over and review the show. When you post a review, it helps listeners find us. That means more restaurants are discovered for the amazing work they are doing.

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84: EAT MORE CHAUNCEYS

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84: EAT MORE CHAUNCEYS

Mel Kerr is running her own business. She is honest about the hard work, tiring, satisfying days and expansiveness her journey can finally take. Under the umbrella of Eat More Chauncy she runs a three part business: a catering business, culinary training for individuals or groups, and a spice company. Six different blends, that can be found here. 

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83: ROGER BEAUDOIN AT RESTAURANT ROCKSTARS

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83: ROGER BEAUDOIN AT RESTAURANT ROCKSTARS

Roger Beaudoin of Restaurant Rockstars sat down with me, Martha Lucius, and we had a deep and far reaching conversation. He is a restaurant consultant., known for tools and resources for restaurant owners who are ready to maximize their sales and profits

Roger is more than a restaurant consultant. He is also a podcast host, and has owned several restaurants that boast solid revenue, good profit and strong teams. The two of us met through our podcasts. You’ll get to hear how we both think similarly  on revenue, profits and people.  Listen for the academy and an app he created to help owners. 

If you are an owner, you are probably busy dealing with your labor, food costs, services…okay, you’re dealing with every little detail of your business. As a former owner, I know you are doing what you think you need to do. Just know that you do not need to do it alone. There are smart, engaged consultants and strategists like Roger and me who want you to have agency in what you are doing. We each do that in different ways. Remember, work smarter not harder. That’s what got me to better revenue, better profits, and a fun and lively culture that is good for your team and your guest. 

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82: Esoteric History of Whisky, with Shelley Sackier

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82: Esoteric History of Whisky, with Shelley Sackier

We’re continuing our journey of gastronomy with a reading about whiskey, from a newly published book called Make it a Double. The author Shelley Sackier kindly agreed to a dramatic reading from her book, for Holy Guacamole. She was recently in Baltimore, at an event at Greedy Reads with Chelsea Gregoire. Chelsea added this book to our library at Church Bar and I was first in line to read it. It’s punchy, captures Whisky’s incredibly history and it's craft. You’ll hear her love of the drink too!

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81: ESOTERIC HISTORY OF DELIVERY SERVICE

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81: ESOTERIC HISTORY OF DELIVERY SERVICE

Here is the short history of delivery service around the world, which culminates in the US.

The business of delivering tiffin boxes in Mumbai started in 1890. It’s called Dhabbawallah, when the Parsi and British communities living in Mumbai needed the convenience of a tiffin delivery service.

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