Restaurant Rescue Programme
For restaurants losing money now, not in theory.
- Typical timeline
- 90 days
- Deliverables
- 6 documented outputs
A restaurant in trouble does not have time for a discovery phase that takes a month. The rescue programme compresses the framework: diagnose in days, act in weeks, review weekly.
Week one: stop the bleeding
We look at cash before anything else. What is going out, what can be paused, what is owed and to whom. Then the two costs that move fastest: food and labour. Par levels, purchase discipline, portion control, roster against actual covers by hour. Most struggling outlets are staffed for a Saturday night on a Tuesday afternoon.
Weeks two to four: cut and reprice
The menu comes down, usually by a third. Dishes that neither sell nor earn take prep time, storage, wastage and training with them when they go. Prices are corrected where they were set by fear rather than by cost.
Weeks four to eight: team and experience
Retraining on a shorter menu is faster and sticks better. Service standards get rebuilt around the few moments that drive reviews. We respond to the existing reviews β publicly, specifically, without excuses β because prospective guests read the replies.
Weeks eight to twelve: bring people back
Lapsed regulars, local offices, residential catchment, delivery platform positioning. Cheap, local, measurable. No brand campaigns.
Honesty clause
If the model cannot work, we say so early and help you plan an exit that loses the least money. That has happened. It is the right advice even though it ends the engagement.
Where this sits in the framework
Rescue runs Discover β Design β Develop β Launch β Grow at four times the speed, on site, every week.
How we work
Where this sits in the CulinaPro Growth Frameworkβ’
Every engagement runs through the same five stages. This one sits inside that system.
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Discover
We look at your numbers, your kitchen and your guests before we form an opinion.
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Design
A plan built around your margins, your space and the market you actually sell to.
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Develop
SOPs, recipes and costings written so a new hire can run your kitchen in week two.
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Launch
Trials, staff training and a soft open before a single paying guest is disappointed.
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Grow
Monthly numbers, menu changes and fixes β the part that separates a good year from a good month.
Restaurant Rescue Programme: questions people ask
- Can every restaurant be saved?
- No. If the rent is wrong for the catchment and the lease cannot be renegotiated, no amount of operations work fixes the arithmetic. We will tell you that in week one rather than take three months of fees.
- How fast do things change?
- Cost control moves within two weeks. Covers and ratings take six to twelve, because guests have to come back and then tell other people.
- Do you work on a success fee?
- Partly, case by case. A fixed fee plus a performance component tied to agreed metrics is common. We do not work purely on upside β a rescue needs the client committed too.
Other services
Restaurant Startup Consulting
10-16 weeks
Read moreKitchen Planning & Design
4-8 weeks
Read moreMenu Engineering & Food Costing
3-5 weeks
Read moreTell us what is not working. We will tell you what to fix first.
A 30-minute discovery call, free, no pitch deck. You leave with two or three things to act on whether you hire us or not.