7 Books Every Restaurant Owner and Operator Must Read

Content Inc., Second Edition: Start a Content-First Business, Build a Massive Audience and Become Radically Successful (With Little to No Money) by Joe Pulizzi

Do you create digital content? Well, this is the business model you’ve been looking for…

In these pages, Joe Pulizzi provides a lower-risk, more effective way to create a path to success by re-engineering the process that so often leads to failure: You’ll learn how to develop valuable content, build an audience around that content―and then create a product for that audience. Content Inc. walks you through the entire process, showing how to:

  • Choose a topic
  • Unearth an area where little competition exists (break through the clutter)
  • Choose your best channel to build your platform
  • Build long-term customer loyalty (an audience)
  • Start making money from your content
  • Expand your content into multiple channels/platforms
  • Sell your content asset or scale it into a successful business


This updated edition includes new and enhanced coverage of platforms like TikTok, SnapChat, and Instagram, a new section about the exit strategy for the model, more practical how-tos, and current examples of companies that have successfully implemented these strategies. 

Content Inc. provides an ingenious approach to business based on a profoundly simple concept: Having a singular focus on audience, and building a loyal audience directly, provide the best, most nuanced understanding of what products ultimately make the most sense to sell.

Apply the methods laid out for you in Content Inc., and create the business of your dreams. 

Restaurant Management: The Myth, the Magic, the Math by Bruce Nelson

Bruce Nelson was on Episode 36 of Restauranttopia. Bruce’s restaurant career spans over four decades and includes working every conceivable position within a restaurant. Career highlights include Catering Manager for D’Amico + Partners’ Atrium Catering, General Manager at Cossetta’s Market and Eatery, General Manager at Suite Life Catering at Target Center, Chef Instructor for Le Cordon Bleu and CFO of Nova Restaurant Group. Mr. Nelson leadership style incorporates ethics, humor and a fair dose of sports analogies. His business philosophy teaches that all forms of free commerce are predicated on both customer and business benefiting from the exchange of goods and services. Being a successful business operator does not mean creating a scenario where one party can win if the other party loses but to develop an environment where both parties win. Therefore, successful businesses need to look at the goal of profitability as a puzzle to solve, rather than a battlefield to conquer. Mr. Nelson’s passion lies in teaching restaurant operators how to solve the profitability puzzle.

Twelve Pillars – by Jim Rohn  AudioBook (LINK). 

My mentor gave me this book about 3 years ago and it changed my life.  This  novel by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener will inspire you to take your life to the next level and beyond. It will challenge and encourage you to become the best that you can be!

Twelve Pillars blends together the fundamental principles and teachings of Jim Rohn and The Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan, and with the help of Chris Widener, those principles have been weaved into a unique tapestry of a fictional account of three characters – Michael, Charlie and Mr. Davis.

Here are a few of the lessons you will discover in the Twelve Pillars of Success:

  • Live a Life of Three-Dimensional Health
  • The Gift of Relationships
  • Achieving Your Goals and the Proper Use of Time
  • Surrounding Yourself with the Best People
  • Becoming a Life-Long Learner
  • Income Seldom Exceeds Personal Development
  • Communication Brings the Common Ground of Understanding
  • The World Can Always Use One More Great Leader
  • Leaving a Legacy

The Relationship Economy: Building Stronger Customer Connections in the Digital Age by John R. DiJulius

In The Relationship Economy, author John DiJulius teaches business leaders about the importance of relationship building in the digital age. He argues that in spite of (and because of) the advances in tech, we’ve become a less connected society. We have dramatically evolved away from face-to-face communication, and the skill of building rapport is evaporating. This means that customer personalization and relationships are more important now than ever–and they will be the key to success for businesses moving forward. As he aptly states, “Being able to build true sustainable relationships is the biggest competitive advantage in a world where automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are eliminating the human experience, which is what creates the emotional connections that build true customer loyalty.” This book reminds readers of the importance of personal connections and shows them how to attain meaningful, lasting relationships with their customers.

Multi-Unit Leadership: The 7 Stages of Building Profitable Stores Across Multiple Markets by Jim Sullivan

Multi-Unit Leadership: The 7 Stages of Building Profitable Stores Across Multiple Markets explores best practices in the art and science of 21st Century multi-unit leadership. This brand new, revised and updated Fourth Edition, details the 7 leadership stages that high-performing Area Directors, Regional Managers and franchisees must master as they grow from managing a single unit to leading multiple units. Over 225,000 copies sold worldwide of this 262-page softcover bestseller. The book details over 250 best practices of high-performing MULs (multi-unit leaders) across the foodservice, retail, salon, automotive and spa industries in North America. The content is based on exclusive research and best practices culled from hundreds of high-performing Multiunit Leaders. Companies that use the book include Walt Disney Company, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Jiffy Lube, McDonald’s, Dominos, Target, Applebee’s, Sam’s Club, American Express, Burger King, Chili’s, KFC, Denny’s, Coca-Cola, Petco, Supercuts and many others. Whether you oversee two stores or two dozen, this book will show both new and veteran Multiunit Leaders (and Franchisees) how to unify brand standards, manage multiple priorities, execute high-impact Store Visits, maximize sales, minimize employee turnover, build a talent pipeline, create high-performing teams, and beat the competition every day in every market.

The Surprise Restaurant Manager by Ken McGarrie

In The Surprise Restaurant Manager, learn from Ken McGarrie, a restaurant operator who has helped launched dozens of successful restaurants, as he gives you the tools to master the unexpected challenges managers face every day. Get help on the fly with real-life examples, straightforward strategies, and expert insight to better leadership. This is your guide to restaurant industry success beyond basic food knowledge and inventory counts.

You’ll learn:

  • How to locate quality candidates and interview effectively, including eight signs you shouldn’t extend an offer-from subtle clues to outright red flags.
  • Tips on ways to support your staff during challenging situations and how to use genuine suggestions to develop more effective hospitality skills.
  • Common communication mistakes that guarantee FOH turnover and increase work stress-and how to avoid them.
  • Proven steps to upgrade your table touch and salvage every negative guest experience, including guaranteed methods to improve your restaurant’s online reviews.
  • How to embrace blunt criticism, work effectively with strong personalities, and avoid professional burnout.

Success as a restaurant manager is a constant quest to level up your game and your team-without sacrificing your sanity along the way. Get The Surprise Restaurant Manager now for the advice you needed-before you got the keys!

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

From the team that brought you The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, a beautiful daily devotional of Stoic meditations—an instant Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller.Why have history’s greatest minds—from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with today’s top performers from Super Bowl-winning football coaches to CEOs and celebrities—embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics? Because they realize that the most valuable wisdom is timeless and that philosophy is for living a better life, not a classroom exercise.

The Daily Stoic offers 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright Seneca, or slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, as well as lesser-known luminaries like Zeno, Cleanthes, and Musonius Rufus. Every day of the year you’ll find one of their pithy, powerful quotations, as well as historical anecdotes, provocative commentary, and a helpful glossary of Greek terms.

By following these teachings over the course of a year (and, indeed, for years to come) you’ll find the serenity, self-knowledge, and resilience you need to live well. 


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