Category: Restaurant Pricing

What a difference 60 days make

60 days ago I was in Miami visiting family before my daughter, Taj, and I headed back to Europe after our 3-month road trip around the United States. It was a difficult and turbulent time.

A week earlier, I was at The Fontainebleau Las Vegas attending RFDC, surrounded by restaurant industry friends who were all encouraging me to follow my heart and to continue building. Meanwhile, a few people close to me wanted me to find a stable job at a stable company.

I seriously considered it…

But I had investors telling me, “Whatever you do next, I’m interested.”

I had restaurant executives telling me, “You need to go build your vision, because the industry needs it.”

I had a team of people telling me, “Build something new, I’m in. Don’t worry about the money. We will figure it out.”

I had a network of followers reaching out and telling me, “Whatever I can do to help, just say the word.”

It felt like the universe had made up its mind for me. How could I ignore this inertia and go find a job with an established company? It felt like I would be letting so many people down. Most importantly, it felt like I would be letting myself down.

In December I posted my opening bank balance after opening my business account for High Margin. Investors have now started wiring funds. It’s real now. I don’t have the words to express my gratitude to all of you for helping me create this company.

I’m turning 49 on Saturday. Lots to do over the next 365 days before the big one.

The unforeseen impact of tariffs on the restaurant industry

One of our potential customers was at an offsite last week. He had indicated to me that by the end of the week, he would know whether or not we would have a green light for our data analysis project. Although he promised to call me this coming week, I couldn’t wait. I figured I’d text him on Friday at the end of the day so I didn’t have to think about it all weekend.

He responded immediately saying that the executive team was in ‘all hands on deck’ mode because of the announcement on Friday that the US would be implementing tariffs on February 4th. The concern about how the tariffs would impact their business may actually accelerate our path to a project and commercial agreement. Turns out that the sudden implementation of tariffs creates a great deal of uncertainty.

It got me to thinking how the tariffs may impact the restaurant industry. The most obvious, direct impact will be that ingredients imported from Mexico and Canada will become significantly more expensive. But it turns out that tariffs can also disrupt global supply chains. Demand for products from Mexico, for example, may shift to other countries that are not subject to tariffs. Sudden demand from countries with limited supply or bottlenecked import channels will likely cause shortages and delays.

Restaurants will inevitably have to adjust purchasing, menu design and prices accordingly.

I’m curious to hear from restaurant companies that are thinking about this. It’s something that High Margin is looking at very closely.