598: Kyle Noonan on Creating Remarkable Memories

College friends and FreeRange Concepts' founders, Kyle Noonan and Josh Sepkowitz, have a combined 20 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry, including hospitality management, operations, acquisitions, divestitures and new store openings for multi-million dollar concepts. It was 2010 when the pair decided to go into business together. After 2 years of planning and with only $50,000 they bootstrapped their first concept, Bowl and Barrel. 7 years later the duo has scaled into 10 total locations consisting of 4 unique concepts with the addition of Mutts Canine Cantina, The Rustic, and The General Public.   Show notes… Favorite success quote or mantra: Create remarkable memories. In this episode with Kyle Noonan, we discuss: Creating the perfect mission statement Minimize your mission statement, keep it short and sweet Make your guests dining experience about good memories Find a partner who compliments you Invest in training the right people Teach the "why" in addition to the "what" Teach your team members everything about your history and intentions Save, save, save in order to gain opening money Never get comfortable, always look for places to save money Finding a location If your idea is good and you have the right talent you can make a startup happen Stamina is key in completing a project Budgeting Have a good, clear vision for the FUTURE; don't just rely on your resume Concept first, location to suit Learn to say no to opportunities that aren't in line with what you are trying to do Honesty is key! The restaurant industry will beat humility in you and it's a good thing Today's sponsor: BentoBox helps restaurants grow their business through a connected suite of tools, offering them an integrated website to connect with their guests and drive revenue online. Restaurant owners and operators are able to easily update menus, promote specials, take catering and event inquiries, sell merchandise, gift cards and more. Revel Systems integrates front of house and back of house operations into a single dashboard. Designed to increase security, stability, ease of use, and speed of service, Revel's streamlined ecosystem provides businesses with the right tools to grow. Learn more at revelsystems.com/unstoppable.   Knowledge bombs Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success? I think big, not afraid to take "moon shots" What is your biggest weakness? Same as strength What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview? Hospitality, positive energy What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it? Saying no to projects Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team. Take care of others first What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff? to create remarkable memories What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner? Good to Great by Jim Collins GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM  What's the one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough? Talk to their guests What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your four walls restaurant and how has it influence operations? Hotschedules If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be? Treat others well Be kind Be sincere Contact info: Instagram: @kylenoonan @muttscantina @therusticdallas @thegenpublic @bowlandbarrel Facebook: Kyle Noonan Twitter: @kylenoonan Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post. Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Huge thanks to Kyle Noonan for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!   Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!