Why the Best Restaurant Owners Understand Everything They Hire For

Here is something I started doing with our clients that changed everything.

I bring them inside our Google Ads platform. I show them exactly where their money is going. The results. The distribution. The actions we take to make campaigns better. The website tracking we set up so we can see exact numbers.

I literally put them to work.

Some marketing agencies would think this is insane. Why would you show clients how the sausage is made? Why would you give them that level of access? Why would you risk them second-guessing every decision?

Because the best partnerships are not vendor-client relationships. They are peer-to-peer collaborations where both sides understand what is happening and why.

And because the best leaders do not just hire people and walk away. They understand what they hired for. They stay curious. They stay involved. They treat their team as teammates, not as employees who exist to do tasks they do not want to think about.

This applies to everything in your restaurant. Your relationship with your marketing agency. Your relationship with your employees. Your relationship with your partners. The same principles determine success or failure in all of them.

The Problem With Hiring and Forgetting

Most restaurant owners hire for things they do not understand.

They hire a marketing agency without understanding marketing. They hire a chef without understanding the kitchen. They hire a manager without understanding management. They hire and then they hope.

This is not leadership. This is abdication.

Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, put it this way: "A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge." Not just for hiring people who have knowledge. For understanding that knowledge well enough to apply it and measure its performance.

When you hire someone for something you do not understand, you have no way to evaluate whether they are doing a good job. You have no way to know if the results are good or bad. You have no way to improve the partnership because you do not know what improvement looks like.

You become dependent on their word. And their word may or may not be accurate.

What the Best Leaders Actually Do

Ben Horowitz built and sold a company for 1.6 billion dollars. He has seen leadership succeed and fail at the highest levels. In his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, he makes a point that most business owners miss entirely.

Training is one of the highest-leverage activities a manager can perform.

Most restaurant owners think training is something you do once when someone starts. Horowitz says it is ongoing, constant, and fundamental to everything else working.

Here is why this matters for you.

When you train someone, you have to understand what they do well enough to teach it. You have to articulate standards clearly enough for someone else to follow them. You have to know what good looks like so you can recognize it and correct deviations.

Training forces understanding. And understanding is what separates leaders from people who just sign paychecks.

Horowitz also points out something uncomfortable. When you fire someone, how do you know with certainty that they understood what was expected and still failed to deliver? The best answer is that you clearly set expectations when you trained them. If you never trained them properly, you do not actually know whether they failed or whether you failed to set them up for success.

This is true for your employees. It is equally true for your marketing agency, your suppliers, your partners, and everyone else you work with.

The Danny Meyer Approach

Danny Meyer built Union Square Hospitality Group into one of the most respected restaurant organizations in America. Shake Shack alone became a publicly traded company worth billions.

His philosophy is something he calls Enlightened Hospitality. The core principle is simple: take care of employees first.

But here is what most people miss about his approach.

Meyer does not just hire great people and let them figure things out. He builds systems. He creates training programs. He develops frameworks like hiring for what he calls the "51 percenter" — people who lead with emotional intelligence.

Most importantly, Meyer stays deeply involved in understanding every aspect of his business. He did not build a restaurant empire by delegating everything and hoping for the best. He built it by understanding hospitality at a fundamental level and then building organizations that could deliver it consistently.

The best leaders have broad knowledge of everything in their companies. Not because they want to micromanage. Because they cannot lead what they do not understand.

Why I Show Clients Everything

Back to why I bring clients inside our advertising platforms.

When a client understands how Google Ads actually works, something shifts in our relationship.

They stop asking "where are my results" and start asking "what can we try next." They stop seeing us as a vendor they are paying and start seeing us as partners they are collaborating with. They bring insights from their daily operations that we could never see from outside. They become better at their job because they understand marketing better, and we become better at our job because they can actually help us.

This is what peer-to-peer partnerships look like.

Drucker said "the most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said." When clients understand what we do, they can communicate more effectively about what they need. They can tell us things they would not even think to mention if they did not understand the context.

The relationship becomes a true collaboration instead of a one-way service delivery.

The Best Leaders Are Teammates

Here is a principle that most struggling restaurant owners get backwards.

They think hiring means they no longer have to think about that area of the business. They think paying someone means that person handles everything and they can focus elsewhere.

The best leaders think the opposite way.

The best leaders treat everyone they work with as teammates. Not employees who exist to do tasks. Not vendors who exist to deliver services. Teammates who are working together toward a shared goal.

When you treat someone as a teammate, you stay involved. You understand what they do. You contribute your perspective. You help them succeed because their success is your success.

When you treat someone as just an employee or vendor, you distance yourself. You stop understanding what they do. You stop contributing. You just judge results without context.

Ben Horowitz puts it bluntly: "Take care of the people, the product, and the profits — in that order."

Taking care of people does not mean leaving them alone. It means investing in them. Understanding them. Helping them succeed. Being a true partner in their work.

What I Look For in Clients

Not every client wants this kind of partnership.

Some clients want to hand over money and receive results without any involvement. They do not want to understand marketing. They do not want to collaborate. They want a vendor, not a partner.

I can see this early in the relationship. When I try to bring them into our platforms and show them how things work, they are not curious. They do not engage. They just want the bottom line numbers without understanding what produces them.

When I see this, I know the relationship will not last.

Not because I do not want their business. Because I know how this ends.

Without real partnership, there is no trust. Without understanding, there is no patience during the time it takes to build real results. Without collaboration, there is no ability to adapt when things need to change.

These relationships end in frustration. Usually within a few months. The client feels like they are not getting results. We feel like we cannot do our best work because they are not engaged. Nobody wins.

So I look for the opposite.

I look for clients who get excited when I show them inside the platforms. Who ask questions. Who want to understand. Who bring their own knowledge of their restaurant and their customers into the conversation.

These relationships produce results. These relationships last. These relationships are worth having.

The Same Principle Applies to Your Employees

Everything I just described about the agency-client relationship applies equally to how you should work with your employees.

Do you understand what your chef actually does? Not just "they cook food." Do you understand the processes, the challenges, the decisions they make every day?

Do you understand what your manager actually handles? Not just "they manage the floor." Do you understand the systems they use, the problems they solve, the judgment calls they make?

Do you understand what your servers actually experience? Not just "they take orders." Do you understand the customer interactions, the timing pressures, the emotional labor involved?

If you do not understand these things, you cannot lead these people effectively.

Drucker said "leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations."

You cannot lift someone's vision if you do not understand their current reality. You cannot raise their performance if you do not know what good performance looks like in their role. You cannot build them beyond their limitations if you have not taken the time to understand what those limitations are.

The Training Investment

Horowitz makes a point that should convict every restaurant owner.

People at McDonald's get trained for their positions. But people with far more complicated jobs often do not. This makes no sense.

A lot of companies think their employees are so smart that they require no training. That is silly.

Your servers need training. Not just "here's how to use the POS system" training. Real training in hospitality, in reading customers, in handling difficult situations, in representing your brand.

Your kitchen staff needs training. Not just "here's how we make this dish" training. Real training in consistency, in efficiency, in quality standards, in working as a team.

Your managers need training. Not just "here's your responsibilities" training. Real training in leadership, in problem-solving, in developing their own team members.

And here is the key point. You cannot train people in things you do not understand yourself.

If you want to build a great restaurant, you need to understand every aspect of it well enough to train others. Not well enough to do every job yourself. Well enough to set standards, evaluate performance, and develop people.

This is what broad knowledge means for a leader. Not knowing everything. Knowing enough about everything to lead effectively.

Management Debt

Horowitz introduces a concept called management debt.

Management debt is when you make an expedient, short-term management decision with an expensive, long-term consequence.

Hiring someone without proper training creates management debt. You save time now but pay for it later when they underperform or fail.

Bringing on a marketing agency without understanding marketing creates management debt. You avoid learning something now but pay for it later when you cannot evaluate whether they are doing good work.

Promoting someone without developing them creates management debt. You fill a role quickly but pay for it later when they struggle in a position they were not prepared for.

Management debt compounds. Small shortcuts accumulate into major problems. And eventually you go management bankrupt, with an organization full of people who were never properly set up to succeed.

The only way to avoid management debt is to invest the time upfront. Understand what you are hiring for. Train properly. Develop people. Stay involved.

Relationships Determine Everything

Here is the truth that experienced business owners understand.

Relationships are the key operators in any business. They can either make you or break you.

A great relationship with your marketing agency produces results that transform your business. A bad relationship wastes money and time while producing frustration.

A great relationship with your employees creates a team that handles challenges and grows together. A bad relationship creates turnover, inconsistency, and constant firefighting.

A great relationship with your suppliers creates reliability and partnership during difficult times. A bad relationship creates supply issues and adversarial negotiations.

The quality of your relationships determines the quality of your results.

And relationships require investment. They require understanding. They require showing up as a partner, not just as someone who signs checks.

When to Walk Away

Not every relationship is worth saving.

We have big plans and goals that we are going to reach. If there are clients trying to stop us from getting there, we cut them off. I do not care how much they are paying us. If the relationship is bad, I do not want it.

This sounds harsh but it is actually respectful. To them and to us.

A bad relationship drains energy from everyone involved. It prevents us from doing our best work. It prevents them from getting the results they need. Staying in it helps nobody.

The same applies to your employees. Some relationships are not fixable. Some people are not going to become the teammates you need. Keeping them hurts everyone, including them.

Drucker said "there is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all."

Maintaining bad relationships with great effort is the business equivalent of this. All that energy could go into relationships that actually work.

What Real Partnership Looks Like

Let me paint a picture of what a real partnership looks like between a restaurant owner and a marketing agency.

The restaurant owner understands marketing fundamentals. Not because they are going to do the marketing themselves. Because they can evaluate whether the agency is doing good work, have intelligent conversations about strategy, and contribute their own insights about their customers and market.

The agency understands the restaurant. Not just surface level demographics. They understand the owner's vision, the restaurant's culture, the customer experience, the competitive landscape. They can make recommendations that actually fit.

Both sides communicate openly. The agency shares what is working and what is not. The owner shares what is happening in the restaurant that might affect marketing. Nobody hides problems hoping they will go away.

Both sides invest in the relationship. The agency invests time in understanding the restaurant. The owner invests time in understanding marketing. Both see the relationship as worth nurturing, not just transacting.

When problems arise, both sides work together to solve them. There is no blame-shifting. There is no defensiveness. There is collaborative problem-solving because both sides want the relationship to succeed.

This is what we aim for with every client. And this is what you should aim for with every key relationship in your restaurant.

Building Broad Knowledge

So how do you actually develop broad knowledge of everything in your restaurant?

Start with curiosity. Drucker said "my greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions." You do not need to already know everything. You need to be genuinely curious about learning.

Spend time in every area. Work a shift in the kitchen. Spend time at the host stand. Shadow your manager for a day. You cannot understand what you have never experienced.

Ask your team to teach you. The people doing the work know things you do not. Ask them to explain their challenges, their processes, their decisions. This builds your knowledge and shows them you value their expertise.

Study your industry. Read about restaurant operations. Learn marketing fundamentals. Understand finance beyond just looking at the bottom line. Leaders are learners.

Stay involved even after you hire experts. Bringing in a great chef does not mean you stop paying attention to the kitchen. Hiring a marketing agency does not mean you stop understanding marketing. The hiring is the beginning of involvement, not the end.

The Compound Effect of Understanding

Here is what happens when you develop broad knowledge and build real partnerships.

You make better decisions because you actually understand the options.

You hire better people because you know what to look for.

You evaluate performance accurately because you know what good looks like.

You develop your team effectively because you can train and guide them.

You collaborate with partners productively because you can contribute meaningfully.

You spot problems early because you understand what is supposed to be happening.

You solve problems faster because you understand the systems involved.

Each of these benefits compounds. Better decisions lead to better results. Better results lead to more resources. More resources lead to more opportunities. The gap between you and competitors who do not invest in understanding widens over time.

Drucker said "the best way to predict the future is to create it."

You create your future through the quality of your understanding and the quality of your relationships. Both require investment. Both pay returns that compound over time.

Take the Next Step

If you are a restaurant owner who wants a marketing partner, not just a vendor, we should talk.

We believe in bringing clients into our work. We believe in transparency. We believe in building relationships where both sides understand what is happening and collaborate to make it better.

We work month to month because we believe real partnerships are chosen, not contracted. We specialize in Indian restaurants because deep expertise creates better results than generic approaches.

But most importantly, we look for clients who want to understand marketing, not just pay for it. Clients who see themselves as partners in their own growth. Clients who are curious enough to learn and engaged enough to contribute.

If that sounds like you, schedule a call.

https://www.anthconsulting.com/restaurant-growth-challenge#calendar-652ZsXHqbhZk

The best partnerships make both sides better. Let us find out if we could build one together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should restaurant owners understand what they hire marketing agencies to do?

When you do not understand marketing, you cannot evaluate whether your agency is doing good work. You have no context for results. You cannot contribute insights from your daily operations. You become completely dependent on their word. Understanding marketing fundamentals allows you to have intelligent strategy conversations, catch problems early, and collaborate effectively. This makes the partnership more productive for both sides.

What does it mean to treat employees as teammates rather than just staff?

Treating employees as teammates means staying involved in understanding their work, contributing to their success, and collaborating on challenges. It means investing in their development rather than just giving them tasks. It means seeing their success as your success and their struggles as shared problems to solve. This approach creates loyalty, improves performance, and builds a team that handles challenges together.

How do you develop broad knowledge of everything in your restaurant?

Start with curiosity and genuine desire to learn. Spend time in every area of your operation. Work shifts in positions you do not usually fill. Ask your team to teach you about their challenges and processes. Study your industry through books, articles, and conversations with other owners. Stay involved in every area even after you hire specialists. The goal is not to do every job yourself but to understand enough to lead effectively.

What is management debt and why does it matter?

Management debt is when you make quick, expedient decisions that create expensive long-term consequences. Hiring without proper training, promoting without developing, or outsourcing without understanding all create management debt. Like financial debt, it compounds over time. Small shortcuts accumulate into major organizational problems. Avoiding management debt requires investing time upfront in understanding, training, and development.

How do you know when a business relationship is not worth continuing?

When the relationship drains more energy than it produces. When communication breaks down and neither side wants to invest in fixing it. When values are misaligned and collaboration feels forced. When staying in the relationship prevents both sides from doing their best work. Bad relationships hurt everyone involved. Sometimes the most respectful thing is to acknowledge the mismatch and move on.

What did Ben Horowitz mean about training being high-leverage?

Training multiplies your impact. When you train someone well, every hour they work produces better results. When you train them poorly or not at all, every hour they work produces subpar results. The time invested in training pays returns across all the hours that person works for you. This makes training one of the highest-return activities a leader can perform. Yet most business owners underinvest in it dramatically.

Why does Danny Meyer prioritize employees first in his hospitality philosophy?

Meyer's insight is that employee experience directly creates customer experience. Happy, well-trained, well-supported employees deliver better hospitality. This creates better customer experiences, which creates repeat business and word of mouth. Taking care of employees first is not charity. It is strategy. The entire virtuous cycle of great hospitality starts with how you treat your team.

How can restaurant owners better collaborate with their marketing agencies?

Ask to see inside the platforms and understand what is happening. Learn marketing fundamentals so you can have intelligent conversations. Share information about your restaurant, customers, and market that the agency cannot see from outside. Communicate openly about what is and is not working. Treat the agency as a partner in your success, not a vendor you are paying to produce results. Invest time in the relationship rather than just expecting deliverables.