Ask ten catering operators what "growth" means and nine of them will say the same thing: more leads.

Get the phone ringing. Get the inbox full. Get more people to find out you exist.

Here's the problem. That's not wrong - it's just lazy thinking.

You know what's worse than losing a catering customer to a competitor?

Losing them because your kitchen missed a special instruction. Or forgot to prep a custom item someone ordered. Or sent out a half-assembled order because nobody knew it wasn't done yet.

That's not a marketing problem. That's a systems problem.

I have never been one of the "first one in, last one out" business owners who sees clocking the most hours as a badge of courage.

There’s a Yiddish word, mensch, that means someone of integrity and honor. An all-around good guy.

When I first opened my restaurant in 1992, catering prospects would call to have a catering menu faxed to them. Today it is all about the internet and your website.

Do you remember your parents telling you how they walked uphill both ways to school in the snow…with no shoes? Do tales of how hard life used to be in the olden days rattle around your subconscious when you hear your parents’ voice?

About a year ago, my daughter Jordyn started working as a hostess at Corky’s BBQ, the very restaurant I sold over ten years ago. She loves working with the public.

I think it was two to three years ago a forward thinking, techie friend of mine starting talking up Uber. He parked his expensive Jaguar and started using Uber to take him to work and out and about.

The fall of 1996 changed my life forever. That September I flew to Los Angeles with barely two nickels to rub together to hear a man named Jay Abraham inspire me for three days straight.