Standard Burger Before The Profit

Standard Burger initially began as a restaurant owned by four friends in Staten Island, with one of the owner’s brothers taking care of the kitchen. While initially the burgers and business were good, things began to turn south as management became disjointed and the establishment became a mess. Earlier in this season of The Profit, Marcus Lemonis dropped by to fix the place and really have them start setting a standard for food, instead of just saying that the did. But did the lessons he taught them stick after he invested so much money? We return to the restaurant in this episode to see.

Showdown at Standard Burger on The Profit

Returning to Standard Burger’s homestate of New York, Lemonis meets up with the other owners at Battle of the Burger, where burger joints aim to be the best in New York. Everyone on the line was fired up and Marcus even joined in on the fun. After 5 hours, the Standard Burger team came out the winners.

The following day in Staten Island, Marcus has some high hopes meeting up with a potential franchisee, and the joint looks on the surface as good as it was when he left. Things get a little hairy as the menu display is discussed, as cheap chalkboards advertise even cheaper food that cause an issue. The original concept was thrown out the window and the restaurant owners toss themselves into a fray including personal matters which certainly harken back to the first episode. Marcus cuts them down a bit and tells them that a cool off is needed while he speaks with the staff. In the back, the staff have songs of praise for Fuji who is clearly a leader of the back. However, things start falling apart when Marcus works the back and sees that the order delivery is all wrong and plenty of people are getting the wrong burgers if they get them at all.

These errors prompt Marcus to talk financials with the team again. Gains in terms of gross revenue have been fantastic since the first episode, more than doubling. So with that out the way, food costs are discussed as the business runs on tight profit margins. In fact, it’s desired that food costs are less than 30% of retail price, and currently it’s about 31.5%. The month thereafter, a 3% increase in food costs are caused by the low cost burger options. The good news is they as a company are at least breaking even which is mentioned as far better than losing money. Next on the table is management, as some of the owners have not been showing up as often as they should. Seeing as they are all owners, they should not have to be invited into their own business.

The next morning a location is put on the table by Sammy, which is a shopping center being constructed. While not being completed, the rent is put up like it’s already done and in a luxury spot, asking for over 20% of their revenue (if the same rates of sales were applied store to store) where 8% is usually seen as a maximum. Marcus hard balls the owners about demand and data, and ultimately scares off their thought of renting the facility. But not without there being another blow up between the other owners. Joe and Sammy tend to lock heads and Marcus takes Joe aside to talk to him. Marcus gives him some advice to chill out, and Sammy takes him aside to talk to him about Standard Burger. Apparently, the past few months have not been going as planned. Marcus advises that they all just relax for a bit before making any decisions regarding management.

The meeting with the first franchisee candidate comes next. John comes from design and construction with his wife’s family having 5 decades of experience, making him well qualified to own a franchise. His first complaint is the small menu and suggests a kids menu, as well as a few non-burger options. John echoes Marcus’s concern about the profit margins, and schedules a second meeting in a couple of weeks. This transitions into another review of food costs, where Joe is in the hot seat. It’s clear that he has no idea how to measure food expenses, which is critical for being a general manager. He tries to weasel out of blame but is pretty well pinned. Marcus then calls a food distributor who has worked with the company to work on prices. He immediately gets a drop by 10% in meat prices simply by asking. Joe and Marcus then speak outside again. Sammy is then called out to try and hash out the issues. Joe explodes and flips a chair, squaring up to Sammy who tries to keep things quiet, with Marcus obviously more than a little uncomfortable. Joe quits as a manager, claims nobody likes Sammy, and tells him to do his job.

A major issue then erupts as Sammy mentions that Joe fired a girl that worked there for years, and Marcus is curious as to who it is. As if by Hollywood magic, another man is waiting for them to finish their conversation with a not so friendly look about him. It turns out it’s Nikki’s father (the girl who was fired) and Joe looks more than a little nervous. Marcus walks over to talk to him in private. It turns out Joe was dating this worker until he “started dating someone else” and fired her with a bit of verbal abuse to boot. Joe walks over and tries to insert himself, which just brings more shame to everyone involved. He then admits to the relationship after initially trying to deny it, and states he fired her today, over the telephone which is about as unprofessional as one can get with a worker of over 3 years. Joe tries to blame Sammy, and Marcus states he’s amazed Nikki’s dad didn’t beat him to a pulp. Nikki then shows up and Marcus talks to her. She admits it was on and off dating on the clock, and that Joe was cheating on his girlfriend during this time.

Marcus then meets Joe later, and is in no mood to take any of his bluffing. Marcus plainly states he can’t let his personal life in the way of the business, and Joe tries to cover for himself. Marcus has no problem cutting through his lies. There is some serious problems, and Marcus sees the solution as firing Joe, and having him as partner only. He then goes to meet the other partners and states he’s out as manager, and Sammy is going to slide in for now until a formal manager can be hired.

The team finally meet up with vendors for non-burger foods. They see a monster hot dog option as well as more reasonable ones, which allows for a kids menu item and another signature item. These additions, better food costs, and a solid presentation win over the franchisees.

Standard Burger now in 2018 – The After The Profit Update

Since this episode of The Profit, Standard Burger has straightened up a bit. While only keeping one location open, the owners have added a new partner named Tailgate Joe who seems to have some real culinary chops. This was a smart move, as since his addition, both Yelp and Facebook reviews have gone up and more people have been visiting Standard Burger especially after the showdown. A continued investment by Lemonis to the tune of half a million dollars has helped keep the business developing and may one day make it a more household name with branches opening up in cities across the United States.

The post Showdown at Standard Burger Update – What Happened After The Profit appeared first on Gazette Review.

Starting out as a business run by four friends, Standard Burger was a Staten Island burger startup well before The Profit picked them up. Despite having good burgers, the restaurant happened to be losing around $5,000 a month, and all four owners propped up the business with jobs of their own. After about 2 years of daily emails from one of the owners, Sammy, asking Lemonis and The Profit to come by, Marcus decides he may as well investigate the company. Let’s see what happens next.

Standard Burger On The Profit

Marcus drops by Standard Burger, and is less than impressed with the ordinary appearance and a nearly empty customer lobby. He finally meets Sammy, and his co-owners, Joe, Joe and Todd. It quickly goes down hill, as the ownership and management aspects for the restaurant simply don’t exist. Even the Standard’s manager doesn’t know who to call in case of emergency. Marcus then takes a look at the cleanliness of the store, and is again wholly unimpressed. To make matters even worse, it’s quickly discovered nearly all the food is pre-frozen, even with “handmade” burgers.

In taking a quick survey of the customers, Marcus notes that everyone has a positive view of the milkshakes and fries, but the store certainly isn’t called Standard Shake or Fries. He then investigates the menu and sees there is no rhyme or reason to the pricing brackets after ordering a few burgers to try out. The owners hit the kitchen, and even from the outside Lemonis can hear them disagreeing and more or less showing their hand in that they are not sure what they are doing. Trying them out, the burgers again don’t really impress and could be best described as college style burgers (those you make after having a few brews). Marcus teaches them a basic idea that flavors should blend and ingredients should be fresh.

Back in the kitchen, it’s shown that Shakes and fries have a great attachment (showing in 25% of orders) and have good returns (with 85% margins). Marcus then grabs a shirt and aims to head to the kitchen. Another conflict got revealed in that Sammy’s brother Fuji (a worker and co-founder) used to work at the shack before Todd became too much of a micromanager (watching the security cameras from home and giving him directions) and decided to leave. Todd, as expected, gets more than a little defensive about this claim. The argument gets to Sammy and he ends up breaking down a bit and having to leave into the office. Sammy then tells Marcus that Fuji basically raised him, and he wanted Standard Burger for the both of them. Marcus suggests they meet up, and the vulnerability of Sammy hits Marcus right in the heart, who genuinely wants to help.

When Fuji walks in, Marcus immediately seems to brighten up, and ends up seeing him as a quality worker. He asks Fuji to make him a burger and see what he can do differently. Fuji makes an Italian style burger, with a blend of spices and care taken in process. While not perfect, they are leagues ahead of the previous offerings. This gives Marcus a bit of hope as they walk into financials. That hope is soon dashed, as there’s only $600,000 in revenue, with food costs at around 50% of that is food costs alone. Todd’s micromanaging is somewhat justified when it’s shown they are losing around $65,000 a year. Management is then delegated, and Fuji is then thrown into the deal due to his experience in the field. The offer is that if each owner throws in $15,000 a piece, then Marcus will toss in $130,000 for 30% (with another 10% equity going to Fuji) of the business and control, the reason being reaffirmation of commitment and a need to structure the business properly. This creates a heartwarming moment between the owners who are practically family, and the brothers.

The next day, the deal announcement is made to employees. Joseph becomes a managing partner, and Fuji is declared to run the kitchen, with the goal of resetting the Standard. First, the food. The menu will be getting a full revamp, this time with real and fresh ingredients. It becomes clear within hours that there’s potential for managerial cross-over which Marcus stamps out quickly, setting clear boundaries.

Unfortunately, the following day the restaurant is flooded, purportedly due to snow, but it turns out to be more a trash and cleaning issue. Marcus then takes another tour and finds a few nasty results. This frustrates Marcus to the point that he tells the business to remove the “We Set The Standard” logo from the wall, as there’s certainly no standard being set. He then openly admits that he feels this was a mistake and says the business should close. He then reworks from the foundation up, getting more outdoor seating, setting up a milkshake bar and a potato station which ensures high margins. He then takes the team to a local market to check out some proper breads and cheeses. Lastly, the team visit a major butchery who can make custom orders depending on Fuji’s culinary needs.

After a thorough cleaning, another camera is discovered. This erupts as a conflict between Todd and Fuji, and then the whole crew. Sammy then tries to defend Fuji, and the Marcus steps back to observe the argument, and notices that there needs to be some hard truth. He states that not until this argument is done, the place will not open. Marcus starts removing the cameras except in the front, stating he’s done with them. Joseph tries to call out Marcus for the fight, but Marcus corrects him in that he doesn’t care about the ratings for the show, he cares about the business, which allows Sammy to declare he still believes in Standard Burger as do the rest of the team.

During these renovations, Marcus planned to set up the store to be a national franchise model, with plenty of potential revenue. Part of this included taking the crew to Umami Burger to try out the food but more to observe the financials of the store. They finally start agreeing on price points, and that the focus should be 50% on sales of burgers, and 50% on other products.

On the day of opening after renovation, Marcus is hit by the better appearance and bigger potential for money. He notes that the transformation was gigantic, from lighting to tables to the kitchen and even the floors. He also sees that the place is packed and quickly calculates that the store could have a 300% increase in profits day over day. It would seem that Marcus not only was able to transform the store and make it better, but also improve the owner’s relationship into something far better. As a tribute to this, he unveils a mural in store to the guys, and leaves satisfied.

Standard Burger Now in 2018 – The After ‘The Profit’ Update

Since The Profit, Standard Burger has had some real development. Despite only keeping one location open, the team have added a new partner by the name of Tailgate Joe, who has brought in more culinary expertise. This has caused an uptick in ratings for both Yelp and Facebook, and allowed for more traffic into the restaurant, which has only been aided by Standard Burgers 2017 attempts to run a few charity events. Continued investment from Lemonis to the tune of around half a million dollars have also helped, and may in the future allow for a nationwide chain similar to that of Five Guys in major cities across the United States.

The post Standard Burger Update- What Happened After The Profit appeared first on Gazette Review.