• Home
  • Interviews
  • Business Wisdom
  • Tech & Business
  • Business News
  • Economy
  • Community
  • Login
ValiantCEO
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Business Wisdom
  • Tech & Business
  • Business News
  • Economy
  • Community
No Result
View All Result
ValiantCEO
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Business Wisdom
  • Tech & Business
  • Business News
  • Economy
  • Community
No Result
View All Result
valiant
No Result
View All Result

Benchmark Sixty – Making the Restaurant Industry Better for the Next Generation

Jed Morley by Jed Morley
October 11, 2021
in Interviews
Jim Taylor

Jim Taylor

"I believe that people learn better together, and the people in management levels of restaurants need all the support and mentorship they can get."

Jim Taylor Tweet

                                      Welcome to Part Two of Jim Taylor’s interview with us!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jim Taylor is the Owner/Principle at TaylorCo Consulting. He’s also a restaurateur & entrepreneur. Lover of family and the outdoors.

Before going into business for himself, Jim had a long and successful career with Cactus Club Cafe restaurants. Operating in multiple roles and several markets, Jim was able to take a lead role in both the growth and financial strategies that helped to make Cactus restaurants a household name in Canada.

Jim is the creator of Benchmark Sixty – A one-of-a-kind, premier restaurant financial optimization platform designed for restaurateurs to dramatically increase their profit margins by understanding data, implementing benchmarks, and using metrics to improve productivity. This signature platform has helped multiple restaurants start on the right foot, land on their feet, or position for strong growth moving forward. It has also been battle-tested during the challenging Covid-19 restrictions.

Born in Calgary, Alberta Jim grew up playing sports and spending time in the Rockies. Both things that he now loves to do with his family in Vancouver, BC. When not working with restaurateur clients, you can find Jim hiking, playing golf, and spending time with his wife Jen and golden retriever Leo.

His business goals are focused mostly on doing what he can to improve the overall state of the restaurant industry. Having grown up in it, and witnessing first hand the challenges it, and the people working in it face, he aspires to make it better for the next generation of restaurateurs.

Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.

Additionally, you can read Jim’s first interview with us here.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?

CLICK HERE

All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE

Table of Contents

What led you to start a business that provides services to restaurants during a pandemic that made things so difficult for them?

Jim Taylor: I wanted to genuinely help the industry that myself and so many others love, to recover. Although it was a very challenging time in the hospitality industry, I believed that there were new and innovative ways to do things, and I hoped to be able to expose more restaurant owners and operators to some of the learnings that I had had in my career.

I also wanted to build a community of like-minded people, who were in the trenches of the industry, working to bring it through the challenges of the last two years. I believe that people learn better together, and the people at management levels of restaurants need all the support and mentorship they can get. It is a tough job!

What does your company try to achieve in working with restaurants?

Jim Taylor: My company (BenchmarkSixty) does 2 things. The first one is that we coach restaurant operators on how to look at data in a unique way, in order to measure and leverage business output, and drive profitability. This is unique in restaurants because typically things like labor cost are viewed as a % of sales.  Measuring output eliminates the need for this.  

The second is we host and operate a virtual network for hospitality professionals. A network called “The Edge”. The Edge is a  24/7/365 virtual networking community: Our workspace is open 24/7 with best practices, support groups, feedback rooms, and more. It also provides;

  • A robust events platform: We host monthly events – a mix of workshops that go deep on a subject with open Q&A, interviews with successful operators and restaurateurs, networking events.
  • An ever-growing resource center: We’ve got resources on HR, Finance, operations and more, to help you expedite your journey.

What type of impact do you hope to make on the industry as a whole?

Jim Taylor: Our goal is to create a better career path for the next generation of restaurateurs. To create a more sustainable industry that is viewed as a “Real Job”, and to help the industry innovate its business practices in order to keep up with the changing world.

What specifically are you doing in order to try to make a difference?

Jim Taylor: The biggest area of impact that we hope to make is through our virtual network. A typical restaurant manager faces several challenges.

  • Long hours.
  • Shift work.
  • Working weekends and holidays.
  • A steep learning curve.
  • Managing a young and unique demographic.
  • Dealing with ever-changing business dynamics.
  • Challenges differentiating themselves from their competition.

The Edge is aimed at providing support to the individuals who are working through those challenges so they don’t have to face them alone.

What are the biggest challenges that restaurant management face these days?

Jim Taylor: I would say that the biggest challenge is lifestyle. From hours, to pay, and other lifestyle issues. It is for these reasons that the industry typically has high turnover rates, low morale, and other patterns. Also, typically people who move forward in their careers will likely have to face fewer of these challenges, ie; better schedule, more money…  which is why we hope to support as many people as possible through “The Edge”, in their quest to build a lasting career in restaurant management.

What were the most difficult things that you were faced with during your career in restaurant operations?

Jim Taylor: The biggest challenges for me were always based around a few common things.

  1. Schedule – I often found that when I was working nights, without anyone more senior than myself around to ask for guidance, a lot of my learning came from trial and error. There was a lack of mentorship, training, and experience around me, so I had to figure it out as I went.
  2. Learning finance was a challenge for me, as I know it is for a lot of people. Either due to the complexity of the business or due to lack of access to information. It is ironic how this was a challenge for me, yet through education and experience, it has now become a core offer of what my business provides to restaurateurs.

Our aim through “The Edge” is to make this learning curve easier for today’s, and tomorrow’s restaurant management. 

What would you say are some of the biggest opportunities in the restaurant industry currently?

Jim Taylor: In my opinion, the restaurant industry is a long way behind most other industries when it comes to how businesses manage finances. Overall understanding of the profit model, how to generate more of it, and how to leverage all of the moving parts is a massive opportunity in the industry.

How people are handled. Everything from hours to wages, to training and development and diversity. There is a lack of attention around this in so many cases. One of the things that my business aims to change is how people are paid, trained, and taken care of. This is another reason why “The Edge” was created. In order to supplement the training, development and support for the people trying to make a career in hospitality.

Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Jim Taylor for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.

If you would like to get in touch with Jim Taylor or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page

Did you enjoy this article? Check out similar stories:

Jocko Willink: From US Navy Seal To Millionaire Coach And Best Selling Author

Andy Frisella: An Inspiring Story Of Grit

Dave Portnoy: The Story Behind The Founding Of Barstool Sports

Allison Stokke: How A Single Photo Made Her The Famous Internet Sensation That She Is Now

Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.

Tags: Benchmark SixtyBenchmark Sixty reviewsBenchmark Sixty servicesJim Taylor ceoJim Taylor founder
Previous Post

Stephen Nalley, The Black Briar Hotel Group – Specializing in the Acquisition, Financing, and Management of Distressed Hotel & Resort Assets

Next Post

Amit J. Sharma, PurpleWest – Engaging, Personalized, Result Oriented Teaching With 1:1 Teacher-Student Ratio

Jed Morley

Jed Morley

Jed Morley is the CEO of a leading payment processing service provider called PlatPay. He's also a featured VIP author on ValiantCEO. When he doesn’t work with businesses to improve their payment processing solutions, he rides one of his 20 horses in his ranch in Utah. Click the author profile to find out more!

Next Post
Amit J. Sharma

Amit J. Sharma, PurpleWest - Engaging, Personalized, Result Oriented Teaching With 1:1 Teacher-Student Ratio

Please login to join discussion
Everything You Need To Know About Andrew Tate: Former Kickboxer Who Claims He Owns The Internet
Business Moguls

Everything You Need To Know About Andrew Tate: Former Kickboxer Who Claims He Owns The Internet

by Gerard Palmer
August 12, 2022
0

Andrew Tate is an American-British kickboxer and internet personality. He is well-known for his controversial comments and views on women/relationships....

Read more
Outsourcing Payment Processing

The Benefits of Outsourcing Payment Processing for Businesses

August 12, 2022
Website design

Top 10 Best Website Design Trends in 2022-2023

August 12, 2022
Greatest Inventions

The Greatest Inventions Of The Last 15 Years

August 12, 2022
Why Micro Businesses Should Outsource Blog Writing

Why Micro Businesses Should Outsource Blog Writing

August 12, 2022

Valiant CEOs & Entrepreneurs Share, Inspire, and Celebrate Outrageously Successful Ethical Businesses and their Leaders.

Contact Us

staff@valiantceo.com

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Business News
  • Business Wisdom
  • Interviews
  • Community
  • Tech & Business
  • Economy

Links

  • About us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • VIP Author

Recent News

Everything You Need To Know About Andrew Tate: Former Kickboxer Who Claims He Owns The Internet

Everything You Need To Know About Andrew Tate: Former Kickboxer Who Claims He Owns The Internet

August 12, 2022
Outsourcing Payment Processing

The Benefits of Outsourcing Payment Processing for Businesses

August 12, 2022

© 2021 ValiantCEO - All rights reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Business Wisdom
  • Tech & Business
  • Business News
  • Economy
  • Community

© 2021 valiantceo

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In