S9 Ep40: Scaling Smart: Practical Advice for Small Business Owners with Sebastian Stahl
“My advice for people that are wanting to shift or starting out is to just jump in the water. Once you're there, you're going to figure out how to swim.” —Sebastian Stahl
Founder Resource Series
Episode Description:
“My advice for people that are wanting to shift or starting out is to just jump in the water. Once you're there, you're going to figure out how to swim.” —Sebastian Stahl
A lot of startups crumble within their first year—a stark reminder that dreams alone cannot sustain a business. But the difference between survival and surrender often hinges on adaptability, strategic thinking, and the courage to pivot when the path becomes uncertain.
Sebastian Stahl is a battle-tested entrepreneur who has navigated the complex terrains of restaurants and marketing, transforming setbacks into strategic victories. With a rich background spanning multiple industries, he brings a unique perspective on building sustainable businesses and helping entrepreneurs break through their most challenging obstacles.
Tune in as Justine and Sebastian deconstruct the entrepreneurial code, revealing raw survival strategies, marketing game-changers, personal growth blueprints, mentorship secrets, and the critical mindset shifts that can turn potential business failures into extraordinary success stories.
Connect with Sebastian:
With over 19+ years in the hospitality industry, Sebastian has owned and operated multiple restaurant concepts and served as the Head of Marketing and Partner at an award-winning restaurant group in South Florida operating six brands. Sebastian’s track record speaks for itself. He has helped numerous restaurants around the country transform their business and drive revenue growth. His approach is not just about short-term gains but also about building a solid foundation for long-term success.
Sebastian’s mission is to help restaurant owners gain freedom in their business. His wealth of experience, combined with his strategic mindset and creative flair, make him an invaluable asset for any restaurant owner looking to elevate their brand, attract new customers, and ultimately achieve sustainable growth. When he is not working you can find him at home hanging out with his wife and playing with his daughter Annika.
Episode Highlights:
01:13 Falling in Love with the Restaurant Biz
06:55 Navigating a Growing Business
11:14 Overcoming the Blind Spots
18:53 The Impact of Building Relationships on Business
31:12 How to Survive the First Year of Business
37:56 Just Keep Doing
40:04 The Road to Becoming a Good Leader
Tweets:
Building a business isn't about having a perfect plan—it's about mastering the art of strategic adaptation and resilient thinking. Tune in to uncover the entrepreneurial secrets that transform challenges into breakthrough opportunities with @jreichman and Breadth Founder, Sebastian Stahl. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #Season9 #Breadth #EntrepreneurialJourney #RestaurantBusiness #BusinessGrowth #MarketingTips #PersonalDevelopment #StartupAdvice #LeadershipSkills #SmallBusinessSuccess #EntrepreneurMindset #StartSmallFinishBig #BusinessResources
Inspirational Quotes:
04:41 “Restaurants need a very specific way of marketing: how to tell stories, understanding the business to be able to implement it, understanding of platforms, understanding how systems connect to everything.” —Sebastian Stahl
06:02 “We think entrepreneurs do it overnight, but really it takes years.” —Justine Reichman
07:17 “It's a lot of getting uncomfortable with things as they're happening. As you grow, things change so whatever you thought that you knew, you don't know it anymore.” —Sebastian Stahl
07:56 “You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, you know, because you gotta be solving problems all the time, and you have to be okay with that.” —Sebastian Stahl
08:23 “If something's not working, change it.” —Sebastian Stahl
10:00 “My advice for people that are wanting to shift or starting out is to just jump in the water. Once you're there, you're going to figure out how to swim.” —Sebastian Stahl
11:04 “You have to give yourself enough time to be successful, but not too much time that you lose momentum and maybe need to adjust accordingly.” —Justine Reichman
11:18 “We all need help and we need other people's perspective, because sometimes, when you're in it, you can't really see.” —Sebastian Stahl
14:22 “The more you're willing to receive help, the faster you can make progress.” —Sebastian Stahl
18:19 “Our brain tends to focus always on the negative and all the things that are not done yet— that is detrimental to our progress in many ways. So always be recognizing the wins, the things that you're doing well.” —Sebastian Stahl
18:56 “Sometimes, we forget we are our harshest critics— that could be really challenging and even debilitating at times.” —Justine Reichman
25:50 “Sometimes, we're so personal to whatever we're working on, that if we don't necessarily like what somebody's saying, it's very hard to hear. And so, be open to people's expertise.” —Justine Reichman
28:21 “In business, when you are your own boss, you still need to keep that mindset [humility], because that's the only way you're going to be teachable.” —Sebastian Stahl
31:35 “If you don't know what you're doing yet, then start small.” —Sebastian Stahl
35:16 “Talking about deep and meaningful things that sometimes might be uncomfortable to talk about is a huge component of becoming a good leader as well as a good entrepreneur.” —Sebastian Stahl
37:43 “We can do it. You just have to get the tools so that you have the security in yourself that you know you're not going to fumble.” —Justine Reichman
39:39 “Progress is a big component of fulfillment.” —Sebastian Stahl
41:31 “Failing doesn't determine who you are— it's going to build you up.” —Sebastian Stahl
Transcription:
Justine Reichman: Hey, friends, it's me Justine here at the Essential Ingredients Podcast. I'm excited to have you on for our Special Series. It's a Resource Series, so tune in. Our guest is Sebastian Stahl. He is a restaurateur and marketing expert. Good morning.
Welcome to Essential Ingredients. Today, we have with us, Sebastian Stahl. He is a restaurateur and marketer, and I'm so pleased to have him here for our Resource Segment. Welcome Sebastian.
Sebastian Stahl: Thank you, Justine. Thank you for having me.
Justine Reichman: Oh, it's so great to have you here. I mean, we are rolling out this series now for resources for our community. And I think with your experience that you've had for all these years doing so many different things, from restaurants to marketing and everything in between, it's a great opportunity for us to be able to give you a platform to share some of those resources with our guests. So let's just start at the beginning. Tell us how you get into this? Because your CV has really changed, right? You went from one thing to another, which also enabled you to build up your skill set.
“Restaurants need a very specific way of marketing: how to tell stories, understanding the business to be able to implement it, understanding of platforms, understanding how systems connect to everything.” —Sebastian Stahl
Sebastian Stahl: Definitely. So originally, Justine, I'm originally from a country in Central America from Guatemala City, so I was born and raised there. And fast forward, my initial interest was really into restaurants when I was really young. But when I got into college, that's when I started really getting interested in restaurants. In the world of restaurants. And what really attracted me was the hospitality aspect of it. The people aspect of it, and then the creativity behind it. Everything in one place, in one space. You're bringing it, music, art, people, connections. All these things together, food and taste, and all these things. It just really caught my attention. So then after college, we started looking into opening a restaurant with my brothers. Actually, they're a couple. I have two brothers that are older, actually. And a sister that's younger. So we started looking into that. So at the end of the day, my brothers, they went into separate businesses. I stayed in the restaurant industry. But even before that, I just went back, I started working in marketing, right? So I started working in big companies like Kellogg's. I worked for Leo Burnett, which is another big advertising agency. So I had that experience in the corporate world. But then I wanted to do my own thing, so I decided to open a restaurant. And my bright idea was to open breakfast, lunch and dinner, which was the most horrible thing ever because I was working from 5:00 am to 2:00 am seven days a week. So that was definitely not sustainable. So I got into that, but learned pretty quickly how that worked, and it didn't work. And then after that restaurant, I ended up closing. Then I moved to Miami.
And then in Miami, I swore that I was never going to get into the restaurant industry again because it was so hard. All the hours and the craziness of operations, but still think there's this, it's like a love and hate relationship with this business. Everybody that's been in this business, that's what it's like. But I just couldn't stay away from it, so I opened another restaurant in Miami with a friend there in Wynwood, which would be better from there with Wynwood. It's like the hot area in Miami now. And at the time, it was still up and coming. It was 2011 so it was coming up. Artworks and all those things happening. So again, I was just passionate and in love with the food, the art and all that stuff. And so that's what we did. Eventually, we evolved from that restaurant to opening another type of concept with a couple of friends. And these guys had another concept, and we ended up partnering and did this other really cool concept in that space. And that worked really well. So a lot of trial and error. Finally, something worked, and really well. Then we started growing.
And so it was four of us there leading that small company at the time. And then we opened more locations of the same concept, and the company acquired another concept. So we basically tripled in size from one day to the next. So now, we have 400 employees. We were quality locations, multi concepts, multi units, like just like all this stuff that we were doing so it was pretty interesting to go through this. And I'm just going really fast, because that took a lot of years. I stepped out of operations and just went into the marketing world of restaurants because I didn't want to operate anymore. I mean, to manage restaurants and all that stuff, it's just too much, right? And it really wasn't 100% my thing. So did that for, again, a long time, and got into the arenas. We rebranded another concept. A lot of things that we did. And so what would happen, Justine, it just gave me a lot, a ton of experience in just restaurants, and specifically marketing and how to do it right for restaurants. We've dealt with everything under the sun, everything that I can think of, really, from that experience when it comes to building a business and building restaurants, and then building marketing for restaurants.
And then lastly after that, what happened was we noticed that restaurants need a very specific way of marketing. How to tell stories, and then everything behind the strategy. When it comes to digital marketing, it requires understanding the business to be able to implement it, understanding the platforms, understanding how systems are connected and everything. Restaurants have come a long way since I started before. The Tech was terrible. Now, it's a lot better. So it's easier to do. It's better and easier to do marketing properly. So yeah, I saw that there was a need for that, and then that restaurant owners were struggling finding good people as we did when we were small. I was trying to hire agencies that could help us at the time, and we couldn't find anybody that really knew what they were talking about so I ended up learning from the agencies that we hire in terms of all this stuff in the back, and all the technical stuff because I like that. This doesn't make sense. Let me get into this. And I loved it. I just was really passionate about it, really got into it. Then figured out a system and a structure that would work for our concept. So then, I just replicated that really into working with all the restaurants when I actually went independent. During the pandemic, I had a newborn pandemic, stuck in a high rise and started a new business all at the same time. It was pretty interesting.
“We think entrepreneurs do it overnight, but really it takes years.” —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: This is like decades worth of work, right? You started a restaurant. You then did more. You built it up to 400, I mean, it sounds like it happens overnight. Many times, we think entrepreneurs do it overnight, but it really takes years.
Sebastian Stahl: It took years, Justine. And again, it wasn't by myself. We had a huge team, and it was the other guys, the CEO, the CFO and the Director of Operations. Those guys, they were all together, right? But it was just a very tight group. And how we did it, it just requires a lot.
Justine Reichman: So when you first started your business, you went out there, you wanted to do this, but you didn't have a huge amount of experience doing it. It was your first foray into it. And then all of a sudden, all these new things trickle down. And all of a sudden, you're having 400 restaurants. So I'm curious, as an entrepreneur, we sort of learn on the job many times because we have to do things first before we could hire larger firms to do them. So what role did that play for you when you transferred from one smaller restaurant to larger restaurants, to develop these new concepts?
“You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, you know, because you gotta be solving problems all the time, and you have to be okay with that.” —Sebastian Stahl
Sebastian Stahl: Yeah. Listen, it's always a learning experience. As you go through this, through this journey, you have to fail a lot to get it right. You know what I mean? People make entrepreneurship sometimes out to be like, oh, it's cool. Or, girl, it's fun. And yes and no. Because a lot of it, it's a lot of trial and error. It's a lot of getting really uncomfortable with things as they're happening. And as you grow, things change. So whatever you thought that you knew, you don't know it anymore. So you're step one, again, it was hearing this analogy of entrepreneurship that that's kind of how it is. You start climbing up the ladder, right? And then you're in the 10th step. You're like, okay, I got this figured out. And then something happens when you grow and evolve. And then you're like, man, if you look back with, crap, I'm back in step one. I don't know what I'm doing here, and you gotta start again. Figuring this stuff out when you scale, when you process new people and all of these things, you know what I mean? It's a constant learning thing, and you gotta get comfortable with being uncomfortable because you gotta be solving problems all the time. And you gotta be okay with that.
Justine Reichman: Yeah. For those folks that are listening to this and saying, oh, my god, I want to change my company. It seems overwhelming. What tips might you have for them when they're trying to navigate and pivot, which we all do so often as an entrepreneur?
Sebastian Stahl: It depends on your business. But I would say, if something's not working, change it. Because when it happens to me, I am so stuck. I could be so stuck in doing things in a certain way that I don't want to change. Because again, it's uncomfortable and scary. I can stick to that until it dies, that it could be really detrimental for business. You have to be willing to shift and change, even if it's going to require sacrifice. And it can be really scary. I've gone through that multiple times in business. Every entrepreneur during the pandemic, everybody had to shift and change gears. You know what I mean? It's something that I learned from the pandemic, and I think many people have as well is that when things might seem super scary, it's to either change or start something new, or whatever it is. But once the pandemic forced every one of us to make those changes, many people lost their jobs, and they had to innovate. They had to do that. That's kind of what happened to me. The company completely ran out of money at that time. I already had a plan to go independent and do this deal, and I was forced into it. But I wasn't scared when I was at that point in that moment. I was actually happy. I was excited that I was finally gonna get to do what I wanted to do. Mind you, I had a newborn. Before, I was kind of, should I jump into it right now? But when you're there, you see that it's not as scary as it seems. Advice for people that are wanting to shift or starting out, just jump in the water. Once you're there, you're going to figure out how to swim.
“My advice for people that are wanting to shift or starting out is to just jump in the water. Once you're there, you're going to figure out how to swim.” —Sebastian Stahl
Justine Reichman: It's true. And I think as much for myself, I learn on the job. I often say that some of these times, when I've had different startups, I feel like I'm getting my masters, like an on the job MBA or something because you're teaching yourself how to do all these things. But I want to go back to something you said, where we, people during the pandemic were forced to change careers, right? Whether they were downsized, made redundant, or just the concept of their job was not relevant at this time because we were all at home and nobody was out. So I'm wondering to those folks that maybe aren't having a forced holiday or a forced changing career, but need to be mindful of the changes to be able to continue to have their businesses grow. How do you know when that time is? How do you know that it's time for you to make that change, to cut bait, to pivot, to do something? Because there's a window where you have to give yourself enough time to be successful, but not too much time that you lose momentum and maybe need to adjust accordingly.
Sebastian Stahl: Yeah, interesting. So in my opinion, I think that we all need help, and we need other people's perspective. Because sometimes, again, when you're in it, you can't really see. You might have an inkling to it. You're saying, okay, it seems like I need to shift, or I need to change. I need to do something different. But there's blind spots, so I would suggest to anybody to work with a coach, or surround yourself with other business people, smart business people so they can also give you some feedback on where you're at, and what they see. Because, again, we're blinded by it. So now, I actually give you a cool thing that you can do with technology these days. Justine, you can actually program your own strategic advisors with AI so you can have whoever you can think of in your board of advisors in ChatGPT. Basically, there's a specific way of doing that. It's super cool. So you say, hey, this is what's going on. I mean, you feed it a bunch of information. This is my business. You give it all this information, all this background. And he's like, okay, you're Tony Robbins right now, and I want you to give me advice on all of these things and what I should do. You will be amazed how powerful this is. It will give you an assessment of where you're at. You know the things you're doing right. It will give you some suggestions on what you can shift and change, and it'll even give you priorities. And I'm not saying it can't be wrong. What I'm saying it gives you, there's so many tools now that can help you see things differently, right? But that doesn't substitute a person, I would never do that.
Justine Reichman: What a great idea. I think about people who want mentors, or want to create advisory boards, and maybe in the beginning don't necessarily have the connections, the relationships to do that. I see this as being not in lieu of, but something that could help in the interim while you're building those relationships to build your advisory board, to bring on those mentors. Because for me, I think that those are integral to giving me another perspective to what I'm doing, but also inspiring me to think bigger further down the road, and look at what other people have done that have been successful. Because a lot of times, listen, I come up with lots of ideas, but there are no new ideas. We're looking at something in another industry, and that inspires us in our own industry to retailer it, like what we're surrounded by. So I'm curious, for you as you were on your journey, what role did mentors and advisors play?
“The more you're willing to receive help, the faster you can make progress.” —Sebastian Stahl
Sebastian Stahl: Huge. I've always surrounded myself with other people, smart people in business. And not just for business, Justine. I would say for business, for spirituality, for advice in marriage. We all need people. I always have a group of people that I talk to on a regular basis and get advice from them. Because, again, there's so many blind spots. And I'll tell you, the more you're willing to receive help, the faster you can make progress. What happens is that you have to get rid of your pride as well. Because sometimes, entrepreneurs are like, ah, no, I know this and how I want to do it. And this is the way it should be done. And for restaurant tours especially, that can be very difficult, especially for chefs, But because they're like, this is the vision, this is what I want to do. And so they're not open to that. And then when they need to change, the shift is already too late, and it's not good for them or for the business. So it's played a huge role for me, Justine, and I continue to do it because there's always things.
You come to roadblocks, and you come to points where you see things in a different perspective so I would advise that. And it doesn't have to be, Tony Robbins is going to be giving you the advice personally, but there are so many people within your circle, or all brought in your circle. You know what I mean? Reach out to people that you think can help you. And if you can pay for a mentorship program, or a coach program, coaching program, that's good, then great. There's different ones for different types of businesses, so do your research, reach out, find help because it's going to help you go faster. And what I would say also, you need to take time. You need to take time to step back instead of like, working, working, working all the time, and kind of spinning your wheels, Because that happens. And just block your phone, block all communication, and just spend time alone just looking at your business and strategy, where you're at, where you want to be, where you really see things going. Use a piece of paper. Don't get into the computer and just start writing that stuff down. You know what I mean?
Justine Reichman: I keep the pad right by my computer because when I have ideas, I write them, and then I keep them. And I keep them so that as things come off, I don't forget them. Because you can't remember everything in your head. You have the same thing.
Sebastian Stahl: Simple notebook right here because it's very different from typing stuff and they get a ton of notes on your computer than writing it down. There's something about pen and paper that just, I don't know, but that's just me.
Justine Reichman: Interesting. I was listening to a podcast yesterday. I always listened to lots of different podcasts in so many different fields. I like them because they inspire me as a podcaster about the way I want to have conversations, the way I want to bring people in, and I take away a lot from it. So even if it's not in this space, you can learn a lot by the way that they interact with people, etcetera so I encourage people to do that as well within their space. But what I was going to say was what I was listening to, was it the Mel Robbins podcast, or a podcast? I love her. She had talked about a couple studies that were done. One of the doctors had said, when you wake up in the morning, talk about what it is that you want to do that's positive, or what you're most excited about. And then at the end of the day, what is it that you did that was the greatest thing of all? And if you keep doing that, it changes your neural pathways, changing the way you think and the way you do things. That's a very simple explanation of a much larger episode. But the idea is that it really speaks to what you're talking about. By writing things down, it creates the intention for it. And by shaping it in a positive way, and seeing what you're most excited about, it shifts the way that you think about it.
Sebastian Stahl: 100%, Justine.
Justine Reichman: I think that was super interesting to share as a tip or as a resource for people to consider.
“Our brain tends to focus always on the negative and all the things that are not done yet— that is detrimental to our progress in many ways. So always be recognizing the wins, the things that you're doing well.” —Sebastian Stahl
Sebastian Stahl: For our podcast, I was interviewing a coach. He's actually a leadership coach for big restaurant groups and all that stuff. And he said that he was talking exactly about that. When you're leading people, recognizing the things that they're doing well more so that the things that might there might not be doing so well. Because, again, our brain tends to focus always on the negative and all the things that are not done yet. So that is detrimental, really, to our progress in many ways. So always be recognizing the wins, the things that you're doing well. Becoming an entrepreneur is hard.
Justine Reichman: We have to be our own best cheerleaders too.
Sebastian Stahl: Yes. And it can be a lonely road that's why I say we need people, we need others. And then also recognizing our progress, our wins, and being nice to ourselves.
Justine Reichman: Yes. I think that sometimes, we forget that we are also our own harshest critics, right? And that could be really challenging and even debilitating at times because we stand in our own way. But I want to go back to just talking for a moment about mentors and advisory boards, and what your thoughts are on establishing those relationships and building them out. What you might recommend to people that are just starting their restaurant or their company, and want to be able to integrate that so that they can have that as part of what they're doing already as they continue on the process?
“Sometimes, we forget we are our harshest critics— that could be really challenging and even debilitating at times.” —Justine Reichman
Sebastian Stahl: Yeah. It really depends on your industry. Like, where you're going to seek out, right? Of course, there's organizations like SCORE where you can find a mentor that they'll do it for free. It's usually retired people that you can find in different industries, and you can reach out to them. And it's great. It's great to get together with them. But I would suggest, in my case, I like to hang out with people that are doing the same thing that I'm doing, and that are ahead. Because getting in touch with those people, for example, for us now, with an agency, I'm a member of this program, which is like over 200 agency owners, right? So then, we all come together for events and things like that, and just share ideas, share knowledge, share struggles, share successes, all these things. They get speakers and other stuff. It's really cool stuff.
But what I enjoy the most is speaking to my peers. Because when you're surrounding yourself, you get the support you get, all these new ideas, then you can go in and implement your business. So again, it just depends on your industry. When I was in the restaurant industry, I actually also sort out people that knew more than I did. Just asking people, talking to everybody. I actually talked to a friend, and he listened. He's from the Dominican Republic. He says, listen, my uncle, he actually started ThinkFoodGroup. I don't know if you're familiar with that group, but that's Chef Jose Andres. So his uncle, he was one of the guys that had started this with Jose Andres back in the day. And he got out of the business, and continued, and see where he's at now. So that's the guy that I talked to. And then he referred to his director of operations for the group that by that time, he was living in Miami. So I got in touch with that guy, and he's the guy that's started working with us as an advisor. When we started, we did the first restaurant in Miami because it was a completely different ball game. And then I talked to other restaurant owners, and I would just talk to as many people as I could. So that's the way I would approach it.
Justine Reichman: And as you're building these relationships, can you maybe share a story that you think would really show the impact of the relationship on your business that might not have happened otherwise.
Sebastian Stahl: I have those. When I was in the restaurant industry, we would go to these shows, to the restaurant show, we would go to the Fast Casual Summit, and we would get there together with a bunch of CEOs and people in the industry, and just going out to dinner with you and having conversation with it, that would open your eyes into the things that we're not doing right. Immediately when we got that feedback, we would go back and implement it. Yes, it would help us shift a lot of things. But, I think it's more doing this on a consistent basis. Because for me, every single week, I'll have a call with somebody and say, hey, tell me, how do you see this? What's your take on this? What's your advice? And there's always little things that I'm tweaking and changing, and just things keep getting better as I do that. It's not a one time thing. I would advise to have this on a constant basis. You can have somebody that's like, okay, the master at this specific subject or whatever that you might meet once a month, or maybe once a year, whatever. But on a constant basis, you still want to find all these other people that can support you, and they can provide this information that you might be looking for. And then lastly, what I would say, which is super helpful also is to give back. Because then, you also help other people that might be a little bit behind you that you can help. Because by teaching, you're going to learn more.
Justine Reichman: I think that's great. When you're speaking, I'm thinking of when I was a little girl, which is now something that I say. My mother used to say to me, surround yourself with the people that can do the things that either you don't like or you're not great at doing. Because this way, you can shine at what your superpower is, but you don't have to get stuck in those other things. Maybe you have a periphery, or you're part of that conversation. But if your skill set is being the chef, obviously, in the beginning, we wear a lot of different hats. But I think the goal is to surround yourself with somebody that can do the marketing and can run the restaurant, and can do the operations, and can do all these different things so that you could then focus. And I think it allows us to play to our strength.
Sebastian Stahl: Yeah. Something that I heard the other day, and you've heard the School of Greatness with this guy. He does great stuff. He said that his definition of greatness, basically, he said something like, discovering the gifts that you were given as a person. Because sometimes, it's not easy to really see what you're good at because you're like, I don't know. And there's self doubt and all those things that come up when you're starting.
Justine Reichman: Cluster syndrome, his role in that, right?
Sebastian Stahl: Yes, 100%. Identifying that, and then developing your strengths that God gave you. You have those gifts, and put them into service for others. Develop and grow with them. And then like you're saying, find other people's superpowers. Artist, writer, and then surround yourself with those people that can help you, and they can share your vision. Of course, have people join your team.
“Sometimes, we're so personal to whatever we're working on, that if we don't necessarily like what somebody's saying, it's very hard to hear. And so, be open to people's expertise.” —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: That's very well said. And as you're saying this, I'm like, that's the only way I could ever imagine growing my business. Because if I don't have those people to provide the support and the information, and even their expertise, I feel like I'm trying to do all these different things I'm not very good at. So one other thing I ask you is, often, we surround ourselves with people, but people think that they can do it, and they know better. I really believe that I surround myself with the people that know better than me in certain things, and I hear what they say. And I think that it's so important to take a minute and listen. Because sometimes, we're so personal to whatever we're working on. That if we don't necessarily like what somebody's saying, it's very hard to hear. And so I think that one thing that I might add is really be open to people's expertise. Not just include them in the conversation, but listen to what they're saying, why they're saying it. Why is this their point of view? I'm not saying we have to listen to everything 100%, or change everything rather 100%. But I think that having those points of views can be integral to growth. And without them, I think it's almost like we're doing ourselves a disservice.
Sebastian Stahl: I guess it depends on where you're at in your journey in business for everybody. But something that I've learned through time, life is teaching you humility. Because you think about what you're doing, and then things happen, and you're back to a place where you're forced to look at yourself and say and admit that you don't know. When I was starting out, I remember that with one of the restaurants that we opened, I was managing that restaurant at that time and I thought that I was doing a good job. I remember that I was sitting at the bar and was already slow, and then the guys were kind of upset, and I didn't know why. One of our partners, and he was the CEO of the company, came in. He's a good friend of mine, by the way. But at that time, he came in to say, hey, listen, you're not doing this well. He rounded up everybody in the restaurants, all the servers. They came in around me, and then we started going one by one, basically by pointing out what I was doing wrong. So I wanted to crawl out of my skin, maybe cry too. Cry and yell at these people, right? Because how can you tell me what I'm doing wrong? I've run businesses before, all this stuff, and that was super hard to do. But I would tell you, I had enough humility. And that was beaten into me where I had to see, okay, what are these guys telling me that I need to look at? Sometimes, it's not true. But many times, it is, and you need to listen. And so I did. I had that student mentality because I was kind of forced into it. And then I learned. And then I got really good at that stuff, and doing all the stuff that I needed to do. But again, in business, when you are your own boss, you still need to keep that mindset because that's the only way you're going to be teachable.
“In business, when you are your own boss, you still need to keep that mindset [humility], because that's the only way you're going to be teachable.” —Sebastian Stahl
Justine Reichman: Yeah, right. I think it's really important to stay open to hear feedback for ourselves, for the company, for what we're doing, what we're building because we have one perspective, and we're very close to it. And other people are looking at it through a bit of a different lens. It's not their baby, it's not their livelihood, it's a resource, or it's something that they are interested in, but it's not theirs. They can tell you from their perspective why it doesn't work, or how they think it could be better than any of those things. I think it's really important to listen to what the people around you have to say when starting those businesses, or even during the process. And I want to go back, because one of the things we started to talk about before, and it's a little bit of a tangent from this, but equally integral to building a relationship was your journey. So you went from one place to another, and you had this journey, both in restaurants and in marketing. And now, you're a great resource for many restaurant tours that are building their business. I would just love to talk a little bit more and hear from you about that as a resource for the new entrepreneur, and how that looks as they evolve.
Sebastian Stahl: Yeah. So after all this trials and errors, and all the successes and failures of that stuff, you just learn a lot. I mean, restaurant tourists seek us out because they need help. Of course, we focus on marketing. But once we talk, they want advice on other stuff when it comes to restaurants because I just been in it for so long so it's great for me. It's a joy, really, to help other people. But at the end of the day, you have to run a business too so you got to choose where you focus on, and what type of consulting you're going to be doing. For the most part, we do strategy, and then we focus on helping restaurants set up the structure for their marketing. And then we take care of everything from what we offer, just a complete solution when it comes to marketing where lately we've been focused more with restaurants and helping them grow their private events. Because of the current industry dynamics and with labor costs, food costs, all that stuff, that is one of the most profitable things for restaurants. We developed this whole system in which we help restaurants generate a lot of leads for private events, and we help them close more business. So that's kind of what we're focused on right now.
Justine Reichman: So for that startup or that new business that's coming on, a lot of people will say, a lot of businesses go in the first year. So as somebody that has been both in the restaurant world but also in the marketing world, what recommendations would you make for those folks in the first year as it relates to marketing and even what you're proposing now? Because everybody comes with a different budget too.
Sebastian Stahl: I think you got to start small. Everybody says the same thing, start small, finish big. Yes, I've done both. I've done like, oh, big vision. Let's get funding. Like I said, the first restaurant of mine is a one and a half million dollar restaurant, and I didn't have enough knowledge, I didn't have enough experience. So you dropped the ball there. You're gonna drop a lot of money. So what I would say is, if you don't know what you're doing yet, I would say to start small. You know what I mean? If you're getting into this type of service, that's great because it's basically what you know, how you're going to be contributing and building a business, right? And you don't need a lot of money to start that. You gotta have this curiosity mentality all the time. Because then, you have to see, you have to test, you have to just work and do all these things, whatever it is that you're doing, and then shift quickly into the things that work, and get rid of the stuff that don't work quickly. That would be my advice, be frugal at the beginning--
Justine Reichman: Let me say quickly, what does that time frame look like?
Sebastian Stahl: It's different for different businesses. I've gotten stuck for longer than I should in different aspects of the business. But I would tell you, as soon as you notice that something's not working, change it because you know when something is not working. The end product or service might work, but you have to see how you need to shift or change certain things about it so you can deliver the correct way of doing things right. Like for example, this service that I just talked to you about, doing lead generation for private events. I know it's a high value, high ticket. It's great, but there's how we do it, and the things that come into it, we've shifted around and done multiple different ways until we found something, a structure that really works. So again, be mindful of that.
Justine Reichman: It's kind of like bridging the gap between giving it enough time to see that it works, but also not letting it linger so that you're beating a dead horse. And that's a really hard spot to find for some people.
Sebastian Stahl: Yeah. And listen, I've gone through it as well. With the first restaurant, I knew that the menu was too expensive. I knew that some of the items that were there that we shouldn't be offering. I knew that we were kind of straying away from the concept. And because the chef was a great chef that we hired at that time, and I didn't trust myself enough, I was, okay, yeah, let's do this. Oh, yeah, let's do that. And we were screwed. So don't let anybody else run your business even if you hire somebody. Because that happens. You learn all those things with experience. You know what I mean? But if you can learn it early on in the game, then you'll be--
Justine Reichman: What's next in your agenda? You run restaurants, you had smaller or larger, now the marketing, and you have your own podcast. So what's next in your trajectory?
“Talking about deep and meaningful things that sometimes might be uncomfortable to talk about is a huge component of becoming a good leader as well as a good entrepreneur.” —Sebastian Stahl
Sebastian Stahl: We're continuing to work with restaurants, and to continue to grow this part of the business. I think there's just a lot of people that we can help, and we're really passionate about that. Now with the podcast, I love what we do. I love interviewing and talking to people, and meeting people in the industry. But I also love talking about other things, as you know. When it comes to personal development, I think that's played a huge role in my life. I've just gone through a lot of different situations and struggles, and things that just forced me to seek countless books, countless people that I've talked to.. I would like to kind of shift and also do something else, talking to people that can help other people with this because I think we all need this help. And so the more resources that we can find to help in life, the better. Talking about deep and meaningful things that sometimes they might be uncomfortable to talk about, but I think that's just the only way to go, and that can help you. Not only, of course, in your personal life, but in business as well. I think it's a huge component of becoming a good leader as well, and a good entrepreneur.
Justine Reichman: You said a couple times about being uncomfortable, and I think it's integral to being an entrepreneur is doing things that make you feel uncomfortable, because that we always lean into what we are comfortable with. But there's so many things we're not comfortable with that we really need to embrace and get past them. I can tell you just a short story. But years ago, when I first started a company 100 years ago called career change network and we went into universities, and we talked about transition and how you choose what you want to do, all these different things. Somebody from Baruch College, which is a state school in New York, invited me to come speak. I don't speak in front of people. I speak in front of one person. I speak with small groups. I don't get up in front of people. I'm five foot one, and it just seems so overwhelming to me with a huge room full of students. When the guy called and said, hey, could you come and talk? We'd love to have you, I said, yes. I didn't blink, I didn't pause, I didn't even think. I just responded because I was like, this is a great opportunity. I have to figure it out.
So I was talking to somebody that was a coach and was a writing coach. She's like, I'm going to help you. We had lunch. She explained to me the idea of bullets so that you don't sound contrived and that you're reading something. And so fast forward, I had this whole plan of bullets and things I was going to do, but I had my note cards. And I get to the college where I was going to go speak, and I see this podium and I'm like, I'm going to need something to stand on. I'm like, I think I need a telephone book, and there was nothing for me to stand on. So I had to lose the podium, which meant I had to lose the note cards. What I remembered her telling me was, engage the audience, ask questions. That was how I did the talk, and I continued to be really uncomfortable. But because I was given those tools, I was able to get out of my own way and be able to accomplish this. And I didn't mean to go on. But the idea is, you can do it. We can do it. You have to. Get the tools so that you have the security in yourself that you know you're not going to fumble. And even if you fumble, it's okay, and you can adjust. And that's what I did.
“We can do it. You just have to get the tools so that you have the security in yourself that you know you're not going to fumble.” —Justine Reichman
Sebastian Stahl: Justine, that's the key. What I think is the key is whatever person that you want to become, and I've heard this also at other places, you need to do things that are going to put you in the position of becoming that person. So what you just said, okay, I want to be a public speaker. Get yourself in a position where you're going to do it. Force yourself to do it. Get uncomfortable and do it. You want to get close to CEOs in whatever business? Reach out, talk to them, start a podcast, interview them, and then talk to them, and then get into the position of being around those people so you can do anything. And it's just a matter of being willing and being willing to do things even if you're scared, because that's the biggest thing. It's like, oh, I'm scared. Am I gonna just do it? Scared? You don't have to be. You don't have to do it perfectly. Just get in front. And you're gonna stumble. You're gonna stumble. You're gonna fail. It doesn't matter.
Justine Reichman: Just keep doing it. And I think the other thing is to create some set of milestones. Because if you don't create the milestones, or if you're not saying, I'm gonna reach out to 10 new people every day, or whatever it is, you never see that incremental growth there as quickly as when you do create those milestones. So if I'm like, okay, I'm gonna connect with five of my subscribers today, or people that are in the podcast that lets me get to know five more people that listen to my podcast. And then if I did that every day for five days, that's 20 people. And all of a sudden, what I want is to grow my community. And all of a sudden, I'm actively doing that myself by creating those stats. I'm just using that as an example, but the idea is to set those milestones that are doable, that will allow you to succeed. Not to fail, but to succeed.
Sebastian Stahl: Yep, yep. But that we were just talking about before, it's recognizing the wins, and keeping track of those things. Because progress, I would say, is a big component of fulfillment.
Justine Reichman: Yes, I totally agree. So as we wrap this up a little bit, and we want to leave our listeners and our viewers with maybe a few tips that you would recommend for those people that are going into the restaurant business, just things that they should consider, or that they want to make sure that they do to get them off the ground. What would that be?
Sebastian Stahl: The advice that every restaurant will tell you is, don't get into this business. It's true. Every restaurant owner that you'll talk to, if somebody's new and wants to get into it and they'll tell you, don't get into it because it's that hard. But now, if you really decided you want to get into it, I would say the same thing. Start small. Find a second generation space. Start a small restaurant. Don't get into a big space and build out, and all that stuff. If you have no experience, don't think because you hire people that know that they're going to do well, because that happened. It just doesn't work that way. You have to experience it yourself. And the way that things are now with the restaurants, have a simple menu, a great menu, and then focus on one thing that you're going to do better than everybody else. There's this guy. I actually interviewed this guy. He's a great guy. He talks about a brand of one, basically, focus on one thing you're going to do great, because that's what people are going to look for. And it sticks right. And I've made the mistake before of doing a lot, because I want to do everything to be great, and it just doesn't. It's hard. Surround yourself with great people, people that are going to support you, and you're going to be your cheerleaders. And you know what? Just take it a day at a time and be okay with failing many, many, many times, because failing doesn't determine who you are, and it's just going to build you up. And at some point, you're going to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that's the point where you really become a good leader. You're going to have the power and the frame of mind to make the right decisions in your business. So join groups, get mentors, get a lot of people surrounding you, and then just just get in it.
“Failing doesn't determine who you are— it's going to build you up.” —Sebastian Stahl
Justine Reichman: Sebastian, that's awesome that I can't not ask. For those founders that are starting this, take that advice, and are opening their restaurant, and need to start considering marketing for them, because that's going to come up as part of the plan. How would somebody get in contact with you?
Sebastian Stahl: Yes, and get somebody to help you with marketing. In the beginning when you're running a restaurant, you have no freaking clue how to do it, and you won't even have time to do it. Limited budgets at the beginning are a challenge, though. I would say if you want to get in touch with me, just go to Breadth Marketing. B-R-E-A-D-T-H, marketing.com, that's how you can find us. You can look for us on Instagram as well, and that's our page. For our podcast is Restaurant Leaders Unplugged, and we interview restaurant owners, CEOs and leaders in the industry. And if you need help with anything related to your restaurants, especially marketing, I'll help you with that. But if I can be a resource to you, just reach out.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Sebastian, thanks so much for joining me on this conversation today. I think that it was so enlightening, and I think we've talked about so many different topics that these new entrepreneurs and even seasoned entrepreneurs may need to even revisit because we forget. So we'll make sure to highlight them in our newsletter and in our show notes so everyone can access them. So again, thanks for tuning in tonight. To our guests, our listeners and our viewers, thank you for joining the conversation.
Sebastian Stahl: Thanks, Justine, appreciate it.
Justine Reichman: I want to thank everyone for tuning in today, whether you watch the video or you tuned in via the podcast. I just want to make sure that everyone's got all our channels so that if you have been listening to the podcast, but do you want to go to YouTube, you know that our NextGen Purpose Channel holds all of our Essential Ingredients Podcasts or Videocast, as it may be. And if you have not gone to Spotify or iTunes, or wherever you listen to podcasts, our podcast is available at essential.ingredients, so stay up to date on what we have coming up. Don't forget to tune into our channel on Instagram at essential.ingredients. I look forward to seeing you here every week, Tuesday, for a new episode with me and this series focusing on our resources.
