Restaurant Results: Turning Catering into Profit with Jeremy Hood
In the latest episode of "The Catering Cage," host Erle Dardick welcomes Jeremy Hood, founder of Restaurant Results Partners, who specializes in helping independent restaurant operators implement systems that generate double-digit profits while reclaiming their time. With roots deeply planted in the restaurant industry since age 12 working in his family's business and formal training as a CPA, Jeremy brings a unique perspective that blends hands-on experience with financial expertise.
Jeremy's journey from working in his parents' restaurant to eventually achieving a successful exit last November demonstrates his understanding of operational challenges. One key insight he shared was a pattern he noticed early on: "Every time we had $5,000 in catering this week, our numbers looked way better." This observation led him to prioritize catering as a profit center in his business strategy, something that resonated with Erle, who has spent 30 years advocating for catering as a growth lever.
The conversation highlighted common bottlenecks for restaurant operators, particularly independents who often "try to do it all." Jeremy shared how attempts to personally handle growing catering inquiries became unsustainable once volume reached 5-10 requests daily, consuming 3-4 hours of his time. This necessitated delegation and systematization—a pattern he now helps other operators recognize and address through Restaurant Results Partners, which offers bookkeeping, marketing support, and sales tax filing services.
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For restaurants struggling with profitability, Jeremy recommends three immediate actions: cost out your menu (using spreadsheets to make future updates easier), ensure pricing aligns with the market through competitive analysis, and redesign menus to feature the most profitable items prominently. Additionally, he emphasizes the importance of building and utilizing customer databases, noting that many operators collect customer emails and phone numbers but fail to leverage this valuable information for marketing.
The discussion also explored innovative approaches to building B2B catering sales, including AI-powered list building and the power of sampling. Jeremy endorses Erle's sampling strategy, acknowledging the "law of reciprocity" where providing free samples to qualified prospects (those ordering monthly for 15-20 people) almost always generates future business. Both agreed that automation tools can streamline this process from prospecting to follow-up.
Jeremy closed with three key areas where his organization helps independent operators thrive: growing sales, increasing profits, and freeing up time. His parting advice emphasized action over knowledge: "Write down something that you want to do today that you weren't doing yesterday that's going to help improve your business and just get it done."
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