Introducing "My Restaurant CFO" Newsletter

Why the name change?

Earlier this year, I started a business. I had one simple vision. Take my 45 years of restaurant operational and financial background and create a company that offers that experience to as many independent restaurant operators as possible.

I launched Peak Financial Performance in February of 2025. I wasn't entirely sure how my new company would take shape, but I knew that Fractional CFO work would be part of the formula. I also knew that moving from an employed restaurant executive to an entrepreneur business owner would take a mind-shift. I needed to move from passively creating actions and delivering results for an employer to actively promoting my company to create actions and deliver results for my clients.

Promoting means branding, and nothing sticks in the craw of a GenXer executive more than being forced to self-promote. We are the "stop your crying or I will give you something to cry about" generation. When we got injured playing sports, our coach told us, "Rub some dirt on it and walk it off." When something didn't go a GenXer's way, there was no whining allowed, "Suck it up buttercup" was the traditional response. That background, along with being raised thoroughly Minnesotan, where it was ingrained in my psyche that I should never put myself at the center of attention, makes self-promotion feel as comfortable to me as wearing a green and gold Packer jersey to a 4th of July parade.

However, branding being the name of the game, I set out to learn how to play it.

Being new to self-promotion, personal branding and marketing, I knew I needed help. One thing I learned as an executive is, when I come up against a challenge I have never faced before, I can grind it out myself through a long and drawn-out series of trial and error. Or I can find an expert to guide me. My years of experience in the trial and error vs. hire an expert game, taught me it is more cost effective in terms of real dollars to go the expert route.

So, I reached out to a friend and colleague, Jim Taylor with Benchmark Sixty. He has walked my path before and offers his experience to upstart consultants. He created a business model to help professionals brand, market, fill a client pipeline and close prospects. What would have taken me years to figure out on my own, I gained through Benchmark Sixty in mere months. Regarding this business decision, the phrase, "Pay now or pay later" comes to mind.

What did I do?

The first thing I did was establish newsletters on Substack and LinkedIn. Both platforms assist me in promoting my writing and connecting with the broader restaurant community. I also stepped up my attendance at local networking groups and

participate in countless podcasts. The goal of these efforts is to attract future clients to my Fractional CFO business. That work is good, and I love the energy of working with restaurant groups to improve their operations. But something continued to nag at me. I wanted to create a company that helps as many independent restaurants as possible, especially the new entrepreneurs building their dreams. My ability to do that entirely through contract fractional work is limited.

My Fractional CFO work is designed to assist established restaurants get better and more profitable. This type of fractional work is not a “one and done” scenario, but a long-term commitment by both companies to work together. Hiring a fractional executive carries the same significance as hiring a full-time employee, but at a shared billable rate verses a full-time salary with benefits. Scrappy upstarts do not have the time, resources or knowledge to utilize that aspect of my fractional business. But they still need help and to be honest, helping new restaurant owners build their business was why I wrote my book, Restaurant Management, the Myth, the Magic, the Math.

My company name, Peak Financial Performance, came out of a Chat GPT brainstorming session. But as I developed that brand, I determined it doesn't speak to my goal of reaching the broadest audience of restaurateurs. The company name is simply too vague and corporate sounding. It doesn’t speak to restaurants and the work I truly wish to perform.

As a result of my commitment to serve independent restaurants, I am announcing the official rebranding of my company and newsletter to "My Restaurant CFO." This new name represents the brand I want to build and the much broader restaurant community I wish to serve. I not only want to be a guide and resource to established restaurant groups, I want my company to serve small independent restaurants as well. I am working on technology to offer my restaurant experience to the broadest audience possible at a monthly subscription level that even the smallest upstart restaurant operator can afford.

Further updates on My Restaurant CFO company are coming soon. I sincerely thank all my subscribers for following me on my four-year Substack writing journey. It has been my pleasure to serve you.