Blog · Kiyong (Eric) Lee
Field notes from the operator's seat
Two hundred and forty pieces across eight topics. Turnaround work, margins, leading field teams, running operations inside big-box retailers, and building the systems that make the gains hold. Pick a topic to begin.
Run The Region · 30 pieces
Why Twenty Units Is a Different Job Than One
The Regional Operating Rhythm That Actually Works
Span of Control: How Many Units Can One Leader Really Run
Sitting the Regional Seat: What the Job Looks Like on Monday
Field Visits That Change Something Versus Field Visits That Perform
District Manager Versus Regional Director: What Actually Changes
Running a Weekly Cadence Across Six States
The Regional P&L Quarterly Review That Sets the Year
Promoting a First-Time District Manager
Running Multi-Unit Operations When You Cannot Be Onsite
Market-Level Succession Planning Nobody Writes Down
Your First 90 Days as a Regional Director
Cross-Market Labor Arbitrage: What Works, What Backfires
Building the Standing Agenda That Runs Itself
The Regional KPI Dashboard People Actually Read
What to Bring When You Sit With Senior Leadership Quarterly
Multi-State Regulatory Compliance Without Fines
How Brand Standards Drift Across a Region, and How to Catch It
Mentoring 21 General Managers Without Micromanaging Any
The Regional Versus Corporate Tension and How to Sit In It
The Rescue Job · 30 pieces
The First 90 Days of a Multi-Unit Turnaround
How to Read a Broken Restaurant P&L in Twenty Minutes
What to Fix First When Three Locations Are Bleeding at Once
The Turnaround Meeting That Sets the Tone
When to Fire the General Manager, and When Not To
Running Service Recovery While the House Is Still on Fire
Communicating a Turnaround to Line Staff Without Losing Them
Board Communication During a Turnaround: What They Want to Hear
Turnaround Versus Restructure: The Difference Matters
Saving a Catering Channel That Is Losing Money on Every Order
The Fractional Operator Turnaround Engagement, End to End
Stopping the Bleeding in Week One Without Burning Trust
Behind the $4.9M: How Three Underperforming Units Came Back
Turnaround Mistakes I Would Not Repeat
When to Bring In Outside Help During a Turnaround
Handing Back a Fixed Operation So the Gains Hold
Turnaround Culture Versus Turnaround Numbers
Emergency Labor Restructuring Without a Shutdown
Deciding When to Save a Location and When to Close It
Sustaining Turnaround Gains Into Year Two
Where The Money Leaks · 30 pieces
The Four Cost Lines That Move First
Labor Variance Is Almost Always a Schedule Problem
Food Cost Is a Counting Problem, Not a Buying Problem
Unbilled Comps: The Silent Two Points of Margin
Repair & Maintenance Creep and What to Do About It
The Daily Flash Report That Catches Drift Before It Costs You
The Waste Log That Actually Gets Filled In
Prime Cost Versus Controllable Cost: What Operators Confuse
Reading the Weekly P&L in Ten Minutes
The Fixed Cost Audit You Forgot to Run
Vendor Negotiations That Hold Past the First Quarter
Overtime Creep and How to Kill It
Benchmark Numbers Every Restaurant Operator Should Know
Unit Economics: The Cost Per Cover You Should Track
Theft Signatures in the POS Data
Contribution Margin Versus Net: Which One to Manage
Discount Strategy That Does Not Erode Margin
Menu Mix and Margin: The Interaction Nobody Runs
Energy and Utility Cost in Restaurants: Small But Real
Chargebacks, Refunds, and Void Audits
Coach The Bench · 30 pieces
Give the General Manager Real Decision Rights
The Weekly One-on-One That Is Actually Useful
Promoting From Within Without Promoting the Wrong Person
Hard Conversations at the Executive Level
Coaching Someone Whose Numbers Are Wrong
The Field General Mindset: Leading From the Floor
Giving Feedback During Service Without Blowing Up the Shift
Bench Strength: Building the Two-Deep Behind Every Seat
Letting a Strong Performer Take a Swing and Miss
Leading Multilingual Frontline Teams
Psychological Safety in a Kitchen Is Not Soft
Talent Development That Costs Nothing and Still Works
Firing With Respect and What That Actually Looks Like
First-Time Manager Mistakes Nobody Warned Them About
Leadership Versus Management in Operations
Spotting a Leader in a Line Cook Before Anyone Else Does
Dealing With a Toxic High Performer
Coaching Across Cultures Without Flattening the Team
The Quiet Shift Lead You Should Promote
What Your General Managers Are Not Telling You
Under Their Roof · 30 pieces
Running Ops Inside Walmart: What the Host Environment Demands
What Whole Foods Cares About and What They Do Not
Working Sam's Club Membership Weekend Traffic
Target Guest Behavior Versus Grocery Guest Behavior
How to Negotiate the Category Review Without Losing Your Slot
The Host Environment Mindset: You Are a Guest In Their Store
Working With Store Managers Inside a Walmart Footprint
Losing Your Slot and Earning It Back
Executing Across Six States and Four Retailer Formats
What to Do the Day Before a Retail Partner Audit
The Retail Partner Scorecard You Cannot See but You Are On
The Merchandising Tension With Your Host Retailer
Staffing Inside a Store Versus a Standalone Unit
Hours of Operation and the Host Retailer's Rules
Emergency Response Inside a Host Retailer
Sanitation Standards Inside Whole Foods
Holiday Planning With Sam's Club That Actually Works
Renegotiating Your Host Retailer Contract
Receiving and Storage Inside a Target Store
Franchise Operator Versus Corporate Embedded Operator
On The Line · 30 pieces
Kitchen Prep Discipline That Cuts Waste 15%
Building a Catering Channel Inside a Restaurant Group
Service Recovery in Under Five Minutes
The Line-Cook Retention Problem
Menu Engineering: What to Cut, What to Feature, What to Raise
Enterprise Catering for Tech Campuses: Stanford to Nvidia
Plating Standards That Survive a Friday Rush
Expo Discipline and Guest Perception
Hospitality Service Standards at Scale
Front of House and Back of House Alignment
Catering Versus Restaurant P&L: Very Different Games
Handling a Large Corporate Catering Drop Without a Miss
The Daily Line Check That Actually Works
Dining Room Flow and Table Turn Times
Beverage Program Margin and Cost
Michelin Recognition From the Operations Side
Guest Complaints That Signal a Systems Problem
Catering Logistics and Vehicle Scheduling
The Chef and Operator Partnership That Actually Works
Hiring a Catering Operations Manager
Build The Machine · 30 pieces
The Dashboard the General Manager Opens Every Morning
Building an Operating SOP That Survives a New Hire
AI Workflow Automations for Multi-Unit Operations
Custom GPTs for Field Leaders
Toast, 7shifts, and Power BI: The Field Tech Stack Explained
The POS Data You Are Not Reading
The Weekly P&L Review That Actually Works
SOP Audit Versus SOP Adherence: Do Both
Building a Training Manual That People Actually Open
The KPI That Tells You Where to Look Tomorrow
Automating Daily Close Reports
Scheduling Software Selection for Multi-Unit Restaurants
Building a Vendor Scorecard That Changes Behavior
Custom AI for Labor Forecasting
Data Hygiene in Multi-Unit Operations
CRM for Corporate Catering Clients
Building a Donor CRM in Seven Days: Operator Lessons
The Annual Tech Stack Audit
No-Code Tools Every Multi-Unit Operator Should Know
Succession of the Operating System, Not Just the Operator
Opening Day · 30 pieces
The Twelve-Opening Playbook
The 90 Days Before Opening Day
Staffing a New Location Without Poaching From the Old One
Grand Opening Versus Soft Open: Which and When
Franchise Rollout: What the Franchisor Is Not Telling You
Pre-Opening Training That Holds Past Week Six
Real Estate Scouting for Restaurant Operators
Unit Count Versus Unit Quality: Growing Without Blowing It Up
The First-Week General Manager Checklist for a New Unit
Expanding Inside an Existing Market Without Cannibalizing
Expanding Into a New Market: The First Three Things to Get Right
Licensing, Permits, and Inspection Timelines Nobody Plans For
Equipment Selection for New Openings
Pre-Opening Marketing That Fills Seats Week One
Launching a Catering Channel at a New Location
Partnership Openings With Host Retailers
The Opening Day Service Recovery Plan
Capital Planning for Multi-Unit Growth
Deciding to Close a Unit Is Also Growth
The Transition From Three Locations to Five