What we discuss in this episode
Jacek Czauderna: “close the place or start counting.” KPIs, marketing budget and real gastronomy
Episode 006 of mysite talks is a conversation with Jacek Czauderna – a person combining corporate experience (Żywiec/Heineken, Nestlé) with running venues (The Legendary Jack’s Bar & Restaurant and others) and work for the industry.
It can sting, because Jacek speaks bluntly: gastronomy is “simple”, but often badly managed. The root is not lack of cooking talent – it’s lack of counting, planning and systems.
Taste and service are the foundation – but without numbers there’s no business
A line that should hang in every back office:
Three priorities: taste, taste, taste. And three more: service, service, service.
KPIs Jacek tracks (and why he doesn’t trust “inventory” alone)
He favors simple ratios:
- purchases to revenue (food vs beverage)
- wages (net) to gross revenue
- chemicals cost to gross revenue
- sales targets month‑to‑month and year‑to‑year
80/20 for a manager: guests first, admin is cost
- 80% front of house (guests, sales, team)
- 20% admin
Common opening mistakes (and why marble doesn’t earn)
- no clear vision of what you sell and to whom
- can’t count
- no marketing/training budget
A simple split for a launch budget: 60/20/20
- 60% hard investments
- 20% marketing
- 20% people (first 2–3 months)
Marketing: storytelling and Google basics
Basics to handle:
- website
- Google profile and reviews (aim for 4.5+)
Official sources:
And for consistency: mysite.ai.
Marketing budget after inflation: from 4% to ~2.5%
Jacek notes he used to allocate ~4% of gross revenue to marketing; after costs rose, ~2.5% is more realistic.
AI in gastro: future, but without plastic
AI should support processes (planning, topics, replies), not replace authenticity.
What to watch next
- Strategy & process: Michał Kowalski
- Data and food cost: Jakub Madej
- Standards & organization: Adam Chrząstowski
If you take one thing: start counting. For a systematic approach to marketing too, check mysite.ai.
More talks: mysite talks.
