754: Nick Bishop Jr. on Creating A Brand Around One Menu Item

Nick Bishop Jr grew up in a restaurant family and today is the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Hattie B's. Hattie B's Hot Chicken is a family business, founded and operated by father-and-son team Nick Bishop, Sr. and Nick Biship, Jr., and is headquartered in Nashville, TN, where there are three locations. The fast-casual eatery expanded first to Birmingham, AL, in 2016, followed by openings in Memphis, TN, and Atlanta, GA, in 2018. In the late summer of 2018, they opened their most recent location at Block 16 Urban Food Hall at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Check out A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Building a Great Business by Ari Weinzweig as mentioned in today's episode.

Check out Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek as mentioned in today's episode.

Check out Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek as mentioned in today's episode.

Show notes…

Calls to ACTION!!!

• Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
• Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
• Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)

Favorite success quote or mantra:

• "Smile and hustle."

In today's episode with Nick Bishop Jr. we will discuss:

• Creating core values
• Family businesses
• Seeing and acknowledging opportunity
• Retaining employees
• The history of hot chicken in Nashville
• Creating a brand around one item
• FOH
• Make your staff's lives better and they will make your customers' lives better
• Tip-sharing
• Inward growth
• Existing to make people's lives better
• How to know when you're ready to scale
• Modern society NEEDS restaurants for human-to-human contact in a digital age
• The weird bright side of COVID-19 in the industry

Today's sponsor:

PlateIQ- the leading AP automation platform in the hospitality industry. Since 2014, Plate IQ has been saving time and money for companies like Cava, Tender Greens, and more. Just upload your invoices into Plate IQ and our proprietary technology will code each line item to your chart of accounts — automatically. For Bill Pay, virtual cards, and end-to-end invoice automation, head to plateiq.com.

7shifts is a modern labor management platform, designed by restaurateurs, for restaurateurs. Effectively labor management is more important than ever to ensure profitability and restaurant success. Trusted by over 400,000 restaurant professionals, 7shifts gives you the tools you need to streamline labor operations, communicate with your team, and retain your talent. Best of all 7shifts integrates with the POS and Payroll systems you already use and trust (like Toast!) turning labor into a competitive advantage for your business. Restaurant Unstoppable members get 3 months, absolutely free.

Toast - A POS built for restaurants by restaurant people Adapt fast with Toast's cloud-based restaurant POS system that updates to evolve your POS along with changing industry trends and guest expectations. Toast is built exclusively for restaurants of all shapes and sizes, with over 2/3 of our employees having restaurant experience to serve you better. Online Ordering - Let guests easily order directly from your restaurant for pickup or contactless delivery to keep revenue flowing during these uncertain times. Toast Delivery Services Dispatch local drivers through an on-demand network to keep your community fed and revenue coming in.

 

Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • I care to point where I take it home with me
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • I care to point where I take it home with me, try to keep it separate
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • What gets you going outside of work and restaurants?
4. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Smile and hustle
5. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • Recognize customers and knowledge it, take care of locals and regulars
6. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
   • GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM 
7. What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
   • Take themselves too seriously
8. Name one service you've hired.
   • Mesa - furniture
9. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influenced operations?
   • Toast POS
   • Olo - Online Ordering for Restaurants
10. If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
    • Surround yourself with good people
    • Don't continue to do things toast don't fulfill you
    • Be open, be an open book

Contact info:

Hattie B's website

Instagram: @hattiebs

Facebook: @HattieBsMidtownNashville

Twitter er: @HattieBs

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

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Huge thanks to Nick Bishop Jr. for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

 

Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!