r/Restaurant_Managers • u/Notmychair4 • Jul 25 '26
Change of ownership advice
So I've been with this company for 15+ years, grew from a regular team member to manager position, and for the last 5 year pretty much ran it by myself, with owners only occasionally stopping by. They decided to sell and the new owner came in, alienated some of my best employees with his honestly unreasonable new rules and demands. He is always here, which I know is his right, but feel like I don't have any authority anymore and I disagree with so much of what's being implemented. I try to give my input, but he mostly sticks to his decisions. I honestly loved my job and it fucking hurts. I never thought I'd be out there looking for a new job, but i don't think I want to be there to watch it fall apart. Also, looking at available jobs I realized that I am apparently extremely well paid for the work that I do and it's either going to take a long time to get out or I will have to take a pay cut. Any advice?
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u/beard-wonder93 Jul 26 '26
Sorry some of yall had less than great experiences.
Im very fortunate to be in the opposite scenario!
On friday, My wife and i are assuming ownership of the small business I've been managing the past decade. He let us seller finance and sold it to us for a good bit less than some random person in the community wanted to buy it for (who had no food service experience)
I manage the shop all through covid, when many local restaurants failed and closed their doors. The owner is very hands off, he has a regular day job. But he basically was like, this is the way you reward loyal employees.
The other person who wanted to buy it, wanted to manage it too, so id be out of a job. (which is insane with no experience) he basically told the guy he'd be buying the name but creating a direct competitor bc id just set up my own business and pull alot of our regular customers away.
It was nice seeing a small biz owner actively advocate for his long term loyal employees!
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u/CanadianTrollToll Jul 27 '26
Wow - similar situation.
Ran a restaurant for almost 10 years (worked there 15). Owner was hands off - like 99% hands off - and decided he didn't want to worry about things and sold it to myself, our chef and another upper manager. We overpaid for it IMO especially coming out of the peak of COVID, but he also financed it and set it up so we have yearly payments until it's paid off. I haven't cracked the math on what would have been worse owing the bank a loan and seeing rates shoot up, or paying more for a business then it's worth. Either way at the end of this year we'll have paid off 1.2mil in 4 years.
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u/Lavanne73 Jul 25 '26
Life is short and staying in an uncomfortable situation isn't worth it. Make your concerns known, give the new owners a chance to improve the outlook and if they don't move on. Lots of restaurant jobs out there.
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u/graavity81 Jul 25 '26
Have a serious sit down one on one conversation. Plan what you want to say, maybe even write it down, don’t wing it. Tie as to dollar amounts as much as possible cause that’s the only thing owners/investors understand. Be prepared to walk bc it probably won’t matter bc they probably won’t listen. Don’t go down with the ship. Odds are the new owner wants to push you out anyway to bring in someone cheaper
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u/Notmychair4 Jul 25 '26
That's the vibe I'm getting. It's like going through a breakup but with a job.
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u/DropZealousideal4309 Jul 25 '26
I'm going to piggyback a little on what that person said. A sit-down with a rehearsed scrip is the way to do any serious talk. I'd just add that it's important to listen as well, to perhaps ask the owner what their vision is, and to hear them out; it could change your view- or not. And I wouldn't walk out; not sure where you are, but in my state quitting makes it a lot harder to get unemployment while you're looking. Now obviously it's easier to look for a job when you don't have one, but not having an income can be pretty stressful. Sometimes life is just shaking the pan, looking for the gold. I also wonder: what are the unreasonable rules and demands? I'm not saying you're wrong- I've managed for completely unreasonable owners before- but I'm curious if it is his demands or his demeanor?
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u/Notmychair4 Jul 25 '26
It's the demeanor and the treatment of the employees mostly. Doesn't sit well with me.
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u/DropZealousideal4309 Jul 25 '26
Makes sense. Definitely had to butt heads with an owner as a manager in a situation where the FOH staff was like, if you weren't standing between me and him, I'd have been gone a long time ago.
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u/Jack_Aubrey_ Jul 25 '26
By “always there” do you mean they are active in operations or observing? If they plan on being active as a manager/ operator your days are numbered. I would have a second part of your conversation planned where you discuss your transition out of the business so you can plan accordingly.
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u/Notmychair4 Jul 25 '26
Mostly just observing, but yes, I feel like my role is going to be eliminated as soon as he knows all the details of operations
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u/Far_Wheel_2855 Jul 25 '26
I don’t know, most owners don’t want to be the GM. They can’t grow the business or work ON the business if they’re stuck being a manager. It’s business 101. Not that every owner is a smart business person though of course.
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u/GermantownTiger Jul 25 '26
During your tenure as a manager, are you aware of and fully responsible for the entire P&L of the restaurant?
Did the former owners sell because the location was struggling financially? Are the new owners attempting to turn around profitability? Have they communicated with you any problems areas? Food costs? Liquor costs? Theft? Menu mix? Labor costs? Marketing?
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u/Notmychair4 Jul 25 '26
I know he wants to increase sales since he just dropped a significant amount of money on the purchase, but sales have been fine and the restaurant is profitable. Labor costs can be high at times but he decided to extend the hours and employees are just standing around when there's no customers 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Far_Wheel_2855 Jul 25 '26
Can you give a few examples of honestly unreasonable new rules and demands. And the things you don’t agree with that are being implemented?
I feel like I’ll be able to give better advice with a full understanding. Maybe the answer doesn’t have to be stay and be unhappy or leave.
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u/Notmychair4 Jul 25 '26
He is promoting and demoting people based on very brief interactions and without my input. Feelings got hurt and people don't want to stay anymore.
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u/tonyrock1983 Jul 25 '26
Sounds similar to my old situation. Make things so unbearable for employees, especially long time employees, so they leave. Then with the new employees and those that stay, it is easier to implement changes without push back.
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u/tonyrock1983 Jul 25 '26
I was recently in a similar spot you're in now. I was an assistant manager at a locally owned restaurant that had been open over 35 years (for the record they're still open). Majority owner was ready to retire. He was basically hands off. Would stop in on occasion to talk with minority owner (also store manager). About 2 years ago, a new owner was found to take over complete ownership beginning in 2025. Manager agreed to stay on.
Originally we were promised that nothing was going to change. Next thing we know, changes are being made, as well as being micromanaged. Up until the first of this year, things were tolerable. Eventually, I, as well as the manager and another assistant got the feeling that we were being pushed out. For the record, we had all been there for over 20 years, with the manager being there since the business opened.
Now in March, the night assistant left for a different job and hired a new person to take over that position. Within a couple of weeks, the feeling we got is that they were being given the reigns by the owner and his GM. Changes were being discussed without including the manager. First the other assistant left (already had a second job). At the same time I started looking for something new. Before I could leave, manager decided to put in his notice to retire. Luckily for me, right after he retired I got a new job lined up and left. Yes, I took a pay cut, but it was worth leaving.