17 Years Helping Restaurants Grow: Lessons From a Restaurant Consultant
The restaurant industry is one of the most demanding businesses to operate.
Margins are tight. Transactions are constant. And every decision, from menu pricing to staffing, can affect profitability.
For Jay Bandy, president of Goliath Consulting Group, helping restaurant operators navigate those challenges has been the focus of his career for nearly two decades.
Since launching the firm in 2009, Bandy has worked with restaurant brands of all types and sizes, helping them build stronger operations, increase profitability, and grow sustainably.
Supporting Restaurants Across the Business
Goliath Consulting Group was founded with a holistic approach to restaurant consulting.
Rather than focusing on one specific area, the firm works across multiple disciplines to help operators improve performance and build stronger businesses.
“In 2009, I launched Goliath Consulting Group to support restaurant brands of all types and sizes with a holistic approach to the business,” Bandy says.
The work often involves helping restaurants identify opportunities to improve sales, strengthen profitability, and plan for long-term unit growth.
For Bandy, one of the most rewarding parts of the business has been the relationships built along the way.
“It’s the ability to work across disciplines and create solutions for our clients that build sales, profitability, and unit growth,” he explains. “That, along with the relationships built over 17 years in business, is the most rewarding part of what we do.”
The Power of Industry Connections
One decision that had an outsized impact on the company came very early.
Shortly after launching Goliath Consulting Group, Bandy joined the Georgia Restaurant Association.
The goal was simple: stay connected to the operators and professionals shaping the restaurant industry.
“We joined the Georgia Restaurant Association the week after we started our company,” Bandy says. “It was our way of staying connected with restaurant operators and association staff.”
That involvement quickly became an important source of industry insight and new relationships.
Over time, it also helped introduce the consulting firm to new restaurant clients and created opportunities to give back to the industry.
Managing the Financial Complexity of Restaurants
While consulting focuses on helping restaurants grow, running the consulting business itself comes with its own operational challenges.
One of the biggest has been managing bookkeeping in a business with a high number of transactions.
“Bookkeeping is tough when running a small business,” Bandy explains. “We have a higher number of transactions than you would think.”
As the firm grew, having reliable financial support became increasingly important.
Working with a bookkeeping company that specializes in supporting small businesses helped simplify the process and make it easier to keep financial records organized.
Gaining Financial Visibility With Bench
Today, Goliath Consulting Group uses Bench to manage its bookkeeping and maintain visibility into its financial performance.
Bench provides organized financial reporting and gives the team easy access to their numbers when they need them.
“Bench helps us stay focused on our business,” Bandy says. “Having instant access to our financials and sales data helps us stay on budget and manage cash flow.”
With financial reporting handled consistently, the firm can spend more time supporting restaurant clients and less time managing administrative tasks.
Advice for Small Business Owners
After nearly two decades of working with restaurant operators and running his own consulting firm, Bandy believes choosing the right financial partners is critical.
His advice for other founders is simple.
“Choose a company that focuses on your type of business,” he says. “They’ll be able to guide you in making good financial decisions.”
For businesses with complex operations and frequent transactions, working with the right financial support can make it easier to stay organized, monitor cash flow, and focus on growth.
