Sure, we all aim to win. But, if you’ve had any success in this industry, chances are you’ve also lost. And if you’re really smart, you’ve learned the most from the losses.

We’re here to turn the tables on those industry odds. Through our hits and misses in the restaurant & hospitality business, can we only truly help our clients develop their winning business plan outline. Making a business plan that serves their guests, and their businesses, well.

We turned to one of our founders, Dan Simons, and a recent Huffington Post piece to explore the foundation of What Makes Winners Win When Most Fail?

His top secret? “Aligning your work with what you are good at,” says Simons, “and alternately, staying away from what you aren’t good at, is smart.”

Knowing who you are and what matters to you are crucial in knowing where you are headed.

As an example, Dan zeros in on the mission of client, Farmers Restaurant Group and their brand of farmer-owned restaurants, where he also serves as  co-owner, to reveal what makes them so successful. In a word: Everything. To them, Everything Matters. Everything is Personal.

“Everything” means staying true to the farmers they represent, and their hard-earned bounty. “We are majority owned by family farmers,” says Simons. “We are in business to represent them, to support them, and to protect family farming for its instrumental role in maintaining the quality of our country’s food and preserving our planet. When we align our operations to these goals… It makes it much easier to stay the course.”

Once you get there, don’t lose sight of who you are.

“Be your own mentor… This capacity to self-mentor, to know when you are doing well and when you aren’t, is what helps winners win.”

Get these foundational elements aligned, and your winning business plan will write itself.

To read the full article, click here.

*photo: FRG’s brand of farmer-owned restaurants, a look into their newest outpost, Founding Farmers Reston Station.