Ops Nerd Podcast - Building Independent Spirits and Hospiality Brands

About Ops Nerd Podcast - Building Independent Spirits and Hospiality Brands

The stories of the known and unknown bars and restaurants that tie our cities together. Welcome to Bar Diaries. Interviews with the bar and restaurant owners and managers who keep the block together. Formerly the OpsNerd podcast (check out Hospitality Strategy Lab (https://pod.co/hospitality-strategy-lab) for all the ai, automation, and guest psychology your heart could desire!) Bar Diaries interviews the heads of state in the last estate of hospitality. The Road to Bar Diaries (https://bardiaries.com) The Littrell Show Podcast (https://pod.co/hospitality-strategy-lab) (2020)--> OpsNerd The OpsNerd Podcast (https://bardiaries.com) (2023) --> Bar Diaries (2025)

Publisher

Jason Littrell

Category

arts · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Feb 2022

Latest episode

2 Aug 2024

Latest episodes

85 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Aug 2024

   24 | What you really do

   Ready to go from chaos to control in your empire? Call/Text Jason now at +19179832150 Get the Ops Nerd Newsletter for insider tips and tricks for hospitality operators in three minutes a week or less. https://opsnerd.com Jason Littrell is a Hospitality Management Consultant serving ambitious hospitality brands with high impact systems since 2009. *** Join Jason Littrell as he delves into the intricate world of hospitality management, focusing on solutions for independent bars and restaurants. Learn how to transform your business with the power of AI, effective HR practices, and targeted marketing strategies. - Understanding the main challenges faced by independent bars and restaurants - The crucial role of HR in the hospitality business - The pitfalls of being a great craftsman but a poor business operator - Leveraging AI and automation to streamline operations - Effective marketing strategies to convert social media followers to loyal customers 00:00 Jason Littrell on building HR systems for hospitality. 04:57 Being good at making drinks ≠ running bars 07:17 Train and develop staff for high returns. **The Importance of Understanding the Industry:** "I should kind of spend more time learning and understanding what the problems are, and then this will will inform the products that I build, for systems and operations that I can just install into bars and restaurants, and help the ones that really need the help." — Jason Littrell [00:00:46 → 00:00:59] The Corporate Edge: "They have national deals for purchasing, and they have a a massive economy of scale, and they do marketing. And, they can do all the stuff that independent bars and restaurants can't do." — Jason Littrell [00:01:18 → 00:01:27] The Struggle of Independent Restaurants: "The vast majority of bars and restaurants are at risk of going out of business at all times, pretty much at all times." — Jason Littrell [00:01:43 → 00:02:22] **The Reality of Bars and Restaurants**: "People think bars and restaurants are food businesses where you sell food." — Jason Littrell [00:03:17 → 00:03:22] **Brilliant Craftspeople Often Struggle to Run Businesses**: "And, and a lot of times, people, they are brilliant craftspeople. This is straight out of the E Myth, by the way, the book called The E Myth. But, a lot of people are brilliant, brilliant craftspeople. They are excellent at making their thing, their widget, their their drink, their their food, whatever it is. But that does not translate into what is required to run a business." — Jason Littrell [00:04:09 → 00:04:33] How to Avoid High Turnover in Bars and Restaurants: "If everybody understands that, you don't have to manage them because they know what to do already. Because they they're they're working in service of that why, of that mission." — Jason Littrell [00:05:31 → 00:05:40] Viral Topic: The Power of Authentic Marketing "But if they know what they're doing, then they attract the the right people, with their marketing or with just with their social media or whatever. And and that brings in the customers that also align with those mission, with that mission, with those values." — Jason Littrell [00:05:53 → 00:06:08] The Reality of Instagram Engagement: "Instagram has a 4% engagement rate organically. So that means for every 100 people that you, have as followers, then 4 of them are gonna see your message." — Jason Littrell [00:06:28 → 00:06:36] HR management, hospitality systems, bars, restaurants, business failures, independent bars, AI solutions, automation, storytelling, GoPro, people business, craftspeople, E Myth, bartending, profitability, training, staff development, customer engagement, marketing, social media, email subscribers, brand sales solutions, management consultant, Kinetic Management Systems, New York City.

2. 

   31 Jul 2024

   23 | Snooze

   Join Jason Littrell as he delves into his journey of building an HR and management system for hospitality brands. Get insights into his focused approach and challenges in the development process. - Transitioning from multiple opportunities to single project focus. - Building and selling a minimally viable product (MVP). - Partnering with beta clients for feedback and improvement. - Creating a comprehensive, gamified management system. - The importance of lifetime customer value in business. 00:00 Building technology platform for restaurant management systems. 03:44 Creating long-term, adaptable management system for businesses. Quitting Caffeine: "And my god, is it hard to stop drinking caffeine?" — Jason Littrell [00:00:20 → 00:00:24] The Power of Focus: "I've decided to focus on only a single thing, on just one thing." — Jason Littrell [00:00:49 → 00:00:53] Momentum is Key: "I would never have generated any momentum." — Jason Littrell [00:01:12 → 00:01:15] The Future of Startups: "Every time I tell somebody about this project, they say I want it." — Jason Littrell [00:01:54 → 00:01:58] **Belief in Your Product:** "They say you can't sell something you don't really believe in. Well, I really believe in this and I think that, and I and I'm only encouraged every time I talk to people about it." — Jason Littrell [00:02:12 → 00:02:21] "Revolutionizing Restaurant Management": "I basically have just systematized his system into a technology platform that just gives Management something to report, owners something to track, and staff something to, like a roadmap for staff to go down." — Jason Littrell [00:02:59 → 00:03:08] **The Secret to Business Longevity**: "The real value of the system will be in how long it's being adopted. And I'm building a product that should be adopted forever, right, as in it becomes part of the natural operating system of the bar just like a POS would be, and, and just like, you know, having Google versus Outlook, for instance." — Jason Littrell [00:03:44 → 00:04:44] Balancing Business Values and Personal Challenges: "I don't wanna sell something to somebody that they can use once and that they don't need anymore. I wanna sell them something that, like, markedly improves their business, over time." — Jason Littrell [00:04:44 → 00:05:26] Stepping Up Against All Odds: "So if I had fucking cancer right now, I would get out of bed and I would, and I would do what I needed to do to, to hustle this this system because, I just believe in it that much." — Jason Littrell [00:05:40 → 00:05:51] Jason Littrell, hospitality management, HR system, New York City, caffeine withdrawal, focus, beta client, product development, MVP, sales challenges, restaurant attorney, bar consultant, kinetic management system, shift report, secret shopper, employee onboarding, gamification, lifetime customer value, business adoption, product innovation, management consulting, fractional CMO, beverage brand sales, marketing solutions.

3. 

   29 Jul 2024

   22 | Addition By Subtraction

   Ready to go from chaos to control in your empire? Call/Text Jason now at +19179832150 Get the Ops Nerd Newsletter for insider tips and tricks for hospitality operators in three minutes a week or less. https://opsnerd.com Jason Littrell is a Hospitality Management Consultant serving ambitious hospitality brands with high impact systems since 2009. *** 00:00 Struggling with focus, finding motivation in automation. 03:54 Interested in simple, healthy, meaningful life experiences. 07:09 Busy day with calls, pitch, and energy. "Finding Gratitude in Unexpected Situations": "I'm kind of, I'm actually really grateful that I got let go." — Jason Littrell [00:00:28 → 00:00:32] "Cutting Back on Coffee": "I started to realize that caffeine was kind of starting to be a kind of a pain in the ass and that, I I wasn't really getting as much out of it as, I wasn't receiving much from it." — Jason Littrell [00:01:26 → 00:01:37] Caffeine Hangover Struggles: "Like, it was it's like a hang I feel like I'm hungover. Like, I'm I have this, like, caffeine hangover. Like, it's, like, mild 1% of a headache." — Jason Littrell [00:01:57 → 00:02:04] **The Impact of Automation**: "Thank goodness for all the automations running in the background because, I have a bunch of stuff that's running and and a bunch of AIs that are that are chatting and and doing work for people and stuff." — Jason Littrell [00:02:09 → 00:02:19] The Age of Humanity: "And we're roughly 2 to 300000 years old. That's what our modern body is." — Jason Littrell [00:03:14 → 00:03:20] Minimalism and Healthy Living: "So I'm not adding really anything. In fact, I'm reducing quite a bit. I don't like stuff. I'm literally sitting on the ground right now, and, and I don't and, you know, I like a very simple existence because I prefer experiences and I prefer to make things rather than accumulate things." — Jason Littrell [00:04:12 → 00:04:29] "The History of Our Diet and Fire": "For most of our history, we didn't rely on carbohydrates at all." — Jason Littrell [00:05:11 → 00:05:15] Back to Basics: "I'm trying to do things that, like, we did them before, before modern technology, before Monsanto, before sugar was in everything, and I mean everything." — Jason Littrell [00:05:42 → 00:05:55] The Philosophy of Addition by Subtraction: "In order to gain more energy, to gain more cognitive ability, to gain more, energy, I have to eliminate certain things." — Jason Littrell [00:06:48 → 00:06:57] Turning It Around: "But I have a bunch of onboarding calls and I'm and those are, like, those give me a lot of energy, so I'm hoping that'll kinda turn it around for me." — Jason Littrell [00:07:09 → 00:07:15] Jason Littrell, hospitality management consultant, NYC, layoff, caffeine, quitting coffee, lifestyle changes, health, energy, liminal thinking, self-improvement, book recommendations, "Sapiens", modern history, physiology, carbohydrates, modern diseases, healthy living, diet, sugar, starch, wheat, alcohol, tobacco, AI automations, client work, family, experiences over possessions, addition by subtraction, cognitive ability, onboarding calls, pitch. 1. How to reduce reliance on caffeine effectively 2. How to implement a healthier lifestyle as a busy professional 3. How to identify excessive caffeine consumption 4. How to manage irritability and withdrawal symptoms after quitting caffeine 5. How to cultivate a philosophy of liminal thinking 6. How to enhance cognitive function by eliminating certain habits 7. How to navigate transitioning away from sugar and other dietary staples 8. How to organize life around healthier eating choices 9. How to balance personal health goals with family dietary needs 10. How to stay productive and manage brain fog during lifestyle transitions Music: Mint Leaves Musician: Jeff Kaale https://enjoymusic.ai

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings