
825: Chris Dimmick Managing Partner at The Idea Collective
09/06/21 • 121 min
2 Listeners
With excitement allow me to introduce to you today's guest Managing Partner at The Idea Collective and Co-Founder of Trufl, Chris Dimmick. With 10 years of experience opening and operating a myriad of unique properties, Chris is driven daily by the constant progress he sees in his restaurants and in the people who make them successful. Over the past 6 years Chris wears the restaurant operations, development, and management hat s for The Idea Collective, a multi-disciplinary creative consulting and experiential design firm. The Idea Collective has multiple past projects throughout the nation, and their two current projects are Sueno, and Tender Mercy, both located and Dayton, OH.
Check out Slack as recommended by Chris in this episode.
Show notes... Calls to ACTION!!!- Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me! Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans.
- Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
- Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
- Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)
- "Do cool shit with good people and stay curious."
In today's episode with Chris Dimmick we will discuss:
- Being a consultant
- How to recruit
- How to be recruited
- Accessing capital
- Taking advantage of a smaller market
- Earning trust in a new market
- Losing capital and rebounding
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.
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.
At Popmenu, we know that in today’s world, a great hospitality experience usually begins online. Keeping the conversation with guests going beyond the meal also requires simple, powerful, fun technology capable of expression through all kinds of channels. Our team takes pride in helping restaurants put their best foot forward digitally so they can focus on what they do best. We think PDF menus are super boring, we believe 3rd party platforms have had too much say in how consumers find their next dining experience and we deeply feel that sharing your beautiful menu doesn’t have to be so difficult, time-consuming and expensive. As a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable, you'll receive $100 off your first month of Popmenu!
Knowledge bombs
- Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
- Empathy
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Empathy
- What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
- Empathy
- What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
- Adapting to ownership
- Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
- Over-communication
- What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
- Smiles, eyes, names.
- What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
With excitement allow me to introduce to you today's guest Managing Partner at The Idea Collective and Co-Founder of Trufl, Chris Dimmick. With 10 years of experience opening and operating a myriad of unique properties, Chris is driven daily by the constant progress he sees in his restaurants and in the people who make them successful. Over the past 6 years Chris wears the restaurant operations, development, and management hat s for The Idea Collective, a multi-disciplinary creative consulting and experiential design firm. The Idea Collective has multiple past projects throughout the nation, and their two current projects are Sueno, and Tender Mercy, both located and Dayton, OH.
Check out Slack as recommended by Chris in this episode.
Show notes... Calls to ACTION!!!- Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me! Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans.
- Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
- Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
- Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)
- "Do cool shit with good people and stay curious."
In today's episode with Chris Dimmick we will discuss:
- Being a consultant
- How to recruit
- How to be recruited
- Accessing capital
- Taking advantage of a smaller market
- Earning trust in a new market
- Losing capital and rebounding
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.
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.
At Popmenu, we know that in today’s world, a great hospitality experience usually begins online. Keeping the conversation with guests going beyond the meal also requires simple, powerful, fun technology capable of expression through all kinds of channels. Our team takes pride in helping restaurants put their best foot forward digitally so they can focus on what they do best. We think PDF menus are super boring, we believe 3rd party platforms have had too much say in how consumers find their next dining experience and we deeply feel that sharing your beautiful menu doesn’t have to be so difficult, time-consuming and expensive. As a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable, you'll receive $100 off your first month of Popmenu!
Knowledge bombs
- Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
- Empathy
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Empathy
- What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
- Empathy
- What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
- Adapting to ownership
- Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
- Over-communication
- What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
- Smiles, eyes, names.
- What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
Previous Episode

824: Stephani Robson - Business planning workshop part 3 of 3 - Capital Budget
With excitement, allow me to introduce to you today's guest: Emeritus Faculty of The Hotel School of Cornell University, Stephani Robson. Until her recent retirement, Dr. Stephani Robson was a member of the faculty at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration for almost 30 years, where she taught literally thousands of students and executives about development and planning for hotels and restaurants. Prior to joining academia, she designed commercial kitchens for just about every kind of operation: restaurants, hotels, airports, hospitals, universities, and more.
Check out PART ONE of this Business Planning workshop - Know Your Audience
Check out PART TWO of this Business Planning workshop - Pro Forma
Check out Restaurant Startup and Growth magazine
Show notes... Calls to ACTION!!!- Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me! Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans.
- Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
- Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
- Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)
- “Know who you’re talking to and what they care about.”
At Popmenu, we know that in today’s world, a great hospitality experience usually begins online. Keeping the conversation with guests going beyond the meal also requires simple, powerful, fun technology capable of expression through all kinds of channels. Our team takes pride in helping restaurants put their best foot forward digitally so they can focus on what they do best. We think PDF menus are super boring, we believe 3rd party platforms have had too much say in how consumers find their next dining experience and we deeply feel that sharing your beautiful menu doesn’t have to be so difficult, time-consuming and expensive. As a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable, you'll receive $100 off your first month of Popmenu!
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.
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.
Contact info:Email: [email protected]
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!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.
Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.
And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.
Huge thanks to Stephani Robson...
Next Episode

826: Zane and Brandon Hunt and Andrew Smith - Private Equity Acquisition
Zane and Brandon Hunt hail from Detroit, MI. They came to Austin, almost with the idea to open a pizza joint. In 2011 they started where they could, with a mobile food trailer they named Via 313 Pizza. Their vision was to offer the first Detroit style option outside of Detroit. It didn't take long for their native Detroit style pizza to take center stage within the Austin community. One trailer became multiple trailers and by 2014 the works to open their first brick and mortar location was in motion.
Check out episode 560 with The Hunt Bros. as mentioned in today's episode.
Check out episode 745 with Chris Schultz about Know When to Scale as mentioned today.
Check out episode 608 with Aaron Lyons as mentioned in today's episode
Check out Blink: The Power of thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell as mentioned in today's episode.
Show notes... Calls to ACTION!!!- Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me! Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans.
- Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
- Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
- Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)
- HR
- Risk mitigation
- Acquiring private equity
- Is private equity for you?
Meez One platform to organize, cost, scale, and share your recipes. With a built in database of thousands of ingredient yields and unit conversions for laser accurate costs. Train your teams with step by step video and image slideshows that live right alongside the recipe. Build ops guides and SOPs, create and upload content in seconds. Never let anyone make the wrong outdated recipe again, all the while keeping your IP safe and secure.
BentoBox empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits and relationships. The hospitality platform disrupts third-party services that come between the restaurant and the guest. BentoBox puts the restaurant first and offers tools that drive high-margin revenue directly through the restaurant’s website. BentoBox is trusted and loved by over 5,000 restaurants worldwide including Union Square Hospitality Group, Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, Lilia and more.
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!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.
Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.
And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.
Huge thanks to The Hunt Bros. and Andrew Smith 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!If you like this episode you’ll love
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