The Magic Number

As I approach my 2 year Anniversary here at BHCC we have received many accolades ( Letters, notes of thanks, emails, smiles and there hasn’t been a day where I haven’t received a thank you for what I’ve done from a Member ) but it hasn’t been easy. Even today… this is the first time I’ve sat down all day. This has been my biggest professional and personal challenge to date and I’ve had many that were massive undertakings. I’ve always said this isn’t a Country Club Job… it has many moving parts and daily challenges and “Whatever doesn’t kill you… just makes you stronger”

So I apologize as I ramble on but I owe you a piece of experience everyday. It’s me #GivingBack - Yes I just write. I don’t even know if I’m good at it but when I do I get a lot of thanks so I keep sharing. It’s Simple.

So As a Chef I either open a concept from my Vision, been given a “DNA Page” and open from “The Ground Up” or I Inherit an operation. In every case, I’ve inherited an operation, the bar has been raised significantly. Now to do this I need physical strength, patience, tenacity, a vision to where we are going, and the relentless pursuit of Excellence plus a whole lot of energy. Whew. It’s just like Hockey.

Doing the right things right is NOT doing the easy things first or just doing the easy things. Doing the right things right comes in no specific chronological order. You tackle them in the moment. Remember you’re either “Part of the Solution… or you’re part of the Problem”. To eliminate defects you first identify, put a plan in place and execute that plan while never backing down. Some things took 4 months when it could have taken one shift others happened in the moment but I’d say hundreds were addressed and fixed.

As a Chef I give feedback 10X per hour with a 70% praise ratio and I measure progress by Guest/Member Satisfaction, Staff Culture and retention, Cleanliness of Facility, R&M issues, Accidents, COGs, Ticket Times or Efficiency ( both individually and as a Team ), Service “FOH” Culture, Food Sales over prior year, Holiday Event’s Sales over prior year and of course the Top and Bottom Line. When you’re 20% over prior year and your Bottom Line has a 20% Net you’re hitting on all cylinders. “We all look good together” is a common theme with me.

Now for the The magic number…it has always been one year. Most jobs I’ve had when you get to one year something magical happens. It used to be a little quicker but I have found as my sales per year have gone up ( $7M to $110M ) the process has taken longer ( of course fellow management has a lot to do with how efficient in implementing you can be ). In my most recent position it’s actually taken 2 years and I’ll explain.

When I arrived to BHCC I was super enthusiastic. Maybe too enthusiastic for some. I had a vision and that vision started back in 2005 when I was in the final pick for the Chef Position and almost got the job. But I didn’t get the job and the Chef that did, a colleague, always told me I didn’t want it. I wanted this job since 2005.

So when I arrived here there was lots of excitement ( The Board all said “You’re a Celebrity in this Town” ) Senator Warner reached out to Bob and with that I found lots of “Low Hanging fruit”. Waste and personal consumption, 14 open positions, no Chef, no Sous, and not even a schedule hanging. Since there was no schedule the existing staff worked whenever they wanted and had 40-50 hours of OT a pay period. The food inventory was super high. If I told you you wouldn’t even believe it. So the development began at the basic level which really turned out to work well. We started at square one.

Well Thanks to Social Media ( I posted I’m hiring ) I had 15 stages drive, bus or fly from all over the country, even Canada and one applicant flew 30 hours from The Philippines for an interview. Of course I hired him !

So after lots of transition with a new GM ( Met him 2 days after I buried my Father in the ice behind the net where he played for 13 years ) and new AGM and 2 years of truly my best work ( physically and mentally ) I feel like we are there and I’m finally happy. Happy with my Team, Happy with our Results, Super Happy I get to serve such a fine Membership and Happy I figured this place out.

I’ve recently mentioned in meetings the “Tires are really gripping the Road” and this is an analogy I use to say we are about ready to take off ! I have seen quadrupled sales, in my past, in two years time. At Potowmack Landing we went from $2.3M to over $7M in two years and it’s a Stone’s throw from BHCC. And it’s all about the food, my community and our timely execution. So I hope we get some more staff because we are growing fast.

Today we had 6 parties, a wedding for 170 and just an extremely busy day all around the Club.

Signing off,

Yours Truly,

Chef Keller