How do you find out what is wrong with your restaurant or bar?
Look at four things, in order. The numbers: gross profit on food and drink, labour as a share of sales, and prime cost. The menu: which dishes make money and which only make work. The operation: where service breaks down, and why. And the owner: what depends on you that should not. Most owners can feel that something is wrong; it is hard to see which of these is causing it from the inside. An outside eye finds the pattern.
The Health Check is how I do that with you. It is Atelier Sawyer's one-off diagnostic for independent restaurants, bars, chiringuitos, and cafés in Spain: a structured session, a hard look at your numbers, and a written plan of what to fix first.
Does this sound familiar?
- The floor is busy and the team is working flat out, but the margins are not there.
- Standards drift when you are not in the building.
- Trade is unpredictable, and you cannot say why, beyond "it is the season".
- You are the only one who can hold a Saturday night in August together.
- You are thinking about a new concept, a traspaso, or closing, and you want an honest view before you decide.
The problem is rarely effort. It is clarity. When you are in the business every day, the patterns that drain your profit and your energy are the hardest things to see.
How the Health Check works
Before we talk
When you book, you complete a detailed questionnaire, in English or Spanish, and send me your numbers: recent sales, your profit and loss (or what your gestor prepares), your menu with prices, a typical rota, and a few supplier invoices. I research and analyse it all before we speak, so we both arrive with the detail, and the session is spent on the way forward rather than on archaeology.
The session: 90 minutes
We spend 60 to 90 minutes on a video call, in English or Spanish, working through eight areas of your business and going wherever the evidence leads:
- Concept: is the offer still sharp, or has it become diluted?
- Menu and margin: is your food cost a calculation or a hope?
- Money: where does the cash go each week, and how long would it last through a quiet winter?
- Operations: where is the friction that makes your team's life harder?
- Team: who holds the standards, and what happens when they are off?
- Guest experience: what do guests remember on the way home, and what do your reviews keep saying, in every language they are written in?
- Visibility: how do visitors and locals find you, and how many come back?
- Owner workload: what depends on you that should not, and what is that costing you?
In person: €500
The in-person Health Check adds what a video call cannot: I eat or drink with you as a guest first, unannounced, and watch the room before I introduce myself. Then we hold the session on site. Within Málaga province, travel is included; further afield, travel and accommodation are charged at cost, agreed with you before anything is booked.
The plan: within five working days
You get a concise, written diagnosis, in English or Spanish, not a fifty-page slide deck:
- Traffic-light priorities: red (fix now), amber (fix next), and green (protect)
- The core diagnosis: one paragraph on the central reason the business is struggling
- The top three damage points: the issues costing you the most money and time right now
- The action plan: what to do, in order, starting on Monday morning
Who it is for
- The stalled operator: you are trading but not profitable, and you cannot pin down why.
- The owner who cannot step away: the business runs, but only because you are always there.
- The owner with a second site in mind: you want to know whether the first one is ready.
- The owner at a crossroads: a new concept, a traspaso, or a closure, and you want an objective view before you act.
Why work with me
I have spent more than 30 years in restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, and nightclubs, as an owner and as an operator, in London and on the Costa del Sol. I have turned round venues that others had written off, including the Sun Inn in Bethnal Green, which grew from £10,000 to £800,000 in annual turnover within thirty months. I have run a group of three, opened venues in Spain, and lost a business and started again. I do not give comfortable answers; I give accurate ones.
What the Health Check costs
€347 by video call, or €500 in person, plus IVA. One payment, no monthly commitment, and no obligation beyond the session itself.
If you go on to start Run or Grow within 30 days, the fee comes off your first month.
Prices are shown without IVA, which is added at 21%. If your business is registered for IVA, you can normally deduct it on your return.
The Health Check is not right for everyone
- If you have not opened yet, you need the Pre-Opening Diagnostic instead; it is built for a business that exists on paper.
- If you cannot pay your debts as they fall due, or you are behind with Hacienda, the Seguridad Social, or your landlord, speak to your gestor and a lawyer who handles insolvency first.
- If you already know what is wrong and need help fixing it, go straight to Run.
Frequently asked questions
Is it confidential?
Completely. Your numbers, your answers, and your plan stay between us. I do not share them, name your business, or use it as an example without your written permission. I have seen some messy profit and loss accounts in my time; nothing shocks me, and nothing gets repeated. Send what you have, as it is.
Will my staff know you are coming?
Not unless you tell them. For the in-person Health Check, I eat or drink as a guest first, unannounced, because a room behaves differently when it knows it is being watched. Whether you warn your team is your call. Afterwards I introduce myself, and I would rather talk to them with you than about them behind their backs.
What if the Health Check finds nothing seriously wrong?
Then you have paid €347 to know what is working, which is worth knowing before you change anything. Every plan includes what to protect, as well as what to fix. In my experience, a business with nothing worth improving is rare; the useful question is usually which three things matter most. If I think a Health Check will not help you, I will tell you before you book.
How is this different from a free chat?
A free chat is a 30-minute call to see whether we suit each other, and whether I can help at all. The Health Check is paid work: I go through your numbers before we speak, run a structured 90-minute session, and send you a written plan within five working days. The chat tells you whether to book; the Health Check tells you what to fix.
What happens after the Health Check?
That is up to you. Some owners take the plan and work through it themselves; it is written so you can. If you want help, Run or Grow carries it on, month by month, and if you start within 30 days, the Health Check fee comes off your first month.