Six Sigma
Use data to understand variation, reduce defects, and improve the reliability of critical processes.
COLEHOSPITALITYCONSULTANTS
Operator-led advisory & execution · Global reach
COLEHOSPITALITYCONSULTANTS
From the frontline to the boardroom.
Everything in between.
Cole Hospitality is a U.S.-based, operator-led advisory and execution firm serving clients globally. We bring independent perspective, operational depth, candid analysis, and hands-on implementation—from 30,000 feet down to every grain of salt.
Profitability People Protection
From the floor to the boardroomOperational clarity that reaches the P&L.
Sectors served
Experience shaped by the operating environment.
Start with the world you operate in, then explore the capabilities that address its particular financial, people, safety, service, and asset pressures.
Independent Operators
Practical senior support for independent owners who need clearer numbers, stronger systems, and more time to lead.
Explore sectorRestaurants
Restaurant expertise spanning concept, opening, daily execution, growth, transactions, and board-level decisions.
Explore sectorConcessions
Controls, staffing, speed, and product availability for event-driven operations with compressed service windows.
Explore sectorAirline & Aviation
Operational discipline for airline catering, airport concessions, lounges, and security-sensitive aviation environments.
Explore sectorCharter & Private Aviation
Customer experience, catering, quality, safety, staffing, operational, and financial support for charter operators, private terminals, FBOs, and flight-service partners.
Explore sectorCorporate Food Service
Performance, experience, and contract accountability for workplace dining and managed food-service programs.
Explore sectorCaterers & Events
Systems that connect sales promises to production, staffing, delivery, event execution, and final profitability.
Explore sectorLandlords & Vacant Spaces
Protect, stabilize, and reactivate fully fitted restaurant, hotel, café, and food-service spaces between operators.
Explore sectorHotels & Resorts
Food, beverage, banquets, rooms support, guest experience, and asset performance across lodging environments.
Explore sectorRetail & Services
Operational, financial, people, security, and growth support for retail stores and service businesses where consistent execution drives margin and loyalty.
Explore sectorManufacturing & Production
Operational, financial, workforce, safety, quality, inventory, and leadership support for manufacturing and production environments.
Explore sectorShipping & Logistics
Operational, workforce, security, inventory, technology, risk, and performance support for shipping, logistics, warehousing, and distribution networks.
Explore sectorSales & Acquisitions
Prepare hospitality businesses for sale, evaluate acquisition opportunities, strengthen diligence, and protect value through the transaction and transition.
Explore sectorBreweries & Taprooms
Integrated operational, financial, licensing, safety, inventory, service, and growth support for breweries, taprooms, brewpubs, and beverage concepts.
Explore sectorFarm-to-Table Concepts
Concept, culinary, operational, safety, financial, branding, and growth support for farm-to-table restaurants, farm cafés, dinners, markets, and agritourism experiences.
Explore sectorOwners, Franchises & Investors
Operating diligence, performance improvement, governance, leadership, and transaction support across hospitality assets.
Explore sectorOur approach
Practical enough for Monday morning.
Recommendations only matter when an operating team can execute and sustain them. We work from evidence, set achievable priorities, stay through implementation, and leave behind stronger leaders, clear ownership, repeatable controls, and improvements built to hold over the long term.
No seagull management.We do not fly in, criticize the operation, drop a report, and disappear. We work alongside the people responsible for results, adapt the plan to operating reality, and transfer the knowledge and discipline needed to keep it working.
We have fun along the way. We love seeing the results.Improvement work can be demanding, but it should also create energy, confidence, and pride. We bring curiosity, candor, humor, and a genuine appreciation for the people doing the work—and we enjoy seeing teams win as the results become visible.
Simplify and multiply. We’re not curing cancer. We’re not heart surgeons.People first—empowered to deliver. Most operating problems do not need another layer of complexity. We give teams clear standards, useful tools, practical authority, and the confidence to make good decisions, own results, and repeat what works across shifts, teams, and locations.
Respect every person. Value every perspective.Diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas make teams stronger and decisions better. We create inclusive working environments where people are treated with dignity, heard without prejudice, trusted to contribute, and empowered to grow, lead, and deliver together.
Fresh eyes—from 30,000 feet to every grain of salt.We begin with an independent view of the whole business, then deep-dive into the details where performance is won or lost. We go beyond what leadership may want to hear, what people believe they are expected to say, and what a surface review might report. We follow the evidence to operating reality, communicate it candidly, and turn uncomfortable truths into practical action.
- Diagnose
Find the operational, financial, people, and control gaps that matter.
- Stabilize
Protect the business, stop leakage, and establish immediate accountability.
- Improve
Build better systems, stronger leaders, and measurable operating rhythm.
- Execute
Turn agreed priorities into action with hands-on implementation, clear ownership, and disciplined follow-through.
- Sustain
Embed standards, governance, reporting, and ownership that hold.
Core operating disciplines
The backbone of how improvement work gets done.
These are not buzzwords or isolated exercises. Cole applies the right discipline to the problem, connects evidence to decisions, and stays through execution so improvement becomes part of the operating system.
Lean
Remove waste, delay, duplication, and friction while protecting the work that creates customer and business value.
5S
Sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain workplaces that support safety, speed, visibility, and control.
Gemba Walk
Go to where the work happens, observe the real process, listen to the people doing it, and test assumptions against evidence.
Kaizen Analysis
Build continuous improvement through practical, incremental changes owned and sustained by the operating team.
Pareto Analysis
Identify the vital few causes creating most of the loss, delay, defects, complaints, or financial impact.
Workshops & Decision-Making
Use structured workshops to expose facts and options—then assign clear decisions, owners, actions, measures, and deadlines.
People Empowerment
Give the people closest to the work clear standards, authority, tools, information, and confidence to solve problems, make good decisions, and own results.
From the floor to the boardroom
Boardroom clarity. Shareholder results. An empowered culture.
We connect frontline execution, leadership decisions, and governance priorities so people stay engaged, diverse perspectives strengthen decisions, growth is disciplined, and shareholders can see measurable operating and financial results. The goal is a respectful, inclusive culture with the clarity, authority, and accountability to perform—not one that waits for instructions from the top.
Operator intelligence
Practical thinking.
Built for action.
Explore Cole Hospitality field briefs on operational diagnostics, stressed-business stabilization, profit leakage, people empowerment, and why sustainable consulting requires more than a report.
Read our insightsServices
Every part of the business.
One operating perspective.
From the first business plan, lease, and opening checklist to daily controls, financial management, executive leadership, transactions, and the boardroom.
Launch
Start-Ups & Openings
Take a concept from feasibility and planning through systems, staffing, training, controls, opening, and stabilization.
Explore serviceCreative
Concept Design & Branding
Shape the concept, identity, guest promise, service model, social marketing, content, reputation, and customer experience into one commercially coherent brand.
Explore serviceDevelopment
Build-Outs & Project Coordination
Coordinate scope, budget, schedule, vendors, operating requirements, readiness, and the transition from construction to opening.
Explore serviceFacilities
Kitchen Design & Workflow
Plan practical production flow, capacity, adjacencies, safety, storage, service, and equipment around the operating model.
Explore serviceProcurement
Equipment Sourcing & Purchasing
Define specifications, compare options, negotiate purchases, coordinate delivery, and protect lifecycle value.
Explore serviceGrowth
Marketing & Revenue Growth
Strengthen positioning, launch planning, local marketing, sales channels, promotions, and measurable demand generation.
Explore serviceFinance
Financial Management
Build reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow discipline, controls, and management visibility that support better decisions.
Explore servicePerformance
P&L Management
Turn operating data into disciplined action on labor, food cost, purchasing, pricing, and margin.
Explore serviceLabor
Payroll & Labor Systems
Strengthen payroll workflows, timekeeping, scheduling, labor controls, compliance, reporting, and vendor oversight.
Explore serviceSystems
Operating Systems & SOPs
Design the processes, documentation, ownership, training, and review cadence that keep execution consistent.
Explore serviceOperations
Streamlined Operations
Remove friction, standardize execution, and build practical systems teams can sustain under pressure.
Explore serviceControls
Quality Assurance
Create measurable standards, inspection routines, corrective actions, and accountability across the operation.
Explore serviceTechnology
POS Optimization
Strengthen configuration, reporting, permissions, menu architecture, training, and transaction controls.
Explore serviceTechnology
Systems Integrations
Connect POS, payroll, accounting, inventory, ordering, scheduling, and reporting into a more reliable operating ecosystem.
Explore serviceCulinary
Menu & Recipe Development
Develop commercially sound menus and standardized recipes with clear costing, yields, execution standards, and training tools.
Explore servicePeople
Staffing & HR
Improve workforce planning, recruiting, onboarding, policies, performance management, and retention.
Explore serviceLabor Relations
Union, CBA & Arbitration Services
Support union relations, collective bargaining strategy and negotiations, contract ratification, grievance management, and arbitration preparation.
Explore serviceCulinary Leadership
Chef Placement
Define the role, identify and assess culinary talent, and place chefs who fit the concept, economics, culture, and operating demands.
Explore serviceLeadership
Fractional Executives
Place experienced operating leadership where a business needs senior capability without a full-time commitment.
Explore serviceGovernance
Board Placements
Add hospitality, operations, financial, and people expertise to boards and advisory teams.
Explore serviceProtection
Site Security & Loss Prevention
Protect people, premises, cash, inventory, equipment, information, and operations through physical security and disciplined loss controls.
Explore serviceEnterprise Risk
Risk Management
Identify, prioritize, and control operational, financial, people, safety, technology, continuity, and reputational risks before they become crises.
Explore serviceRisk
Compliance & Safety
Translate regulatory, food-safety, workplace, and documentation requirements into daily operating discipline.
Explore serviceRegulatory
Licensing & Permitting
Coordinate business, health, liquor, occupancy, operational, and local permitting requirements from application through renewal.
Explore serviceFood Safety
Food Safety Systems
Build practical plans, training, logs, inspections, corrective actions, and audit readiness into daily operations.
Explore serviceTraining & Certification
Food Safety & Alcohol Service Training
Coordinate ServSafe food-handler, manager, and alcohol-service preparation, certification, renewal, and practical application on the floor.
Explore serviceGuest Experience
Customer Service Training
Build practical service standards, communication, recovery, de-escalation, sales awareness, and coaching skills teams can apply in real customer interactions.
Explore serviceAssets
Asset Protection
Protect equipment, inventory, facilities, cash, information, and brand reputation through layered controls.
Explore serviceAI
AI Governance
Adopt useful AI tools with clear ownership, data safeguards, human review, and practical operating policies.
Explore serviceTransactions
Restaurant Sales & Brokerage Support
Prepare operations for sale, support valuation and diligence, and coordinate transactions with licensed professionals where required.
Explore serviceReal Estate
Lease Negotiations
Evaluate operating economics, business terms, risk allocation, renewals, and exit options before commitments are made.
Explore serviceInterim Operating Agreements
Landlord & Vacancy Management
Support landlords with vacant or defaulted restaurant and hotel food-service spaces through asset protection, operational continuity, interim management, and the transition to a qualified replacement tenant or operator.
Explore serviceFranchise
Franchise Negotiations
Assess operating obligations, economics, support, territory, performance standards, and practical deal implications.
Explore serviceInvestment
Investment & Due Diligence
Test assumptions, operating capacity, risks, capital needs, and improvement opportunities in hospitality investments.
Explore serviceStressed Business
Stressed Business Stabilization & Turnaround
Step into urgent financial and operating pressure, preserve cash and continuity, establish control, and lead a practical path toward stabilization and recovery.
Explore serviceStressed Business
Debt Restructuring & Consolidation
Help stressed businesses assess obligations, cash-flow pressure, creditor priorities, refinance options, and stabilization strategy to build a more sustainable capital structure.
Explore serviceCapital
Capital Strategy & Raising Support
Prepare the business, financial story, diligence package, and outreach strategy, coordinating with licensed capital providers where required.
Explore serviceAccounting
Full-Service Accounting
Manage bookkeeping, AP and AR, reconciliations, payroll and POS integration, month-end close, reporting, and multi-entity financial visibility.
Explore serviceForensics
Financial & Inventory Forensics
Reconstruct transactions, investigate variances, trace cash and inventory movement, identify control failures, and turn irregularities into evidence-based corrective action.
Explore serviceEngage us at any point
Wherever the business is,
we can step in.
One defined problem. A critical transition. Interim leadership. Or a complete operating transformation. The engagement fits the need—not the other way around.
- Concept & feasibility
Strategy, economics, structure, and planning.
- Startup & opening
Systems, people, vendors, controls, and launch.
- Daily operations
Finance, payroll, quality, compliance, and execution.
- Stabilization
Urgent controls, turnaround, leadership, and cash flow.
- Growth & transactions
Expansion, leases, franchises, sales, and investment.
- Executive & board
Fractional leadership, governance, and placement.
Selected clients
Trusted where operations matter.
We are proud to support organizations that serve customers, employ people, strengthen communities, and move their industries forward. Explore their work—and please support the businesses and organizations that have trusted Cole Hospitality.
Operator perspective
Not theory.
Operating reality.
Cole Hospitality is an operator-led advisory and execution firm—not a report factory. We connect frontline execution, financial performance, leadership decisions, and boardroom priorities across the entire business lifecycle.
Based in the United States, Cole brings experience shaped by work across Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia—giving clients a practical international perspective grounded in local operating realities.
That broad operating expertise shapes the work: direct, commercially grounded, protective of the business, and focused on achievable changes teams can own, measure, and sustain long after the engagement ends.
COLEHOSPITALITYCONSULTANTS
Start with the pressure point
What needs to perform better?
Bring the margin problem, the people problem, the control gap, or the growth challenge. We will start with the facts and define the work that matters.