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'Fail fast, then try again': Max's Group CEO talks about dealing with 'new normal'

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ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Even the Max&#x27;s Group of restaurants was not spared by the effects of the coronavirus-triggered economic downturn.In a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=1599938256848527&amp;ref=watch_permalink" target="_blank">webinar</a> organized by the Philippine Franchise Association on Thursday, Max&#x27;s Group president and chief executive officer Robert Trota admitted that the COVID-19 crisis &quot;became more than what we expected,&quot; with his team pushed to do things &quot;that they were not ready to do, or equipped to do.&quot;&quot;We had to take care of our people, preserve our inventory, move things around, and go into shutdown mode which is not normal,&quot; said Trota, who was one of the panelists in the webinar. &quot;Because we usually celebrate openings, not closings.&quot;&quot;The question we had was, what will happen to the employees once all the stores are closed? So those things had to be taken care of,&quot; he added. &quot;Max&#x27;s has been here for 75 years. We had to pause and reflect again.&quot;While Trota stressed the importance of taking &quot;two steps back&quot; to reassess the situation, he also reminded entrepreneurs to act swiftly to avoid further losses.With dine-in prohibited because of the pandemic, Max&#x27;s Group focused all of its operations and resources on takeout and delivery. &quot;Today, I&#x27;m happy to say that I may not have recovered 70% of my dine-in, but I definitely doubled and even tripled what I do in delivery and takeout,&quot; he said. &quot;I rechanneled everything into that platform, whether it&#x27;s the website, my call center, delivery riders, operations people. Everybody&#x27;s focused.&quot;So what did the Max&#x27;s Group do to make up for the lost dine-in sales?&quot;We created ready-to-cook meals... then we also have ready-to-eat meals,&quot; he added. &quot;You have to create new channels... Dine-in is not gonna come back overnight. It will take time,&quot; Trota said.Max&#x27;s Group includes Max&#x27;s Restaurant, Pancake House, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Yellow Cab, Teriyaki Boy, Dencio&#x27;s, and Sizzlin&#x27; Steak, among others.Trota stressed the importance of having a sense of urgency in dealing with the &quot;new normal&quot; to be able to &quot;succeed in a market as tough as this.&quot;&quot;We&#x27;re not going to be the same anymore as prior to COVID,&quot; he said. &quot;You&#x27;re not going to get your sales back overnight, so you need to work on what you can achieve.&quot;&quot;Step back a little bit, focus, be very agile... Please try what you can but if you fail, fail fast... Then try again,&quot; he ended.

"You have to create new channels... Dine-in is not gonna come back overnight. It will take time."

"You have to create new channels... Dine-in is not gonna come back overnight. It will take time."