About

I've signed the leases. I've sat across from the investors.

Everything on this site comes from doing the thing, not theorizing about it.

I'm Wilson K Lee. I spent about two decades in F&B. I built my dessert brand 720 Sweets from a few thousand dollars into seven locations across Edmonton and Beijing, engineered it to serve over 100 bubble teas an hour (two drinks a minute, on systems, not talent), and then sold the brand.

Since then I've consulted for hundreds of operators, served on the Board of Advisors of Plant Veda (a publicly traded F&B company), and partnered with Workstream, which gives me a window into hiring data across 35,000+ restaurant brands, including 46 of the top 50 QSR chains.

My YouTube channel (211,000+ subscribers) is where I break down what it really costs to open food businesses, why they fail, and how to run them profitably. This site is the written home of all of it, plus a free tool that runs your exact startup numbers.

What I believe about this business

• Know your three numbers or you're flying blind: your average ticket, your prime cost (aim 25/25/25), and your burn rate.
• Restaurant margins are 3 to 5%. There is no room for vibes. Revenue is not profit.
• Constraints are the moat. The fewer things you sell, the better you sell them.
• Cash after you open beats cash to open. Multiply your budget by 1.4 before you sign anything.
• If the business only runs when you're there, you've built a job, not a business.

Start with the guides, run your numbers in the free tool, grab the worksheets in the Toolkit, and when you're ready to go deeper, the Profitable Restaurant Owner Academy is free too. If you're already running a spot and want me in your corner, here's how that works.

Take all of it as reference, not Bible. And with that, friends, I'll see you in the next one.