Max's Group CEO talks about dealing with 'new normal'

Max's Group president and chief executive officer Robert Trota admitted that the COVID-19 crisis "became more than what we expected," with his team pushed to do things "that they were not ready to do, or equipped to do."

In a webinar organized by the Philippine Franchise Association on Thursday,Max's Group CEO talks about dealing with 'new normal'.

"We had to take care of our people, preserve our inventory, move things around, and go into shutdown mode which is not normal," said Trota, who was one of the panelists in the webinar. "Because we usually celebrate openings, not closings."

"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," he added. "Max's has been here for 75 years. We had to pause and reflect again.

"While Trota stressed the importance of taking "two steps back" to reassess the situation, he also reminded entrepreneurs to act swiftly to avoid further losses.

With dine-in prohibited because of the pandemic, Max's Group focused all of its operations and resources on takeout and delivery. 

"Today, I'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," he said. 

"I rechanneled everything into that platform, whether it's the website, my call center, delivery riders, operations people. Everybody's focused."

So what did the Max's Group to make up for the lost dine-in sales?

"We created ready-to-cook meals... then we also have ready-to-eat meals," he added. "You have to create new channels... Dine-in is not gonna come back overnight. It will take time," Trota said.

Max's Group includes Max's Restaurant, Pancake House, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Yellow Cab, Teriyaki Boy, Dencio's, and Sizzlin' Steak, among others.Trota stressed the importance of having a sense of urgency in dealing with the "new normal" to be able to "succeed in a market as tough as this."

"We're not going to be the same anymore as prior to COVID," he said. "

You're not going to get your sales back overnight, so you need to work on what you can achieve."