“The U.S. restaurant industry is in a funk. Blame it on lunch,” said Julie Jargon in the Wall Street Journal. Americans increasingly aren’t eating out during the workday, resulting in 433 million fewer lunchtime restaurant trips last year and $3.2 billion in lost business for eateries. That’s a significant blow for an industry that “has had little or no growth for a decade.” Cost is one factor. The average restaurant lunch now costs $7.59, up almost 20 percent since the recession, while falling grocery prices have made bringing a brown bag more economical.

It’s about the middle of June and you know what that means.  For those of you that make estimated tax payments the June 15^th due date is coming up. 

Just a reminder, if your income is down considerably or if you have purchased a lot of equipment you might be able to trim your payment down.  If you are reducing your estimate you do not need to notify the IRS or the state and you do not have to fill anything out, you simply change the number on the estimate form and send in the check. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATIGIC PLANNING

Last week was one of the most important weeks for Kopsa Otte.  Last week we had our Partner Strategic Planning Meeting.  The success of Kopsa Otte is in part due our annual retreats.  These meetings give us a chance to step back from the day to day activities and determine our future.  This year we brought in a fascinator to help to challenge us and to set a schedule to follow up on the decisions that we made.