---
title: "Surviving a downturn: defence then offence"
description: "A response to a recession that preserved the team and the brand."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/surviving-a-downturn-defence-then-offence/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Surviving a downturn: defence then offence

> A response to a recession that preserved the team and the brand.

Will Guidara's framework, from Unreasonable Hospitality, pp. 158 to 173.

Framework 10 of 15 from [Unreasonable Hospitality](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/index.md) by Will Guidara. Category: Offers and pricing.

## The steps

1. **Let the team feel the loss.** Wallow for a couple of days, then get mad and use it as fuel.
2. **Cut every penny the guest will not feel.** Cut linens, paper towels, chemicals, toques and cheese varieties while protecting the guest experience.
3. **Record the savings.** Keep a journal of every cost cut and keep the best after the crisis.
4. **Build the top line.** Offer a cheaper lunch, add a dessert trolley and hold a high-risk event like the Kentucky Derby.
5. **Keep the whole team employed.** Use extra business to give more hours rather than laying anyone off.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Chapter 15: The Best Offense Is Offense, pp. 158–173

Eleven Madison Park is left off the 2008 Michelin list and then the global recession hits, with business falling and the restaurant losing cash, kept afloat by Shake Shack profits. Guidara’s father tells him adversity is a terrible thing to waste. They cut costs relentlessly (raindrops make oceans) while protecting anything the guest feels, then play offence: a twenty-nine-dollar two-course lunch, a dessert trolley that lifted dessert sales by 300 percent, a Kentucky Derby party, and no layoffs. A nightly Critic of the Night rehearsal readies them for Frank Bruni, who awards four stars on 11 August 2009.

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/surviving-a-downturn-defence-then-offence.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/surviving-a-downturn-defence-then-offence-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/surviving-a-downturn-defence-then-offence.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/surviving-a-downturn-defence-then-offence-dark.png