Prime & Proof Operating Partner · Restaurants
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Operating partner for restaurants

Prime & Proof

Get the numbers right. Prove the model. Then grow.

The operating partner for restaurants — from prime cost and unit economics to the growth levers that fill seats: loyalty, third-party delivery, and local marketing. We get the model sound, then help you grow it.

Book a diagnostic call What I do
Line itemBefore → After · Illustrative
Prime cost62.4%56.1%6.3 pts
Off-premise margin (3P)11.0%19.7%8.7 pts
Loyalty repeat rate14%27%+13 pts
Why "Prime & Proof"
Prime
The foundation · the numbers
Prime cost — food plus labor — is the single number that decides whether a restaurant lives or dies. Everything we do starts with getting it right.
Proof
The validation · the growth
A concept isn't a business until the model is proven — that it makes money, and keeps making it when you add the next location. We prove it before you bet on it.
The thesis

Most restaurants don't fail on the food. They fail on the math.

A concept can be packed every night and still bleed cash. Prime cost creeps a point at a time, third-party fees eat the off-premise business, loyalty goes unused, and then a second location quietly multiplies a model nobody proved. You don't need another consultant with a deck — you need an operator who has lived the P&L and knows which number to move first.

What I help with

One partner. Every lever.

Grow the top lineTraffic & revenue
01Loyalty programs — build and run programs that actually bring guests back.
02Third-party delivery — tame the 3P channel: fees, menus, margins, and ops.
03Local store marketing — store-level LSM playbooks that drive real traffic.
04Menu & concept — engineering, costing, and positioning.
Protect the bottom lineMargin & finance
05Prime cost & unit economics — the number that decides everything.
06Labor & operations — productivity, systems, and SOPs that hold.
07Turnaround — stop the bleeding and restore the margin.
08Fractional CFO & cash flow — P&L, runway, and the KPI truth.
Run it betterModern edge
09AI & Claude Code — bring real AI into daily operations, and train your team to move faster.
10Lean & Six Sigma — engineer productivity: cut waste, tighten the line, raise throughput.
11Systems & enablement — the SOPs and training that make great execution repeatable.
The Diagnostic
Start here · 2–3 weeks
A teardown of your numbers and a prioritized 90-day roadmap. The fastest way to see where the money is.
Fractional CFO
Monthly retainer
An operator-CFO in your corner — P&L reviews, prime-cost and labor tracking, cash flow, and a KPI dashboard that tells the truth weekly.
Growth & Expansion
Project sprint
Loyalty, 3P, and LSM builds, or the model and investor materials to open the next unit or raise.
The bench behind me

One relationship. The whole team.

When a project needs more than me, I bring in a vetted network of specialist partners — so you get the right expert on the right problem without managing a stack of vendors yourself.

Catering IT & Systems HR & People Finance & Accounting Marketing
Models
Proprietary models for the biggest calls
Data-driven real estate and site-selection analysis — the decision that makes or breaks a new unit, run on models instead of gut.
Why me

I don't advise from the sidelines. I run a restaurant company.

Profitable
Led a multi-unit restaurant company through a turnaround to profitability.
$10M
Co-led a Series B — owned the financials, the model, and the data room.
Prime cost
Built the prime-cost, labor, loyalty, and LSM programs behind the growth.
20+ yrs
Two decades building and running restaurant companies — currently CEO of RASA.
Who it's for

From first units to multi-unit groups.

01Emerging brands finding their model. Get the economics sound before you scale it.
02Multi-unit groups protecting margin. Keep prime cost and labor in line as you grow.
03Operators chasing the top line. Loyalty, third-party, and local marketing that move traffic.
04Turnarounds that need a hand now. Stop the bleeding and rebuild the model.
How it works

Numbers first. Then a plan you can run.

STEP 01
Diagnostic
We start with the numbers. Two to three weeks, one honest picture of the model.
STEP 02
The plan
A prioritized 90-day roadmap — the few moves that actually change the P&L.
STEP 03
In your corner
Stay on as your operating partner, or run the plan yourself and check back in.
Who's behind it

Trey Moats

Trey Moats

"I build restaurant companies that grow — and make money doing it."

Founder, Prime & Proof. CEO of RASA. For 20+ years I've worked the operating and financial side of restaurants — the P&L, the prime cost, the cash flow, loyalty, third-party, local marketing, Lean and Six Sigma, and the fundraise — and lately, building AI into how I run it all. I led RASA through a turnaround to profitability and co-led its $10M Series B.

Prime & Proof is where I bring that full operator's toolkit to founders and operators — so they build on numbers that hold, grow the top line deliberately, and prove the model before they bet on the next location.

Let's get your numbers right.

Start with a diagnostic. In a few weeks you'll know exactly where your model stands — and what to do about it.

Book a diagnostic call

or email trey@primeandproof.com