ORLEANS, ON / ACCESS Newswire / October 23, 2025 / Andrew Scott never expected to become a business coach. Back in 2007, when he opened his first Pita Pit location in Ottawa, he was just trying to survive - literally. Working 80+ hours weekly with no days off, he gained 100 pounds and ended up in what he calls "a dark place emotionally." The restaurant was losing money despite his relentless schedule.

That near-breaking point turned into the foundation for OwnerShift Training, a coaching company that's now helped hundreds of restaurant owners across four countries. And this month, Scott launched the Restaurant Growth Accelerator podcast to reach even more struggling owners who, like his past self, think working harder is the only solution.

The Breaking Point That Changed Everything

What's striking about Scott is how openly he talks about his failures. Most successful entrepreneurs gloss over the ugly parts. Not him.

"I gained 100 lbs because I focused only on work," Scott said in a recent interview. "I ended up in a dark place emotionally. But then I figured out how to run a restaurant properly."

That turnaround - from one failing location to four profitable units - didn't happen overnight. It took years of systematically rebuilding everything: training programs, financial routines, marketing approaches, hiring processes. The thing is, Scott realized the problems plaguing his restaurants were the same issues keeping most restaurant owners trapped in 60+ hour workweeks with barely any profit to show for it.

Research from Apollo Technical shows that food and restaurant businesses represent 12% of new small businesses in the US, making it one of the most popular entrepreneurial paths. But it's also one of the hardest - studies indicate that about 50% of restaurants close within five years.

Scott beat those odds. Then in 2016, after growing to four locations, he started noticing something. Other Pita Pit franchisees were still struggling with the exact same problems he'd overcome.

From Franchise Success to Helping Others

Here's where it gets personal for Scott. He wasn't just watching fellow owners struggle from afar - he'd been exactly where they were. Every problem they faced, he'd already lived through.

"Most restaurant owners work 60+ hours per week and barely make any money and end up sacrificing their family life and relationships," Scott explains. "That was me for many years. So my goal is to help other restaurant owners not have to go through the same struggles that I did."

In 2018, he officially launched OwnerShift Training in Ottawa. The business model was different from typical restaurant consulting. Scott's team consists of seasoned restaurant owners and high-level regional managers - people who've actually run restaurants, not just studied them. They coach clients primarily in the US and Canada, though they've expanded to the UK and Australia.

The company's approach focuses on three things: increasing sales, adding profit to the bottom line, and giving owners freedom to spend time with family. It sounds like a pipe dream for many restaurant owners, but Scott brings something different. He has proof it worked - his own transformation from burnout to profitable multi-unit operator.

The Podcast Launch and What's Next

The Restaurant Growth Accelerator podcast represents Scott's latest effort to reach restaurant owners who need help but might be skeptical about coaching. Restaurant owners are naturally skeptical, he points out. They've heard it all before.

The podcast gives him a platform to share practical systems and frameworks direct to restaurant owners. It's free information that restaurant owners can implement immediately. And according to Scott, it's working - people are making changes quickly and seeing the results. There are emails every week and the viewership keeps going up.

Scott's background gives him credibility that most consultants can't match. He's won multiple awards: Top 40 Under 40, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Employer of the Year. He served as Chair of the Orleans Chamber of Commerce and oversaw a successful three-way merger that created the Ottawa Board of Trade. He was also on Pita Pit's Marketing Advisory Council and chaired the Franchise Advisory Council.

Those accolades matter less than his lived experience though. When I asked him what sets OwnerShift apart, his answer was immediate: "I've been exactly where the people that I help have been. My whole goal here is that they don't have to go through the same struggles that I went through."

The Bigger Vision

Scott's long-term goal is ambitious - maybe unrealistically so. He wants to change the entire landscape of the restaurant industry by "creating an industry that works for restaurant owners."

That's a big statement. Restaurant industry data shows that about 51% of restaurants survive past five years, with many of the successful ones barely profitable. The industry has notoriously thin margins, brutal hours, and high stress.

But Scott believes all restaurant owners can be successful, have freedom to live life fully, and make an incredible living - all at the same time. Whether that's achievable for everyone is debatable. What's not debatable is that Scott himself achieved it, and he's now replicating those results with clients.

You get the sense that this is deeply personal for him. It's not just about revenue numbers or scaling a coaching business (he specifically avoids that term, actually - restaurant owners don't think in those terms). It's about making sure other owners don't have to sacrifice their health, relationships, and sanity the way he did for years.

The podcast launch is just another tool in that mission. Scott's betting that sharing hard-won lessons through free content will help more owners than traditional consulting ever could. Time will tell if he's right. But given that he turned his own failing restaurant into four successful locations, then built a coaching business that's helped hundreds more, the odds seem pretty good.

About OwnerShift

OwnerShift helps restaurant owners increase their sales, add more profit to their bottom line and have more freedom so they can spend more time with their family. Founded in 2018 in Ottawa, Ontario, the company has a team of seasoned restaurant owners and high level regional managers located in the US and Canada.

Media Contact:

Andrew Scott
1543 Burningtree Court
Orleans, ON, K1C 5C8
www.ownershifttraining.com
andrew@ownershifttraining.com

SOURCE: Andrew Scott