MONTREAL, QC / ACCESS Newswire / October 10, 2026 / A Common Assumption

Many restaurant and franchise operators wait until something breaks before they bring in outside advice. A franchisee base falls behind on payments. Margins slip. A concept stops opening new units. Only then does a call go out for help.

Michael Aronovici, President and sole owner of Interaction Restaurants Group, says that pattern misses most of the value an outside perspective can add.

"By the time a brand calls because something is wrong, the easier fixes are usually already gone," Aronovici said. "The groups that get the most out of this work are the ones who bring someone in while things are still going well."

Where Trouble Actually Starts

Aronovici has spent more than 30 years in the restaurant, retail and franchise sectors, building and selling brands including Pizza Hut locations in Quebec, the Cultures chain, Salisbury House in Winnipeg, and an Eastern Canada license for Starbucks Coffee. He also held development rights for P.F. Chang's in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

That path gave him a close view of what separates a brand that stays healthy from one that drifts into distress. He points out that the warning signs rarely show up first in the numbers.

"Margin problems and franchisee strain don't start the week you notice them," Aronovici said. "They start months or years earlier, in decisions about menu complexity, supply chain setup, or how fast a brand expands relative to what its systems can support."

What the Work Looks Like Before Trouble Hits

Over the past decade, Aronovici has provided strategic consulting services to leading U.S. and Canadian restaurant and investment groups. That work has covered expansion strategy, financing, menu repositioning, margin improvement, entry into packaged goods, supply chain optimization, market assessments and marketing effectiveness.

None of those areas require a brand to be in distress first. A healthy chain can still misjudge how a new market will respond to its concept. A profitable brand can still carry a supply chain built for a smaller footprint. A strong menu can still lose margin to ingredient costs that crept up over several years without a full review.

"A market assessment or a supply chain review isn't a sign something is broken," Aronovici said. "It's closer to the kind of check a business does on a normal schedule, the same way you'd review a lease before it auto-renews rather than after."

What Healthy Brands Tend to Ask For

Aronovici said the requests from stable, growing groups look different from the ones that come out of a crisis. A brand that is doing well tends to ask about where its next units should go, whether its supply chain can support the next phase of growth, or whether its marketing spend is still earning its return as the brand gets bigger.

A brand under pressure, by contrast, is usually trying to solve a problem that has already affected its franchisee base or its cash position.

"The questions are different, and so is the range of options," Aronovici said. "When a brand calls early, almost everything is still on the table. Financing structure, menu changes, market entry, all of it. When a brand calls late, some of those paths are already closed."

Who This Is For

Aronovici said the groups he works with most are not always the ones facing a visible problem. Many are brands that are expanding, entering new markets, or looking at a packaged goods line, and want a outside view before they commit capital.

"The brands I've built and sold were strongest when I was paying attention to the small decisions all along, not just reacting once something went wrong," Aronovici said. "That's the same advice I give the groups I work with now."

About Michael Aronovici

Michael Aronovici is President and sole owner of Interaction Restaurants Group, a consulting, management and holding company based in Montreal, Quebec. He has more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant, retail and franchise sectors, having built and sold brands including Pizza Hut locations in Quebec, the Cultures chain, Salisbury House and an Eastern Canada Starbucks Coffee license. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Great Distinction) from McGill University and a CPA designation, and served 14 years on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, including a term as Chairman.

Media Contact
Michael Aronovici
Info@michael-aronovici.com

SOURCE: Michael Aronovici