Stop it.
Stop telling yourself these things.
I hear people say this to me all the time.
And whereas I know that most are kidding, and that there ARE plenty of you out there that are capable of doing it if you really want to, the fact is that this is a helluva business to be in.
And if you’ve been receiving my emails from Mr. Friendly’s and Solstice over the years, you’ve probably seen my own “ups and downs” within the text of my weekly banter.
But I live and die this stuff. Oh yes…I am obsessed with it to a degree.
But if I wasn’t obsessed with it, the restaurants WOULD NOT be as consistent as they are.
I don’t think that the restaurants that I own are the best. I can’t afford to believe that.
But I do know that we do things right. We treat people well (unless you are “that guy/gal”). And that goes for customers AND employees.
But it’s not just me who makes our places tick. Of course not.
It’s “us”.
And unless you are one of “us”, you have no business even thinking about owning a restaurant. Seriously, you are wasting your time if you are not one of “us”.
And what does it mean to be one of “us”? How do you know if you are? Well I can’t really tell you that without revealing incriminating some of my colleagues, but I can tell you a few ways that you know you AREN’T cut out for this biz.
So here I go with TEN WAYS TO KNOW YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS OPENING A RESTAURANT (and i mean a good one!)
1. You are a picky eater. Done. end of story. game over. you have no chance.
2. You are afraid of germs. nope. not for you.
3. You think that you “deserve” the weekends off. shut it. you don’t.
4. You think you have “the right people” to run the restaurant/s for you when you open. one or two “right” people? maybe. more than that. u crazy
5. You have convinced yourself that you can charge MORE than your competitors because your food is that good. you are not, no matter what you might think, the greatest Chef in the world. if you were, you’d already have a restaurant by now!
6. You have convinced yourself that you can buy the same goods as your competitors, but sell it for much less. wrong again. no one will trust your 2.99 burger, fries and glass of wine
7. You’ve told yourself “i could run a restaurant” while dining somewhere that it took 45 minutes for you to get your appetizer.
8. You believe in stealing employees from your competitors by making them empty promises where money and job security is/are concerned. word travels fast with these folks.
9. You think that the secret to making money in the restaurant business lies in having a good accountant. “Ha!” is what a good accountant will tell you!
10. You just want to “get out of the house” a little more!
I could go on forever, but I just started typing and that’s what came out.
Talk to you again soon.
And NO, i don’t want to open a restaurant with you!
