Restaurant Myth #8- Just Because You Work in a Restaurant Doesn’t Mean You Should Own One
Now, my husband/business partner and I both worked in restaurants before owning one. So before I get a deluge of emails and comments that this myth is a bunch of bogus let me explain. Working in a restaurant before owning one is preferable in this industry. It is the only way to really understand how a restaurant operates, in both the front and back of the house. But just because you have worked in a restaurant doesn’t mean you are ready to own one. Being an employee is very different than being an employer.
As an employee, you can go home after your shift and not worry about how the restaurant is going to make its rent. Or how your going to pay the electric bill if you have another slow weekend. You aren’t thinking of ways to trim labor costs or improve the menu. Owning a restaurant is a 24/7 job. It never goes away. It is always with you. Whether you want it there or not.
If you recall Restaurant Myth #7, people with no experience in the restaurant biz should not open a restaurant, you are probably wondering “So who should open a restaurant?” Well, I'll tell you who I think make the best restaurant owners. People with who are tenacious. People who don’t give up, even when common sense is screaming at them to do so. People who really believe that they can be a success. People who are Patient. Because, despite stories on the Food Network, success does not come overnight in this business, if it comes at all.
My husband and I used to make fun our boss and his wife who owned the restaurant where we worked during college. We used to joke about how cheap they were, and how they didn’t know what they were doing. How they always screwed up the schedule. Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah. I’m sure every restaurant employee has the same story. Now I look at that couple with absolute reverence. They have been in business for over 25 years. Their restaurant is an institution in our little Maine town. While they may have had some bumps along the way, they persevered and succeeded. It doesn’t get much better than that, in my opinion.
I know there are a number of people on my staff that would jump at the chance to open their own restaurant. I also know that they think my husband/business partner and I are bumbling idiots at times, but that's okay. Because I hope that eventually some of them can own their own restaurant and look back at us with the same respect we give our old bosses.
You seem to be very negative about owning a restaurant.
Might I suggest that someone who has successfully opened multiple restaurants, put in place the right management team and now just sits back collecting annual dividends might be a better expert to impart advice then someone who clearly thinks running a restaurant is so hard?
There are thousands of people like that around the world. They work ‘on’ the business not ‘in’ the business and love what they do.
I am one of them (and I never worked in a restaurant before I set up my first one).
Thanks for the feedback Bob. Considering 59% of all new restaurants in the US fail within three years, I think it is important to be realistic about what is like to own a restaurant. While you may be fortunate to have such a good experience, others are not so lucky. If you have some advice you would like to offer, gleaned from your own experience, we would love to hear it! I love hearing from other restaurant people who have a success story to share.
Bob you are right if all you are looking for is a financial investment. There is no heart or life in the type of business you are describing. Sounds like QSR,(quick service restaurants) they can be profitable if you have several in place but are merely a business investment. They have very little to do with real food or the personality that goes with making good memories for people. I would stick to what you know, or in this case don’t know.