It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go on

In this industry, lots of us dream of having our own outlet, some place as unique as we are talented. What is seldom taught, is what an individual must do to make their business ownership dreams come true. Culinary school focuses you for production work, and sometimes for artistic work, with food. It can take you down the nutritional information highway, the chemical action, the application of different heat sources, all the applied science of food.

Colleges will teach accounting but not often teach entrepreneurship, how to get licensed, deal with inspections, picking a great location, managing all the in's and out's of a business, how to find startup funding, and the like. So many many times, there are business partners needed for a chef to have a good place to launch their restaurant. Often times, family members will steak their savings or collateral to have funding enough to open a business, and it doesn't always work out.
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No one person is a master of all the disciplines needed for a successful operation. It can take two, or three, or more to help steer the ship and avoid the icebergs. A startup business can take a lot of capitol to get started and with the 60% failure rate of all food related business within the first year, it can be very difficult to accrue capitol to work with when starting out. And besides, no chef really wants to be tied to a desk, dealing only with orders and payroll, and typically that is a waste of talent that could be working on the plates instead of the books.

If you grew up like I did, from a middle class working home, then you may have a similar experience of having few relatives that understand your goals of business ownership. It isn't that they don't want you to succeed, it often is just not a path they understand or they would rather see you on a 'safe' path to wealth. Unfortunately, there are no safe paths anymore. So I am of the mind that, if you are going to work, you can either work and make someone else rich or you can take the risk to make yourself rich.

Funding is a interesting topic that many people are nervous to speak about, I think it's because not enough of us understand it. Macro and micro economics can be hard to manage, and those who have figured out how to use it productively are not giving their secrets away. "Just buy my new book" or "Sign up for my new seminar". People are willing to pay for advise with money and can often take differing approaches much like a fad diet habit.

Here's the real scoop. Any successful organization is created by putting the best person in charge of one or more aspects of the business. Even the President of the U.S. has a trusted cabinet to support his efforts. A good chef should both know their strengths and weaknesses. Our industry is filled with managers who have never been a chef and chefs who have never run an office. If you don't fully understand what the people you are managing do, need to do, and what it takes to do what you are requesting, is a no-win situation. The reverse is also true, if a chef doesn't understand how to manage a kitchen, invoicing, purchasing, P&L, and human resources issues.

Dream big but understand even the best of us cannot go it alone. Knowing where in the organization you contribute the best can save you effort, time, and money. Find a great business partner before opening or even planning to open a food business. Team work, a realistic budget, designing phases of growth, adopting to the customer needs, i.e. sound business practices makes all the difference in the world.