Lessons from my First Business Venture

At the age of 29, I left my high-tech job and bought a highly acclaimed restaurant with an old college friend. I learned four tough lessons from that endeavor that I bring to my practice and clients today.

Lesson 1 - Write Things Down

Before entering into any business partnership, it pays to discuss everything up front then write it all down. The best time to negotiate terms and responsibilities is when the relationship is hopeful, open and positive. When acrimony and distrust seep in, negotiation either stalls or is very painful. In this case, no one wins. It’s also important to find a partner that shares your values, but does not share your skills. If you want the same things, and your skills complement each other, the partnership has a good chance of working.

Lesson 2 – Do Your Homework

My restaurant was in a small mountain-side town. It was a beautiful place, with multi-million-dollar homes and some of the wealthiest people in the Bay Area. Even after the dot-com bust, there was still plenty of wealth there. Seems like the perfect place for a high-end French cuisine, right?  Wrong.

What I didn’t know is that these townsfolk didn’t like a lot of people crawling through their downtown.  Parking was limited, the road not heavily trafficked. Customers didn’t come into town on a whim, they made reservations. We had to become a destination. This does not happen overnight. And even though the former owner had achieved this, that reputation went with him. 

In hindsight, I would have spent every day for a week observing who and how many people went through town. I would have talked to local business owners about the business climate and probed deeper with the current owners about why they were selling. It would have either deterred me or prepared me for what was to come.

Lesson 3 – Be Flexible

Three months after opening, we weren’t going make payroll. Customers were happy, there just weren’t enough of them. By luck, we had our best month and steadily grew from there. But we never made enough to pay ourselves a decent salary. We tried very hard to stay true to our philosophies: fine food and great service in an intimate atmosphere. But we never fully evolved to be exactly what our customers needed us to be. 

I bragged to people that we had over 20 marriage proposals. It didn’t register what the customers were telling us. We positioned ourselves as a place to embark upon a culinary journey, when we should have positioned ourselves the place to go for a special night out.

I don’t advocate for changing philosophy casually, fancy French one day and tacos the next, but business isn’t about what you want, it’s about what customers want. See yourself through your customers’ eyes. 

Lesson 4 – Ask for Help & Enjoy the Little Things

Even though I had worked in many restaurants, I had never owned one. I struggled to learn how to market the business and become an expert in fine food and wine at the same time. I wasted a lot of time learning things that an expert could have taught me. 

The most vivid memory of this was an afternoon I spent with the owner of the most famous restaurant in town. He was semi-retired after running the business for 40 years. As we sat at his bar, I told him about a customer who ordered a $300 bottle of champagne then refused to pay because it wasn’t cold enough. Saying nothing, he strolled into the back room and returned with a bottle of Dom Perignon. As we drank, he told me that the party in the back had bought so many bottles they didn’t finish them all. I recalled my own private party the week before. The host wanted to impress with a Dom Perignon toast. Having a paltry three bottles, everyone toasted with a one-inch pour. I missed out on huge sale because I didn’t invest and prepare for the big win. He also taught me, without saying it, to enjoy the journey. If you own a fine dining restaurant, relish the spoils, otherwise you’ll have nothing to keep you going when the air-conditioner dies mid-dinner on a sweltering summer day.

At Rolando Locci Consultants, we have a passion for helping business owners achieve their ambitions. We’ve advised over 140 clients. Let’s talk about how we can bring our wealth of experience to your journey.