- INITIAL INVESTMENT:
$1 for the lease, lots of sleepless nights and the willingness to take over and
convert an existing business that was losing $200,000 a year.
- BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED:
Surround yourself with good people. I enjoy reading biographies of successful
people and learning about successful companies. One of the common threads of their success always seems to be their
ability and willingness to surround themselves with talent.
- WORST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED:
I never ask for advice but that can be a weakness too.
- HOW I FIND AND KEEP GOOD EMPLOYEES:
We manage our crews more like a big family than a company. Our style has its
risks and sometimes it's a little harder to do but I think it ends up with our people making an emotional investment
In their work. Our managers view their role as coach and mentor as opposed to being the boss. It also helps us
to remember that our staff is mostly pretty young and keeping it loose and having fun is important.
- IF I COULD DO ANYTHING OVER AGAIN I WOULD:
Probably invest much less money in the remodeling of CHOPS in the fall of 1996.
If I would have toned it down a bit we might have opened restaurant No. 3 by now. We got carried away and did more
of a reinventlon of CHOPS. But it did turn out great and really positioned us well for the years ahead.
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- HOW I ATTRACT GOOD CUSTOMERS:
For years, we did almost no marketing. We are somewhat lucky because people will
always experiment and at least try a restaurant. Our plan from the very beginning was to focus on the people already
in our dining room and not worry about those who didn't know about us.
- MY BEST BUSINESS DECISION:
Bringing Mary Coultrap on as my business partner.
- MY WORST BUSINESS DECISION:
It would have to be the management team we fielded at CHOPS the year we opened
up RigaTony's. It was not only a new restaurant, but a new concept, and it took a tremendous amount of time and
attention from both Mary and me. We took some chances by leaving the operation of CHOPS to a relatively new management
team. CHOPS started to have problems right away, but in our distracted state, It took us about three months to
admit we made a mistake and to make the right decisions. It also took about six months to repair the damage.
- BUSINESS OWNERS WEAR MANY HATS. MY LEAST FAVORITE IS:
Financier. I admit that I hate dealing with banks. They are, more than ever,
impersonal, fickle and formula oriented. The process of raising money today is a humiliating and frustrating experience
for small business.
- IN FIVE YEARS, I WANT TO BE:
Bigger, but not a lot bigger. I want to provide an opportunity for growth for
the people who have been with me throughout the years. At the same time, I want to retain our small company culture
and individuality.
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