is it wrong to like working for the man. to not want to go into business yourself. To not worry about liability, insurance, workman comp, taxes, employees.
a friend wants me to quit work and open a BBQ hut in a town 45 miles away, that has a population of 1500 people. The number doesnt work for me. I dont see how anybody can make money with out selling $10,000 a week on a population of 1500
Replies
There's nothing wrong with either. Everyone's got a different personality, and different drives and desires.
I worked for my dad for almost 18 years. When he retired, I took over the business. After about 10 years, and a couple of setbacks, I closed the business, and went to work for my local lumber yard. But even tho a weekly paycheck, and benefits, were very nice, after just a few months I was going crazy.
Soafter just 7 months of working for someone else, I went back out on my own, and I've been very happy. And my customers were extatic to have me back.
My wife still misses the steady paycheck, tho. <G>
My point is you have to find what works for you or your friend. No one else can make that decision.
first... you can't make BBQ unless you learn to in MEMPHIS.... second... there is alot of money in the food service business and most of itis mine... i've had more resturants, cafe's and bars than than i like to remember... i have never worked harder & more for less.... I still have at least 30,000sf of equipment for any type place you ever want to open... I did do ok building them for others... and i don't know that any i built are still open...
i know as many people who got rich working for others as i do that got rich on their own.. but i only know 3 that did it one food&drinks and all were geared to tourist...
with only the facts you presented... hell no
p
I agree, memphis is BBQ, chicago is pizza, new orleans is gumbo.I dont anything about business, resturants, or employees. I am not a people person.
oh yeah... a buddy of mine (tony) has a locked up cafe' coffee house... his sister use to run... his Father in law asked to take it over... tony told him... give me 100k and let me kick you in the (sounds like walls with a b) and it'll be faster and less painful than you getting that place...
p
"I am not a people person."That's what your Ready-Mix drivers all tell me!, LOL
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Sorry sir, the best BBQ is in South Carolina, down in the low country. Vinegar based sauce and delicious
Manning, SC just stop anywhere and ask, where is that BBQ place. Don't remember the name but worth the trip.
I saw a restaurant is doing well in Denver
All they serve is home made burritos to go
The building was small and plain
They had minimal equipment
But the burritos were really good and they had a lot of business
Just the two owners and no employees
You make more money working for the man, unless you create a "real" business.
That doesn't sound like a good business opportunity. Ask your friend to show you the formal business plan.
Johnnie, 12 (at least) hours a day 6 or 7 days a week.
Do you want to be in charge of hiring those morons who can't get a job as Wallys?
do you want to be the guy who's behind the counter when 2 or 3 of your moron employees don't show up for work?
Do you like meeting people? Do you like meeting Aholzs who are on the other side of the counter?
Reading your posts for the last 8 (at least) years, you don't strike me as the guy who is going to put up with ANY of the #### that goes along with running a resturant. None, zero, nada.
Take the money and throw it in the bayou, or burn it, or better yet send half to me and I'll buy Coronas.
Joe H
Your friend a female who lives in that area?
Just asking.
Your friend a female who lives in that area?how you guess?
Wisdom earned through the years. Ask her how much she is putting into the venture and then the next time you go out together point out that if you start the business you won't have money, time or energy to pay.
Have her pay for that night out as a small lesson in what the future will be like. I suspect she will drop the idea.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Hot Dog! You are getting more insightful than me!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
is it wrong to like working for the man.
No. Not at all.
edit: And dry rub BBQ is best, IMHO.
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Edited 9/6/2008 9:51 pm ET by seeyou
I love working for the man. Let him sweat over my next paycheck. All I have to do is work. And I get paid for every minute I'm doing it. I'm not looking to be self employed anytime soon.
And in a town of 1,500 the only way your going to do good is if you sell drugs out of the back of it. And we've all watched enough movies to know how that always turns out. Bo Svenson or Chuck Norris is bound to show up sooner or later and beat you up. Either with a boot or a stick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sbqIyeed4g&feature=related
Edited 9/6/2008 10:49 pm ET by Gunner
Statistic: 80% of all new restaurant ventures go bankrupt in less than a year.
Stress levels: Getting thru the dinner shift on a big Friday or Saturday night makes doing a complex monolithic pour look like a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. (Getting through same a couple of employees short makes a form blow-out seem like a minor inconvenience....)
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
A cook friend of mine explained it all very well. He said "creating a good meal is easy, doing it 100 times a night night is hard. Very hard..."
Stress levels: Getting thru the dinner shift on a big Friday or Saturday night makes doing a complex monolithic pour look like a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. (Getting through same a couple of employees short makes a form blow-out seem like a minor inconvenience....)
you know... on a first of the month firday or saturday night... i had an open pit steak place would seat 340... and we'd turn it 3x so... over 1000 meals served... it was on those nights everything flowed ... worn out at the end of it... but everyone was happy everyone made money... and it was like a dance... it was on the slower 200-300 meal nights that things always seemed to screw up...
p
keeping people busy to slighlty overloaded keeps them on top of their game. Too many people to do the job and every gets lax.
and we'd turn it 3x so... over 1000 meals served... it was on those nights everything flowed ... worn out at the end of it... but everyone was happy everyone made money...
Yep, that can happen. Just like the those monster pours when the trucks never stop coming in all day long and the pump keeps pumping and the hopper keeps going up and coming back for more 'crete and everything just keeps on working....
But all those other nights--when the dishwasher didn't show at 3pm to clean up last nights mess; the wholesaler shorted you three cases of romain and forgot the case of heavy cream entirely; the main reefer dies on ya; the cook doing entrées slices his finger half off; a customer pukes in the dining room; the head waitress gets in a shouting match with the new cook....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I think what that guys are saying is. There's a lot of suck to embrace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sbqIyeed4g&feature=related
yeah those are all fun times.... at one point i had one place that was an upper end pub/bar but with a full kitchen 2 bars and an oyster bar... down on the river... we did a heck of a lunch... a good happy hour and live music on the weekends... we started lunch prep @ about 9am and closed on weekends @3am...
then i had the steak place that was dinner only... we started prep at about 3pm and usually were out of there by midnight... so i could leave one go to the other stay & close then get back to the other to stay til close... both were closed on sunday...
but i was young when i built them... like 22 when i opened the first one... had alot of young pretty people working... this was when there were no STDs that would kill you... and most that worked in the food service biz at the time would have known if there were...
i had fun... but i didn't make any money
p
I have done just about every job there is to do in the restaurant business at one time or another, except maybe buss-boy. I missed that one somehow, LOL.
They're all hard jobs, but the only people who make any real dough are the waiters. Cooks are seriously underpaid.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
"They're all hard jobs, but the only people who make any real dough are the waiters. Cooks are seriously underpaid."
Every restaurant that I worked in, the cooks were very well paid. (Can't say the same about dishwashers) That, and the waitstaff were recommended (required) to tip the cooks every shift. Bartenders, as well. Have seen several actually fired for not tipping.If you don't tip the cooks/bartender as much as THEY think you should, well, they are in a position to make your life miserable as a server (therefore, affecting how much tip you get from your customers).
Also, I am not sure if it is the same in Canada, but here in the US the IRS decided to clamp down on the tipping issue about 12 or so years ago. Servers must pay taxes on their SALES whether or not they get tipped and how much they tip the kitchen.
As I understood it, restaurants were watched by IRS to ensure sales = amount of tip reporting. If it didn't jive, the restaurant itself was pressured to make up the difference.
Hey, I should re-post this in that other thread...
"Everyday we learn something new. Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. It doesn't have to be an "A" the next day, but let's hope it improves." 08/27/08
Matt Garcia 1986-2008 22 yo Fairfield City Council Member, shot 09/01/08 RIP
Years ago I worked as a waiter for one winter in a hotel dining room; nobody told me about tipping the cooks so I didn't. My orders came out last, every bleedin' shift. I learned quick, tho.
And I thought it would be that way when I finally got into the kitchen, where I much preferred to be. But the fancy Italian place I cooked in for a summer was pretty much run by the waiters and waitresses. None of them tipped us a cent...and if a cook so much as looked like he was gonna argue with a waiter that cook'd be outta there before the shift was over. What a shock that was.
We were considered disposable. The menu was long and looked complex, but there was nothing on it any half-decent hash-slinger couldn't learn to prepare in about 2 minutes flat. The sous-chef was the only essential cook; she was the one who made all the sauces and soups and so forth from scratch in the mornings. She rarely worked a meal shift (she actually wasn't fast enough) and was usually gone before lunch. I only met her once; I worked supper shift.
Most of the cooks also got only about a half a buck or a buck over minimum wage. But we could eat anything on the menu for free (except the veal).
The waiters and waitresses got $2.50 less than minimum wage...but raked in $150-200 per nite in tips. They had to pay 50% for meals...but they got to take home unfinished bottles of wine customers left on the tables....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
My wife was a hostess in a nice place. The wait staff was supposed to tip her and the bus boys a percentage of there tips. They hid there tips so they did not have to give there percentage. I made her quit after finding out this went on and on. pretty low
I've been in and out of numerous small businesses, worked many hourly wage jobs, and spent a bit of time in food services too.
Sounds to me like we should all meet at the Rendezvous in Memphis and discuss it at length.
Personally, I really enjoy running my own small construction related businesses, working with a few skilled people to achieve high quality and high volume. Teaching a new guy the trade has its rewards too.
Being on your own doesn't have the financial certainty of a good high wage job but it does awaken your mind and make life more vital and immediate. The satisfaction from a job well done is greater too.
I've also worked as a union carpenter, just because at times it paid better and was more secure in the rural area where I live in NY state. But my personality didn't fit very well in that environment.
As others have mentioned, the restaurant business is about as predictable as the weather and as toublesome too.
All and all, if I would have found a good paying secure job, doing something I enjoyed, working for company which valued my work and respected me for it, I'd have probably stayed with that.
In today's uncertain economy, I'd be holding on to that kind of job, real tight.
Edited 9/7/2008 3:03 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
I agree with Hudson as its nice to work for yourself but also nice to have a stable paycheck that doesn't depend on the weather or subs or customers, etc.
If I had the opportunity to "invest" in the restaurant biz, I would but just as a part time gig or silent partner. I wouldn't give up my primary job to dive into it full time. Hire someone to manage it, and if it works fine, jump in...if not you still have something to go back to.
there's nothing wrong working for the man if you enjoy. Not everyone is cut out for indie business. I sue dot used to enjoy it quite a bit until the environemnt changed significantly.
I sue dot used to enjoy it quite a bit until the environemnt changed significantly. could we rewrite this sentence please.
I don't know what the he!! happens when I post from the lap top. Here it is again...
I used to enjoy working for 'the man' in a big company (1 time had 76,000 employees) until I got bored and the work environment changed significantly.
and to add:
I think Dovetail picked it out pretty good. Your proposing business partner is looking for someone to share the risk or to take all of the risk. Long time ago when I first started thinking of business on my own I was talking about getting a partner. I was asked by someone very experienced in business, "Why do you need a partner?" Why do you need a partner? Why do you need a partner? He drove me think about what value I was looking for in a partner and why I was wanting one and I know now that I don't need anyone to share the profits with or to create extra headaches. If I'm going to run a businees, I'll do it myself. You ought to do the same if you want to start your own business.
And for starting a business, do something you know. I think you're like me and don't know beans about the restaraunt field.
I say go for it. Call it BBBBQ.
Watch BBC America for kitchen nightmares to get an insight of what to do right, it can be done but like all things easy to get wrong!!
I know only one thing about the business of food service (other than eating at many establishments, but that makes me an expert just liking living in a house makes anyone a builder) and that is that a company we did a commercial build out for in late'05/early'06 was done for by summer of '07. I think they might have been closed a few months before, but I don't drive by there that much. Good thing we got paid.
Oh, BTW- what's your opinion concrete laborers? I'm thinking that restaurant workers are the guys who couldn't get a job on a concrete crew.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
"I'm thinking that restaurant workers are the guys who couldn't get a job on a concrete crew."Ouch!And he isn't even talking sit-down restaurant!, Just take out.I know that I used to eat out almost all the time at one joint before I got married. The lady who owned it was great, and two of her daughters shared in running it and waiting tables. They also hired local girls for wait staff in the busy summer season.But most of the kitchen staff was a series of losers - to the point that she regularly had the cops run a NCIC check the day they showed up from the agency.One stepson wanted to be a chef and went to school for that, then worked a lot of cookeries from coast to coast, including Wolfgang Putz and private chef for John Travolta, and another private stint. He has an uncle who has gone the round too.I think they would agree with your comment. One is now a happy landscaper and the other an unhappy painter. There are sure a lot more variables in serving food to the public than in making a concrete pour go well
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Not everyone has the entrepreneurial spirit! You gotta do it the way it makes you feel right.
But just think - you might increase your odds of getting that cheeseburger done the way you like it!
;)
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Through high school i worked full time nights in restaurants.
i was a dishwasher at first then became a line cook and assistant chef.
never again everyone's to emotional.
i would go back to roofing first before going into a restaurant