Supported by Greenhaven Road Capital, finding value off the beaten path.
Restaurants are terrible businesses but in the spirit of inversion we can learn from anyone. Lately, a quote from Barry Ritholtz’s podcast with Cal Turner Jr. has bounced around my head:
“Luther Turner, my papa, was wonderful. He only had a third-grade education. He was the head of the family after his father was killed and he had to make it all work at age eleven. What Luther had going for him, was that he assumed that everybody he met was smarter and that he should learn something from everybody he met.”
Sometimes we’re persuaded, sometimes we’re dissuaded.
No one should be persuaded to open a restaurant.
But I wrote an ebook about restaurants anyway. It’s $3.
Summarized it’s this:
Successful businesses serve customers to create sustainable profits. That starts with ‘that’s interesting’ moments which lead to the genesis of an idea. Under a low overhead, entrepreneurs then hire for their weaknesses and create teams that search for a market niche by talking to their customers.
That’s it.
In his book, Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain titles one chapter, “Owner’s syndrome and other medical anomalies.” One duo hired Bourdain, because “As this (off-Broadway shows) apparently, wasn’t unprofitable enough, they’d chosen the restaurant business as a way to lose their money more quickly and assuredly.”
Other reasons not to start a restaurant include ego, thesis creep, and food lovers. Bar owners who want to be restauranteurs should instead open a second bar. “Bar biz is good biz,” Bourdain notes.
…
If you like this blog it’s for you.
It’s also in podcast form: iTunes, Overcast, or Soundcloud.
The Waiter's Pad 
where was this book ten years ago?
Tim timhofmann.org
On Thu, Mar 21, 2019 at 11:01 AM The Waiter’s Pad wrote:
> MIKE posted: “Supported by Greenhaven Road Capital, finding value off the > beaten path. Restaurants are terrible businesses but in the spirit of > inversion we can learn from anyone. Lately, a quote from Barry Ritholtz’s > podcast with Cal Turner Jr. has bounced around my ” >
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