Imagine Interviewing a Successful Entrepreneur

¶ … interview: Mr. X

When I interviewed Mr. X, the owner of high end-restaurants and a luxury boutique hotel, my first question was: "why did you decide to 'create your own job' in the hospitality industry, rather than work for someone else?" Mr. X stressed that hospitality was his passion from a young age. "I truly believe that the hospitality industry must be in 'your blood' to succeed. It is a difficult and competitive industry, and just about everyone I know who is ambitious and involved within it wants to work for him or herself. I wanted to put my own stamp on things. When I was working for other people I often felt frustrated when I knew that I could do something better, or had better ideas than my managers."

Opportunities do not create themselves; the entrepreneur has to love what he does enough to work 24-7 and to take a great risk to succeed. Mr. X began with opening up one restaurant, which led to opening up another restaurant -- and another after that, and finally a luxury boutique hotel. But without the willingness to leave his first job as a restaurant manager, that chain of events would not have been possible.

Mr. X stressed that having a good business plan is important, but it is also important to have a vision that drives you. "My vision was of a restaurant in which the customer was 'always right.'" All too often high-end restaurants will try to impose a vision of fine dining upon the diner, with fussy food and a rigid tasting menu. Mr. X's restaurants specialize in Turkish comfort food 'done well.' The atmospheres at the restaurants are relaxed, and when certain challenging or unusual dishes are the specials of the day, the wait staff is carefully instructed how to 'introduce' such meals to the diner and to educate eaters about proper wine pairings. Ultimately, people wish to enjoy their food, not be intimidated by it. That is why, said Mr. X, unlike trendy restaurants, his patrons almost always return -- for special occasions, or simply to enjoy a nice meal away from home and relax. The dining rooms are luxurious but not in a way to make diners feel out of place.

Mr. X began his first restaurant in collaboration with one of his brothers. Their father was in the restaurant business and owned a small, mainly lunch-and-breakfast business, so the brothers knew about the grueling hours required to open a fine dining establishment. Mr. X had worked as a manager of several restaurants beforehand, but even so he took months to 'study' the foods he wished to serve in the restaurant. The brothers dined out frequently, read cookbooks, and 'took notes' as they strove to create a business that would offer something unique to the customer. "If the product isn't good, it doesn't matter how good your business plan is," said Mr. X. The first restaurant was funded with some of the brothers' mutual savings, a bank loan, and some money from 'angel' investors.

After researching the market and potential competitors, the brothers decided to take a novel approach: offering more traditional dishes more often prepared in the home rather than at fancy restaurants and taking these staples to a 'new level.' These were the foods that had driven the brothers to develop a passion about food in the first place, and the brothers felt that customers were growing weary with overly pretentious and elaborate food. Initially, it was challenging to gain the attention of the food media, but word-of-mouth advertising from customers sustained interest during those early, critical years.

After several years of hard work, the restaurant established a loyal clientele and Mr. X began to expand. He opened another restaurant with a similar emphasis on fine dining. As well as collaborating with his brother on the first restaurant, he has also opened up several restaurants entirely on his own, and also owns a hotel with a restaurant attached. Mr. X says the reason for his financial success is his unswerving dedication to quality. The restaurants must not simply be 'good' or even 'better than the competition.' They must be continually improving. Mr. X says that one of his inspirations is the New York restaurant owner Danny Meyer. Although Meyer has many different restaurants, all of them are 'branded' with a strong service ethic. All of the wait staff and kitchen staff are hired based upon their attitudes, not simply upon their credentials on paper. At all of the restaurants, managers are required to have meetings with staff before every service to brief them on what is being served, how to serve it, and what questions and problems may arise. "I always hire for personality, and encourage my managers to do the same. You can teach someone skills, but you cannot teach them an attitude," said Mr. X.

The experience of Mr. X highlights a critical truth about beginning your own business: it is not enough to want to 'be successful.' You have to genuinely love what you do and believe you have something unique to offer the public. When Mr. X described what he did not like in a 'bad' restaurant, he said that he was offended by bad service and bad food. He did not glory in a competitor's folly. Mr. X entered the business because he believed he could do something well and could offer a type of 'product' or experience that was not currently accessible to customers. He wanted to show that 'comfort food' could find a home in a fine dining establishment. Mr. X was able to talk not just about the business side of the hospitality industry, but also about food quality, trends in the food world, and took the time to educate me about eating out in general as well as his specific establishments.