Hey guys, my name is Wilson.
Today I'm going to share with you a story, a story of how I get tons of people asking
me how do they start their restaurant?
And throughout the hundreds of emails that I've received, I've finalized the top four
reasons why someone should not jump into the restaurant business because they're basically
setting themselves up for failure.
So many of us see opportunity in restaurant because of the fact that we can visually see
it.
We can see that there are tons of lineup.
We can see opportunities, we can see that we can do something about it, which is a reason
why so many people jump into food and beverage as their first try for business.
And when that's the case, that's the reason why more than 80% of food and beverage fail
within the first year.
Today, I'm going to be sharing with you that the four traits that if you fall into any
of these four traits, you better either tweak that and change that mentality or you may
want to consider other business modules.
Without further ado, let's dive right in.
The number one mindset that you shouldn't have if you want to start a successful restaurant
is to get rich quick.
So many people ask me how do I make my money back within the first year?
How do I make my money back within the first two years?
I'm telling you that if you want to get rich quick, this is not a model for you because
we're the food and beverage initially.
We're talking about anywhere from 5% to 15% margins.
And what that means is that it takes a few years before you can recoup your investment
and before you can start being profitable.
Food and beverage industry is all about a volume gain.
The more people you serve, the more volume you get, and the more profitable you become.
And it takes a lot of time to build this loyal base of customers.
So if you're in the mindset of wanting to create something that gets you rich real quick,
unfortunately food and beverage models are not for you.
So on the other hand, if you want to create something that gives you longevity, something
that has a little bit more stable and something that you can serve to the world, food and
beverage restaurant may be something you want to consider.
The second mindset that you cannot have if you want to start a successful restaurant
is not passionate about customer service.
What I mean by that is if you don't like customer interaction, if you don't like serving people,
unfortunately the food and beverage restaurant is not for you.
Why is that the case?
It is because on a day to day basis, unfortunately the nature of what we do is customer service.
We need to make our customers feel at home.
This is something that they feel comfortable around, they feel included, they feel belonged,
and when they're able to feel belonged, that's when you have a loyal customer.
And when you have a loyal customers, you don't need to worry about your competitors.
This is how customers, and this is how the restaurants become successful.
It is through one customer at a time, building that loyal customer one at a time.
So if you don't like dealing with negative people, if you don't like dealing with people,
that gives you nonsense, unfortunately in the food and beverage world, can we have a
lot of people like that.
So you need to be super, super passionate about customer service and understanding that
this is the essence and is critical for your success when it comes to food and beverage
restaurant.
So if you do have passion about customer service or if you do not have the kind of passion
about customer service, you should really reconsider whether food and beverage restaurant
and this industry is for you or not.
For example, there's this one restaurant I'm always go to for the last five years.
They don't serve the best food, nor are they the cheapest.
The only reason why is because they always address me by the first name, because they
care about me.
And because I feel belonged.
I talk with the restaurant owner on a regular basis and he shares with me about his philosophy
in running his business is to always make sure that they serve the customers right because
they deserve to be served right.
They paid for that experience and it is his mission to make sure that everyone that comes
into a restaurant, whether they like it or not, they get the best customer service ever.
And by doing that I can see that passion in his eyes and that's part of the reason why
he is super successful and that's why they have lined up out the door all the time.
And majority of these people are loyal customers, repeat customers and that's exactly what you
want when you're in the food and beverage world.
The third mindset that you cannot have if you want to be in this restaurant world is
working long hours.
What I mean by that is you need to be ready to work those 10, 15 hour days in your food
and beverage restaurant.
It is because that's just the nature of this business.
If you are wanting that 9:00 to 5:00 mentality, if you think that you're off just after eight
hours, unfortunately this is not a model for you.
If you're looking for that passive income, passive investment, this is not for you because
in the food and beverage world you are always in, putting out fires, machine malfunction,
customer problems, HR problem, training problem, marketing problems.
All these problems always comes back down to shoulders, which is a reason why you need
to be able to build a team, a team of all star people who can take care of these things
for you, people who care about your business, people who have common sense.
This takes months, if not years, to create.
It takes a lot of passion and it takes a lot of time to nurture this group of people so
then that way you can actually build a well oiled machine that can run by itself so that
way you can take care of the people you love.
All this takes the times of time.
So if you're looking for that quick buck, if you're looking for something that's a 9:00
to 5:00, if you're looking for that passive income, unfortunately food and beverage model
is not for you.
The fourth mindset that you cannot have if you want to build a successful restaurant
business is not listening.
What I mean by that is this is very different from the second point of customer service.
Not listening, not wanting to interact with people takes your eyes and ears away from
the front lines.
And what I mean by that is if you're not willing to listen to what your customers have to say,
you cannot understand and know where to improve your offerings, whether it be the quality
of your products or whether it be the service or whether it be the ambiance or whether it
be any other touch points that your customers are experiencing and they want to express
that.
If you're not willing to listen, and if you're not willing to investigate and understand
how your customers feedbacks are, you would not know what levers to pull.
You will not know how to improve.
And if you're not improving, unfortunately in the food and beverage world, then you are
on the decline.
And that new restaurant, that a new competitor would come around the block and they would
replace you.
The would steal your loyal followings from you.
Another point is if you don't communicate, and if you don't listen, if you don't ask,
if you don't talk to your customers, you would never be able to build that loyal fan base.
They will feel as belonged.
They won't feel that they know the restaurant owner.
They won't feel that they are inclusive into this community.
So if you want to build a successful restaurant, you've got to listen.
You've got to interact with your front lines.
First it is to understand how you can improve.
And second it is to build that loyal following.
So if you don't like talking to people, if you don't think that their opinion really
matters, if you don't want to build that relationship, then unfortunately this becomes a very, very
difficult uphill battle for you because you don't have the firsthand experience.
Your gut's not telling you the right thing because you're not listening.
So if you're not that type of people, really do reconsider whether food and beverage industry
is for you or not.
And to give you an example, at 720 Sweets, our ice cream shops, the only reason why we
know what flavors we create and what offerings we need to improve on is by listening to our
customers.
We always talk to our customers and we always interact with them, whether it be in person
or whether it be on Instagram and on Facebook.
We understand what exactly they're looking for.
And in turn we try our best to cater to their needs.
This is why we have been staying relevant the last five years.
And this is the reason why we're able to have all these types of collaborations with big
brands like Nespresso, all because of the fact that we're willing to listen.
So if you want to be successful in this industry, make sure you listen and make sure you interact
with your customers.
So there you go.
If you are any of these four types of people, the type that want to get rich quick, that
wants the return within that first year, or if you're not passionate about the customer
service industry, if you don't like serving people, if you don't like making them feel
happy, if you don't like working long hours, you want your 9:00 to 5:00, you want to passively
invest or lastly, if you don't like listening, if you don't like interacting with your customers,
then unfortunately food and beverage business is not for them.
However, if you are any of those, then you are going to be super, super successful in
this industry because these are the things that will make a restaurateur super successful.
If you want to learn more about how to build a successful seven figure business, check
out my Ultimate Food and Beverage Course below.
This is something that I've learned in the last 10 years and I'm putting it all into
this course.
Anywhere from negotiating free rent to getting into the minds of your customer and offering
them exactly what they want, to creating that first 1,000 loyal fans, that community now
will always buy from you, all that into the restaurant link below.
So I really, really hope you find value in this video.
If you want to learn more, once again, check out the link below.
Otherwise, smash the like button.
Subscribe along the journey as I bring to you much more value and much more content
in the food and beverage world.
Otherwise, I'll see you guys in the next video.