ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - September 20, 2002

I have been in the air most of the day. I just arrived in Atlanta where I will speak to the local chapter of the National Speakers Association tomorrow ... then on to North Carolina for the next Odd Couple Marketing Workshop with Joel Cohen in Greensboro on Tuesday.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Chris Losonsky posted this on my chat room message board a few days ago. Do any of you have experience either with setting up a buying group or operating as a member of one?

There are a number of independent operators in our community and we have been thinking of setting up a buying group. Where can I go or speak to get information in starting such? We do not want to have to invent the wheel again. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

A Note from the Doc:
There are a number of interesting questions on the board (look for the link to Industry Chat Room on my home page.) None of us can possibly know everything, so it just makes sense to share our collective wisdom for the good of all. There are a lot of interesting exchanges, both current and past. I encourage you to drop by and take a look. (BTW, for reasons I still don't understand, the most recent posts are on page 2.)

RECYCLING PEOPLE DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK
Roger Parker of Parker's Inn passed this along. What do you think?

As I am finishing up my first and only summer season in the restaurant business, I thought I would pass along to you the one thing I have learned that is more important than any other about my restaurant experience.

Briefly, we have a small hotel in a summer resort. The restaurant was always operated by a lessor. He left this year, because like so many great cooks, he wasn't much of a businessman. My wife and took it over and here is the important thing we learned. The most important fixture that is in need of immediate replacement when taking over a failed restaurant is all former staff.

They only know how to work in a failed restaurant and all efforts to make it a professionally run business are met with great resistance. "What do you mean you want our check out reports and cash to match?"

Almost every procedural or staff problem we ran into this summer can be traced back to the actions and attitudes of the few who stayed over from the previous owner. We thought it was good idea to have a few stay who were familiar with the place, but their misdeeds far out weighed the benefits. It also led to a huge turnover. I have been in business for 17 years and always had a great relationship with staff, but this year was something I never expected.

A Note from the Doc:
Roger's note points out something you would do well to keep in mind -- the way people have learned to think determines what makes sense to them ... which in turn determines their behavior. How are you teaching your staff to think?

With so many marginal operations in trouble right now, you may well find yourself tempted by an offer you can't refuse. I hope you know that there is more to opening a second restaurant than just putting your name on the door. Before you sign the papers -- or even think about it -- you might want to look at the articles titled "Recycling Restaurants" and "The Terrible Two's" in the Articles section of my website.

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES
The Odd Couple Workshop -- my collaboration with marketing guru Joel Cohen -- is coming to Wisconsin and South Carolina and Kentucky was just added to the schedule. Details are at www.oddcouple.net or use the link on my website.

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