Bad Mojo!
On my way to a gig the other night in a neighboring city, I drove past my favorite New Orleans-styled restaurant and lounge. What’s this? The windows were dark, the marquee lights were extinguished, and the door sported one of those cheap signs turned to the “Closed” position.
This place received top reviews when it opened less than a year ago. The decor was as authentic as you can find up here in the swamps of Michigan. The food was excellent, the staff was fun and friendly, entertainment was outstanding (heck, Junior Valentine and I played there twice a month), and they even had Abita beer on tap. It actually came pretty close to a few places I dearly love in N’awlins.
What happened?
Unfortunately, the owner went down the perilous path frequently taken by owners when the till is a bit less full than desired (or required.) They took the “Fail” course in four quick steps:
1. Spending more than you anticipated? Dump your expensive, expert chef and hire somebody who won’t cost so much. This, in turn leads to…
2. An inferior offering. “Ahhh, nobody’s gonna notice that our great chef is gone, right? Hey, a cook’s a cook! And while I’m thinking about it, we have to cut back a little, so take out about half the shrimp in our ettoufe’ and quit serving that jalapeno’ cornbread with everything…them peppers are expensive, dammit.”
3. Hire your relatives and their friends as staff, even if they don’t have the skillset or the mental acuity to perform their assigned tasks. (In this particular case, this led to truly awful wait service; some of the worst we ever experienced. The odds were high your order would be screwed up somehow, and your check -presented after an interminable wait -would be incorrect as well.)
4. Don’t bother with seeking other people’s opinions. There’s absolutely no need to heed any advice from someone who might know a little more about business than you do. Don’t take customers suggestions to heart, either. Heck, you can certainly run a cool little bar and restaurant; even though the sum total of your business experience was clerking in a clothing shop a couple decades ago, you’ve spent enough of your time in bars and restaurants to know it’s got to be a real cakewalk.
It’s a pity. I liked the owners, the original chef and the joint in general. And the beer, too. Let’s not forget to mention the beer.
Unfortunately, it’s not only small businesses where this happens.
Can you say “Circuit City?”
Yeah, I know what you mean. Too bad about that place. I experienced that same stuff. Maybe they will make changes and try to come back, ya never know. BUT they will have to change the 4 criteria when and if they do.
More and more eating places following that pattern over here unfortunately. So rather than risk less than good meals (or a dodgy stomach) we’ve now decided to eat closer to home and support our local good food pubs during the recession. After all, we’d all miss them if they have to close. Maybe we need to work out how to engender customer loyalty in all our own businesses?
They simply no longer did what businesses need to do to succeed, especially when starting out (as the good Doctor has told us): exceed expectations. A slightly larger serving, superior quality and the like.