Table of contents
When someone asks me for advice about running a restaurant, the first thing I say is: Make sure you love it.
The restaurant business is unbelievably hard. The profit margins are razor thin, the hours are brutal, and being a chef-owner means everything rides on your shoulders. You have to love it. And I do — I love food, I love creating, and I love people.
Cooking is like painting a portrait 70 times a day. And it may be your 70th time making that dish that day, but always remember it’s the customer’s first time eating it. A great meal is an experience with so many parts that work together — I want my customers to feel good when they eat at my restaurant.
I’ve been fortunate in this business. My sister and I started My 2 Cents, our restaurant in Los Angeles, more than a decade ago. The LA Times named it one of the 101 Best Restaurants in the city. I’ve been a nominee for a James Beard Award and I’ve hosted my own TV series, “Searching for Soul Food.”
So a lot of people ask me how to start and grow a restaurant. Love is the first ingredient, but a few others are also crucial.
Start with your vision — and stick to it
To succeed, you need a clear vision. What’s most important to you? What will you never budge on? Answering these questions can help you stay focused during the challenging periods of running a business.
I’m a French-trained chef with a soul food foundation. I had the vision to bring that background to the West Coast and create My 2 Cents years before we opened. You don’t need money to develop your vision. It doesn’t cost you much to research the market, refine dishes for your menu, or think about the environment you want to create for diners.
After you’ve established your restaurant, hold true to your vision. That can be tough, especially as new competition and trends emerge.
At first, some people didn’t know what to make of Southern comfort food elevated with a modern touch. But we never compromised on the type of food we served, the quality of the ingredients, or the elegance of the preparation.
Let your vision guide you.
Do the research. Define your place.
Turning your vision into reality requires research. What restaurants already exist in your market? Who offers similar cuisine? At what level of quality and at what price point? What do diners in your area value?
When we opened My 2 Cents, LA restaurants didn’t feature Southern comfort staples like shrimp and grits. They were regional dishes and many people told us they hadn’t heard of them before. So we had to introduce people to the concept and do it in an approachable way.
We knew that LA was a health-conscious city. Healthiness isn’t something people typically associate with Southern cuisine. That’s where my classical training came in. We’ve created delicious soul food that’s also healthy. We’ve also established a safe space for vegans and those with dietary restrictions.
At the same time, you can bring your grandmother to the restaurant, and she can order fried chicken, braised greens, and cheese grits. She probably won’t even know she just had a gluten-free meal.
Streamline your operations
When you run a restaurant, you can feel like you’re barely holding on every second. You have to handle payroll, accounting, ordering, hiring, taxes, and so much more.
Here’s one piece of advice from a painful experience: Streamline your operations.
As a tiny minority-owned, self-funded business, My 2 Cents never had venture capitalists throwing money at us. Even now, we have under 10 employees. So efficiency is essential.
Take it from me: Having various tech platforms for different areas of the business is overwhelming. And if they don’t work well, it can be disastrous.
I’ve had my whole point-of-sale (POS) system go down, so I couldn’t take any customer payments. I’ve had providers hit me with thousands of dollars in hidden fees. I’ve ended up in tears over these types of problems more times than I care to count.
But I have to tell you, straight up: Switching to an all-in-one system like Square has been a game changer. Now I can see and manage everything — sales reporting, banking, payroll, timesheets, and more — right from my phone. I have my entire restaurant in my hand.
Streamlining your operations doesn’t just help you, though. It benefits your customers and your employees, too.
Here’s an example: My 2 Cents used to be set up as a fast-casual restaurant because we had a single payment station. That meant a line of people. When we switched to Square, we got handheld devices that allowed us to offer table service.
Now? No lines, and customers get a better dining experience.
Oh, and our staff’s tips have increased by 25%.
Operations may not sound cool, but they’ll make or break your business. Getting them right will save you so much pain — and let you grow your restaurant in ways you never could have imagined.
