Change in Business

During the past few weeks, I have watched episodes and lessons of the shows; “Bar Rescue” and “Restaurant Impossible.” These shows air on Spike TV and also on Food Network. Throughout each program, the expert visits a failing business and tries within his power to turn the business around. In doing this, the expert has to reach through strides of work and stressful situations as do the owners of the business. Also in viewing the shows, I have noticed each owner being frustrated as their business is failing and frustrated that the expert knows how to fix and deal with the problems. They undergo many difficult tasks and changes.

Both “Bar Rescue” and “Restaurant Impossible” are similar in certain ways. The basic premise of each show is to have the expert go into a failing business who is reaching bankruptcy and save the day. The expert and host of “Bar Rescue” is Jon Taffer. Jon Taffer is a professional bar consultant and a Nightclub Hall of Fame inductee. Overall, he knows the “in’s” and “out’s” of the Bar scene and how to manage his field of business. Being the expert that he is, Taffer is certainly qualified for hosting this show. The other show that is very similar to this one is “Restaurant Impossible.” It has the same basic premise and is designed to not only help bars, but to help struggling business get back on their feet. The host of Restaurant Impossible is Chef Robert Irvine. Robert Irvine is a British-American celebrity chef who has appeared on numerous Food Network programs and has hosted many other shows in his past. These shows include; Dinner Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, and Restaurant Express. Irvine was born and was raised in Wiltshire, England. He began his cooking career upon enlisting in the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen. Having completed culinary training, Robert served aboard the Majesty's Royal Yacht Britannia. He has also been of service to the Naval Mess in the West Wing of the White House. Once again, I believe Mr. Irvine is quite qualified for the position to host this show.

In the past few weeks, I watched a couple of episodes of “Bar Rescue.” One episode in particular caught my attention. It concerned Jon Taffer going to explore a failing bar near Boston. The owner of the bar was Todd and Todd was not happy with the way his business was. Todd lost his house and had to relocate just to keep his job and his business going. This owner basically sacrificed his belongings and possessions just to keep running the place. However, his bar was not suited for the typical bar scene. The one and only positive Mr. Taffer said initially was the location of the bar being right outside of downtown Boston. Everything else about the place was heading downhill. Walking into the bar, Jon was shocked at who was there. The answer was nobody and the night was a Friday night. Obviously, there was work to be done. One of the first changes Jon suggested was Todd’s form of advertising in his sign out in front of the bar. His sign was outdated and rusted and also had a terrible name to it. All Mr. Taffer could do was laugh at the name and criticize it saying, “No wonder nobody is here with a name like that.” Jon explained to Todd that the title and name of a business is key to bringing in customers. With a childish name, the general consumers will not take his business seriously and therefore the business would fail. Jon mentioned that advertising his bar outside was great but in order to expand his profits and get more customers, the advertising and marketing scheme would need to be improved. Advertising is a very important key to success. Other than word of mouth, how will a business get its’ name out? Advertising can be done in multiple ways including TV commercials, Internet Ads, bulletins, or flyers. The only source of marketing Todd had for his bar was a lousy name in front of his business. I believe that anyone would agree that this needed to be changed for Todd’s bar. As the episode went on, Todd began to explain that his bar was initially meant to be a family environment where the children could come along too. Jon’s first reaction was a loud burst of laughter. “You cannot run a family-oriented bar,” he said, “it just doesn’t work that way.” Jon further stated that the purpose and nature of a successful bar is to get away from the children and to have a fun and exciting atmosphere. Todd’s bar was the furthest thing from a fun and exciting bar atmosphere. In the bar, Todd had set out colorful wallpaper and childish-like decorations. In a bar setting, a family environment doesn’t always work. Actually, it never has worked. Todd doesn’t want to follow through with the idea of re-arranging his whole business but in order to succeed, Jon makes him. In a failing and unsuccessful business, there are changes to be made and the owner needs to accept any changes to improve their business. Todd was very hesitant to change anything that was not initially his idea, but in the end Jon helped Todd turn it around.

Turning around a failing restaurant is a daunting challenge under the best of circumstances. Attempting to do it in just two days with only $10,000 may be impossible. But Chef Robert Irvine is ready to take on the challenge. He is an expert at examining restaurants and making necessary changes to point the business in the right direction. In one episode of “Restaurant Impossible,” Chef Irvine walks into a family owned business and steak restaurant that had been on a downward slope. Recently in their business, the sales had dramatically dropped and were desperate for help. Chef Irvine was very stern on changing the business around and making them a successful one again. A major aspect of family owned businesses is they tend to be very traditional. This was a problem according to Robert because the way they were conducting business wasn’t working for them anymore. The solution in his eyes were to change the menu, value more advertising, and the hardest part was to get fresh new employees to work at the restaurant. Once again, the family didn’t warm up to the idea right away but eventually fell through to it. The menu hadn’t been changed in 30 years and that was another major change in turning the business around. I learned through watching this episode that bringing in new employees every few months will bring fresh ideas and fresh new faces to greet the customers. In every business there will be a significant turnover ratio. Sometimes, it’s not the worst thing in the world to hire new employees. Especially if the business is a traditional, family owned one who has had the same workers for years and years. After Chef was done with his work, the family and owners were pleased. Everyone can be hesitant to change, but if the change is good, the change is worth it.

These two shows really helped me learn what and what not to do in owning and operating a business. I learned that change is good because without it our business will not reach the high standards set out to be completed. Advertising is also a key component in furthering a business. Without marketing and advertising the business would be stagnant and not a dynamic and successful one. Turnover is okay in operating any operation because a wrong employee leaving could turn out to be a great and everlasting employee. Fresh new faces in a company provide a new outlook on doing things and new ideas. Old employees tend to go through the routine without adding new implements or creating new ideas. Overall, these episodes helped me to understand better ways to keep a business running properly and successful.