Developing a concept with blood, sweat and expertise.
Growing up in a family that owned and operated a fast food business, I??spent most of my early years working in the family business, from weekend shifts during the school term to remembering my school holidays as days in the shop rather than on the beach. Unknowingly, I was learning valuable lessons in business operations and management.?
When completing high school, I continued to work in the family business for some time whilst studying part-time to obtain the theoretical techniques in business which I felt were missing. I finally moved away from the family business and began developing a career in the hotel industry, focusing on F&B. With the ten years of experience I gained, my life savings, and a loan from the bank, which my parents were kind enough to guarantee, I decided to open my first café.?
With a solid eagerness to succeed, an entrepreneurial approach, motivation, hard work and initiative, the small café business grew into a cafe and retail company over six years, with twelve restaurants. Three restaurants were accoladed with a one-hat rating (Michelin star equivalent in Australia), which I was most proud of. In a quick paragraph, it sounds pretty simple. However, there were many factors to obtaining this achievement and success: a great team, open-mindedness, many long hours, stress, and most importantly, creative ideas.
I later sold the company and utilised my education, sixteen years of hospitality experience and proven track record to spend the next ten years travelling the world and working in some of the most amazing cities at senior level for some great companies.?
The past ten years have been much about advising and strategising for companies and individuals,?implementing, developing and creating cool concepts globally, and managing organisations with many talented individuals.?For example, Savvy IQ (the consulting company I founded) makes ideas and advises in operations regularly for many restaurant groups, hotel chains and small and large businesses. After much advising and a long pause in self-employment, I decided to step back into ownership and implement everything I have been mentoring others. Hence the birth of?Bao & Bing in Marylebone, London.
I discovered an Italian deli/cafe in Marylebone that was on the market, which I managed to turn into a Taiwanese restaurant in just under ten weeks, which was a challenge. We have succeeded with three weeks of trading, and the feedback has been excellent. Everyone is raving about the food, the service is on par, the ambience (lighting and music) is exciting, and we have created a relaxed, fun vibe in a neighbourhood that was crying out for something different. The systems (POS, HR, Cost control, etc.) are all running perfectly. The social media is exciting, and the reviews have been great. So why is that so? The idea, passion and hunger to succeed were there, coupled with personally touching all aspects of the concept, from design, food, uniforms, lighting, music choice, strategy, IT, etc....... And all on a budget!
Where are we now? We are developing phase two of our menu. Adding our specials that will launch in the new year; creating our secret menu dish, which is revealed to guests with a code word written in Mandarin on a light-box on the wall; planning the launch of our prosecco bao brunch; And in the first quarter of 2019, we will launch our breakfast offering—constant innovation, development and?creativity.
Creativity breeds excitement and innovation: constant development and the need to keep touching the business personally.?
How did we create?Bao & Bing?
First of all, it was to let the creativity flow. I had to develop a concept where the gap in the market existed. Hence, there is a need to consider a renowned cuisine for its flavours and, above all, develop a price point so that the venue could become an affordable everyday dining experience whilst considering a simplified model for operations, cost management and scalability.
Ideas were thrown around our ‘Savvy IQ think tank’ from Cuban, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, and Indian. Together, we redefined every cuisine idea to specific localised regions of each country. But then it came to me! I travel to Taiwan regularly; I love the food, I love the culture, and I am passionate about the country. Most probably heavily influenced by the beautiful Taiwanese girl I married ten years ago, with whom I now have two fun-loving kids. Now, it was time to develop and create the idea.
To begin, I considered a simple formula many of you may know and one I have lived by:?Good food, good service, fun ambience, all at the right price.?
So here are some points on how to develop and create ideas.
Could you write ideas down straight away when they come to mind? In this day and age, where we carry our smartphones everywhere, we can take pictures, write notes and record ideas. I have lost so many ideas in my time and am reminded of them after seeing them again a second time; most times, it’s too late to use them. I now tend to use Pinterest to grab ideas for lighting, finishes, décor, and food and beverage, And I look at what attracts me to a picture and constantly update my boards. So begin the concept creation by collating as many inspirations as possible through your travels, the internet or any other form that inspires you.
In Bao & Bing, we have a ‘Bingo Wheel’. When your bill arrives, the customer picks a number between 1 and 90 for the chance to have the check on the house. Was it my idea? No. I noted a similar game in an Italian concept during my travels in Beirut. The restaurant used a container with 90 balls, and the game?was called Tombola. The numbers were shaken in a container, and you had a chance to have the meal in the house. It was very subtle when the waiter came and had no discernible impact on this fantastic offer. My part?was to document this great idea for potential later use.?
So what did we do differently? First, we made it a little more exciting. We invite the guests to the bar where the Bingo wheel sits on top of an old stereo and ask them to pick a number between 1 and 90. When the customer comes to the bar, we turn on the stereo?to play an old Taiwanese song (quite loudly to gain the attention of the other guests) and slowly spin the wheel. I have never seen so many people happy to see the bill arrive!
领英推荐
Stop doing the same thing over and over. Instead, focus on doing something different. This is not to say you should not practice and implement everything you have learned or been taught. However, as I previously mentioned, I entered the hospitality industry through my parent's business. After working in the hotel industry and studying management, I soon realised that my parents could have improved their business model in many ways. Not to say they were unsuccessful, but they did the same thing every day for so many years and could have grown their business further if they had made some changes.?
Look at the success stories in life and business and assemble a pool of items that will make your concept successful. Of course, ideas are constantly recycled, amended and perfected. But there is always a starting point that sparks the idea.?
You can use people around you to bounce ideas. Savvy IQ has a regular think tank on ideas for different focuses. Be it concept creation, marketing, IT systems, business development or just a general catch-up on how we can improve things. In these meetings, I have developed many bad ideas; however, we have turned an initial not-so-good idea into a fantastic one around a group of talented people. Sometimes, it requires a spark to get things going. Everyone involved in generating ideas should know everything about the brief. Please don't hold anything back, and be open. Even if something you think needs to be more relevant, it should still be included to get ideas moving.
Read magazines, articles and industry news. Reading is the best way to create new thoughts and stimulate great ideas. I constantly read, and I subscribe to many publications. Even when I am time-poor, I try to skim through magazines or articles on the web. In addition, I have added business books to my routine over the years, which has helped me learn more and expand my thinking. Could you try and make time for reading? I am just as guilty as the next person with the distraction of social media. However, pause social media; you'll find plenty of thought stimulation with a book.
For more on developing a concept, please take a look at some of the previous articles I have written.
In addition, you can view both Savvy IQ below:
General Manager / Hospitality Consultant
6 年Great article Paul, very inspiring you have been all this years. Boa and bing will be a great success for sure ????????
Hospitality Innovator | Strategic Consultant | Concept Creator | Operational Excellence Leader | CEO/COO/MD-Level Leadership
6 年Thank you very much Mal :) Always appreciate our friendship......
Leaving aside the brilliant, and absolutely delicious, success of Bao & Bing you have an amazing knack of putting your finger on the pulse / divining the zeitgeist. That, and the energy to synthesise it into realising a restaurant concept, will carry you to the stars!!