Working at a Restaurant: A Quick Way to Learn About Entrepreneurship

Context

I had the privilege of working at a local, non-chain cafe in the Greater Boston area for a week. I have always wanted to try being a cashier, and finally, I had the opportunity. It was fun and adrenaline-pumping, especially when it got busy. I also worked in the kitchen, preparing burger patties and making sandwiches and wraps. The restaurant has been around for a while and has primarily returning local customers. It has between 3 to 5 staff members at any given time and serves primarily breakfast, salads, and sandwiches from 7:30 AM to 3 PM, Monday to Saturday. It offers catering, delivery, online ordering, pick-up, and dine-in options, though most customers take their food to go. Traffic is consistent, with both busy and idle moments. Overall, business is good.

It is a great learning ground.

Fun fact: They have the best homemade focaccia bread I have ever tried!

Learnings

- Business has the potential to do (a lot of) good. First of all, putting delicious and healthy food in people's stomachs is a positive thing. As a staff, I got to try different menu items (if I want to) each day for FREE. First responders get free chips and drinks.??

- A busy restaurant is a good problem to have. This means they have found product-market fit. Some businesses have not, and some never find it before they have to close their doors.?I will be interested to learn by working on a restaurant or other businesses who have not found their product market fit, and help them.

- Good quality products, service, price, accessibility, health, and safety drive repeat customers. The chef, who is also the owner, is one of the most dedicated and highly skilled chefs I have met. He starts cooking a few items at 5 AM every day before the other staff even arrives, and he does it well.??

- Good culture within the business translates to good customer service. The owner does not treat team members like subordinates; he shows respect and genuine care for them. Free food, drinks, chips, and cookies create a welcoming atmosphere. They call their regulars by their names when they walk in the room and give them their orders. Customers often leave with a smile. Some have been coming for years. One elderly gentleman, who used to visit with his late wife for blueberry muffins, moved to a nursing home but continues to come with his daughter for the same cup of coffee on the same chair each time.??

- Sometimes poor customer service is unintentional. I care a lot about customer service, yet I found myself not giving my best when the restaurant got super busy. Balancing serving in-person customers, taking phone orders, and packaging food can be challenging. I might have forgotten to say hi, give a smile, or chat about their day. Purely unintentional. More staff could help alleviate this.??

- Having good systems is important. Good preparation, proper inventory, and consistent practices like thorough and consistent cleaning throughout the day and at the end of the day are essential. There’s no way to prepare tens of salads and sandwiches from scratch in a reasonable time if you have to chop onions, carrots, pickles, and a thousand other ingredients when the order comes in. Changing gloves when handling raw meat and other food is crucial to prevent contamination. Cleaning at the end of the day ensures you start from a clean slate the next morning.?Cleaning daily ensures you are always ready for a health inspection.

- The best way to learn is by doing. I was allowed to make mistakes without being scolded. On my first minute, I was put on the assembly line. "Put on your gloves, add mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, turkey, bacon. This is how you cut the sandwiches and wraps into two. This is how you wrap them." It was like that for the rest of the day, but I learned quickly. The same applied when I served as a cashier. I had to familiarize myself with the long menu and adapt to the limitations of the tools we had.??

- Areas for improvements can be differentiated into two categories: business-decision and product issue. Business may choose not to fix issues. Other times, they may be unaware, and fresh perspectives from someone new to the team like me can shed light on issues they wouldn’t see otherwise.?Issues with the products they use to run their business can hinder productivity and these businesses can do better to ensure their users get the help they need quickly.

- Daily specials and a seasonal menu keep things interesting.

Next Steps??

1. Learn at a restaurant that does not yet have product-market fit

2. Help out at other businesses for references and comparisons to gain different insights

Want to try the food here?

P.S. Interested to give this restaurant a try? Ask me where...

Check out some pictures