Today I want to show you how you can lose a fortune, and have a bad time along the way.
Assuming you have just inherited a big sum of money, or that you have been made redundant from your job after many, many years of hard work, and the company is giving you a fat severance pay check. Now tell me, what's the best way to lose that fortune, and have lots of hardship as well?
Oh, you can say buy a big house, throw the money out the window, empty it down a river (or the toilet), slot it into a machine in Las Vegas, etc. You can do all that to swiftly lose a fortune. But that does not involve much hardship. What is the commonest thing many people who come upon big money do to lose it, and to lose it in a most taxing way to themselves?
The best way to lose a fortune, and suffer a bad time in the process, in my opinion, is to open a restaurant. That, unfortunately, is what a lot of people do. People who have been working hard for many, many years, and suddenly come on big money, because a rich uncle died, or their company wants to say bye bye to them. Suddenly they have enough money to not work anymore. So what do they do?
They want to realise their dream, which is, to be their own boss. And what better way to be their own boss than to open a restaurant. They watch with envy the many restaurants in town which are always packed. Where you can't get a seat unless you book, weeks ahead. After years of savings, they suddenly have the means to be a boss of a restaurant - and the word "restaurateur" does have a certain je ne sais quoi to it.
This from a person who has never cooked before. Who has never studied hotel management or catering, who can't boil an egg for crying out loud. In short, they are people who have no business being in the restaurant business. And yet, for some strange reason, they think they can run a restaurant, and make it big.
Every town has one. Every neighborhood. You see them, those restaurants that are practically deserted. And talking about location, some times it's not. For next to these deserted restaurants are others that are making roaring business. If you're in Hong Kong, you can blame it on feng shui. And yet for reasons that escaped the restaurateur-sans-customers, people are just not going to their restaurants.
Unless you have been in the restaurant business for a long time, unless you are an accomlished chef, have worked in a kitchen for many, many years, know the inside-out of running a restaurant, do not go into the restaurant business! You are sure to get burnt (and some times, literally).
As a restaurant owner, you may be the boss, but the restaurant actually owns you. It owns your time. Even if you are the chef, you can't take a break and let the business go on autopilot.
Another negative point about the restaurant business is the cap on profit. I mean, you can have only that many tables. Once they are full, you can't take any more customers. Even if you are booked weeks ahead, it just means that you have reached your maximum profit for the weeks ahead. That's what every restaurant owner dream of, but the reality is, many restaurants stay empty weeks ahead. When that happens, it throws a spanner into your planning. How much should you procure? And what? Food are perishable items that don't stay fresh if nobody orders them. So in the restaurant business, you have a limit to how much you can earn, and every possibility of losing money.
I write this article to wake up a lot of people who are thinking of opening a restaurant. People who should have relaxed and take it easy with life. I know of many people who lose a fortune, having to close their restaurant when at the very beginning, they were so filled with enthusiasm and high hopes.
I am not writing this to discourage every would-be restaurateur. If you have what it takes, go ahead. Otherwise, hold your horses.
If you have a friend somewhere you just got a fat severance check, and is toying with the idea of opening a restaurant, show them this article. It's a sure way to lose a fortune.
No part of this website may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the happyjoblessguy.com. If you have any questions, contact me the address below:
