I need to dispel the "Greedy Restaurant Owner" myth. Or at least address them. Ive had my coffee, I've read the reports and reviews from last nights service...im ready...1,2,3....go

....Restaurants are marginalized. Period. Even though everyone loves restaurants, and they are a critical part of our societal fabric, the people that populate the industry are undervalued and overlooked

...I saw a comment on a different platform that said "a Busser isn't worth X amount per hour" While I dont think the poster meant it the way it sounded, it stung to read. What does market value have to do with worth? They are entirely different things.

...a giant slab of Italian marble that had been an abandoned sculpture was being thrown away. Instead of becoming garbage, Michelangelo created the statue of "David"
https://www.michelangelo.org/david.jsp 

..In my world, the restaurant business is a wholly viable economic enterprise. I've seen individual establishments generate over $1,000,000.00 in profit out of limited square footage (in which a huge chunk had to be allocated to manufacturing rather than sales like normal retail)

...But all I ever hear is how hard the restaurant business is, how narrow the margins are, and so on. And all of this is certainly true. There can be narrow margins, the hours are tough, the workforce is young and relatively inexperienced.

....but making profit for me in the restaurant industry has been always pretty simple. Put a good product out consistently for a fair market value and the profit will come (sometimes a little later than you may have hoped, but I digress)

...So why the perception that restaurants are money pits that empty your wallet and exhaust your patience as an investor/owner? Because a lot of people who own restaurants simply have no business doing so.

....the standard build out costs for an upscale restaurant can skew from $150 per square foot to $350 per square foot (and it can get a lot crazier than that, budget depending).
If your space is 3000 square feet, that means the least you are getting in for is $450k start up

...I've done this a long time, and I haven't known a single career restaurant worker who has that kind of cash on hand without some other source of funds. I didn't when I started.
So inherent in most business start ups is either: a need for outside capital, or undercapitalization

...under capitalization wipes out most restaurants in their first year of operations. This is why you frequently hear wild statistics that most restaurants fail in the first 12 months. (I don't totally agree with the assessment below, its probably 30%) https://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2017/01/29/no-most-restaurants-dont-fail-in-the-first-year/?sh=5675084c4fcc

....but to be successful in restaurants you really really need to know the business. You cannot buy your way in; and thats what so many people want to do.
"My mom's meatball recipe is amazing, lets open a restaurant" or
"We need a place to go drink, lets open a bar"

...A desire to be social, or a love for moms cooking doesnt qualify you to be restauranteur. Just like any other career, the restaurant industry is one that require rigorous study, incredible physical and emotional output, and lots and lots of reps.

....I wouldn't roll up into a carpet manufacturers warehouse and start instructing them how to do carpet related things (I dont even know what that would be!)...who am I to say something? Because I've owned a rug that makes me an expert? Faulty logic

...but yet this happens constantly in restaurants. Most guests, whether they publish a review or not, would be willing to offer advice about how to make the experience better whether qualified or not.

...I used to view this as insulting in an annoyance in the job. Now I view it as validation. I dont know about carpet manufacturing because I dont care about carpet manufacturing. But people DO care about restaurants...a lot.

....so how does this tie back to the Greedy restaurant owner?
A lot of the people that do survive the crush of the first year litmus do so by cheating. Cutting corners. A huge percentage of restaurant owners, who shouldn't be, make poor choices in order to be solvent.

...Poor wages, refusal to allow comps for guests or staff, no $$ spent on cleaning or repair and maintenance, fucking with employees money, or with state/federal taxes. Straight up theft...iall of these things happen...frequently.

...I want to believe that most of the time this happens because people dont know what they are signing up for. A couple of guys who thought it would be awesome to open up a bar that are $300k in the whole and losing $10k a week is a desperate position..

...especially if they don't know how to get out of it. Thats scary. Thats a total loss of not only the start up, but every penny after. Cutting corners seems like the only way to go, and so they do; for survival sake.

....(I understand and have seen plenty of people who cut corners that are just shitbags...rationalizing awful behavior. I'm not interested in them, as their actions are inexcusable, and the market has an amazing way of leading them towards retribution)

..now the staff is underpaid, the store is falling apart, the inventory is low, the moral is lower, and the owner hates life. Thats the portrait of MANY restaurant owners. They aren't greedy sleaze balls, rather folks who didn't understand what they were getting themselves into.

...but how thats digest by the people impacted are that the owner is cheap, and by virtue of that, greedy, and corrupt.
Imagine being so desperate while people believe you are rolling in cash and are greedy? How utterly demoralizing.

...Many of the restaurant owners I know are forward thinking, inspired, passionate, giving people. There are definitely some ego problems from time to time (myself included) but overall...serious restaurant folk are just as viable as professionals in any other field

...But that reality gets twisted as all restaurant owners get lumped together as one solid personality and ethos. Kind of like saying "all lawyers are crooked" or "all priests are deviants"
This is myopic, and hyperbolic.

...the reality is most likely: A restaurant owner is one of the most stressed out people you will ever come across. Whether they are doing their job well, or they are cutting corners, the work isn't easy, and they aren't motivated by greed.

...being open minded about another persons career choice has to start with the acknowledgment that; if you are not in that field personally, you dont know shit about shit versus a professionals level of knowledge.

...and to assume the worst about an entire group of people based on either the small percentage of poor actors, or the actions of desperate but well intentioned people is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

....the restaurant business is about serving others, and being lucky enough to make a living doing it. I sincerely believe the outside world just lacks the insight as to be able to really understand what that means.
I hope this thread helps with that. p