The other day I read about someone who is planning to start a restaurant once the lockdown is over. Their theory is that lots of people will go out to eat to celebrate.
I think they’re making a big mistake.
For a start, any “end of lockdown” celebration is unlikely to involve more than one or two visits to the same restaurant.
But what concerned me most was how simple they thought it would be.
Realistically, how likely is it that someone with no catering or hospitality experience will be able to launch a brand new restaurant and get it right the first time?
Not likely.
I’d also be concerned that someone who had never run a restaurant before would be able to provide an enjoyable experience. When we try new things, the starting point is seldom “good”.
Good ideas are plentiful. I’ve just Googled “new business ideas”, and I get 4,220,000,000 results. What differentiates a good idea from a good result is implementation.
It will take a while for that new restaurant to understand how to manage food supplies, design a menu, train staff, select cutlery, heat the dining room, take bookings, understand marketing and a million other things.
Meanwhile, those restaurants that are currently closed will one day reopen. They’ve got a head start. They already understand those things. They’ll do a better job during the brief “end of lockdown” celebrations.
It’s an old theme. A job done well looks easy, but it seldom is. We need to look out for these “good idea traps” and avoid falling into them.
For example, sometimes setting up IT systems looks simple, but it’s really not. I could write a book about how to plan, build and support a Linux infrastructure.
In fact, I did.
It was an Amazon #1 best seller last year, but you can download a copy for free here.
And if you’d like your own paperback copy, mail me your address and tell me how you’re using (or planning to use) Linux today, and I’ll put a copy in the post to you.
My advice to the person who wants to open that restaurant soon is to start by writing a book about how to do it. Explaining things to others is an excellent way to test your own understanding.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash