Everyone has heard how important location is in creating a successful enterprise, especially in the restaurant business. We now have a chance to see if a well established product, great reputation and professional execution can offset a location with a long history of failure.

For folks like me (that have worked in proximity to the Toronto airport for most of my career), a once popular location has been revitalized. Pepi’s was a fast food joint on Derry Road just east of Torbram. It was right on the flight path and in its day was a very popular spot. Then the large McDonnell Douglas plant closed down, the major banks moved out of the area and the once well know eatery died a slow and painful death. It was vacant for many years and several entrepreneurs tried to bring it back without success.

A few months ago Zet’s, a 24 hour greasy spoon on the strip, took it over and breathed new life into the old location. A major facelift began including a freshly paved yard, new signage, new paint, a fresh interior…every detail was covered. They manned it with staff from the other restaurant and had 3 times as many people serving you, compared to previous renditions.

We went the other day for lunch. It was busy and although it had a limited menu and hours, compared to the airport road location, it was very professionally run, the food was well prepared and the menu fairly priced. The service was quick and friendly and everyone sported matching shirts with their updated brand prominently featured.

I think they did it right and will be a success. It’s well marketed and manned and I believe their attention to detail will make the difference in keeping their doors open and their business prospering. Time will tell.

Lee’s Quote for the Day

“Sometimes, the details that matter most, are paying attention to the details most will never even notice.” 

Fall is typically a good time for business activity. In conversations with our predominantly transportation clientele, most companies are climbing their way back to previous revenues but not staffed or equipped to the point they were pre-recession. The result, fewer cooks making more meals and thus everyone is busy, busy, busy!

When things are going well, it’s easy to make the mistake of thinking you’re more or less invincible. I’ve come to realize all business walks a tightrope and even with a net, it’s tough to recover from a fall like most have gone through this past couple of years. For those of us big and small who survived, it’s been an education in humility.

Business by its nature is made up of peaks and valleys. You can never let up. The hard work and focus we’ve all applied during this past recessional valley needs to continue even when we find ourselves nearing the next peak. Like the song says, “keep your eye on the road and your hands upon the wheel.”

I believe the business world has shifted to a new path that none of us have gone down before.

A long standing supplier to our company closed its doors last week. We moved away from them 2 years ago after 10 years of being a loyal customer. Why? They didn’t listen or respond to some key concerns we had. Instead the owner bad mouthed his competition and dismissed our request as some kind of bluff. As it turns out, he was easily replaced by a better alternative. That being said, I was still truly sorry to see his business fail… it was an unnecessary tragedy.

Lee’s Quote for the Day

“Having your own business for twenty years is just like a marriage but without the sex…on second thought, having your own business is exactly like being married.”

In one of my blogs not too far back, I suggested that if you have a diversified service mix you need to maintain the quality of each product to a similar high standard…maybe not. Last night some musician friends of mine were backing up a Japanese blues guy and invited me to come by. After viewing the performance it made me rethink my previous stance.

So here is a young blues man who has studied the traditional greats like Little Walter, Muddy Walters, Big Joe Williams and so on. His main thing is playing harp (harmonica) and he is extremely good at it, way above average and most definitely at a professional level. Born in Japan, he hasn’t quite mastered the English language and you can clearly hear a thick accent in his voice. If he had started off singing, you might have dismissed him totally as a bad karaoke performer, for at first it’s almost comical to hear his rendition of the traditional blues classics that make up his repertoire. But…

..but he started off with his strongest talent first. He was very credible as a blues harp player so you gave him a little more rope before judging his vocal abilities. And guess what? Although an acquired taste, he was very sincere in his performance and within a few songs you couldn’t help but accept him. And after a set of his brand of blues, with an awesome back up band (another immediate source of credibility) and confident performance…he was an undeniable hit.

It was a bit of an epiphany for me and maybe a lesson for us all. If we lead with our strength, are prepared and confident… maybe clients will let us sing the occasional number that is a little out of tune, providing we continue to impress them with our core service talents.

Lee’s quote for the day

“It’s probably true that you never get a second chance at a first impression… so let’s hone our talent and lead with our strength so that by association, the odd sour notes that come later aren’t quite as noticeable!”