Greeting fellow hustlers. I have started this blog to cover the happenings of my life as a business consultant. I am considering today the beginning of that because today, for the first time, I have a paying client! I'm going to use this post to explain to you all how that has come to be, in some simple steps.
1. get a job at a business that is a sinking ship.
This sounds a little melodramatic, but this is exactly what happened to me. I began working as a server at Gramercy Bistro, which is a family owned restaurant with a wonderful reputation located in North Adams, MA. Long story short, the husband (chef) and wife (front of house manager) we're having some serious marital issues, and the missus had all but checked out completely. This left a large gap for someone with the skills and know-how to fill.
2. Ask for forgiveness, instead of permission.
Gramercy had moved from its old space into a large and nicer space. A nice move. Unfortunately, the lease on the old space has quite a few years remaining on it. so the chef started a barbecue restaurant in that old space, with a simple setup. This had no management, no marketing, and no control of staff. It was a free for all. I stepped in and started making marketing deals with local newspapers and promoters for discount rates using a lot of deal making I learned in the 4 hour work week. This got me in a LITTLE trouble, but how much trouble can you get in for taking the reins on a business that has no control set in place? Needless to say this conversation went quickly from "what are you doing?" to "how can you do more?" the reason for this is because i QUANTIFIED things. I put down projected results, impressions for each piece of advertising, and what a 1% conversion would yield. the numbers looked good, and it brought me around to the owner asking me when we could meet to discuss "menu changes" we did it over dinner.
3. Always pay for dinner.
I dropped my card with the hostess as my wife and i walked in for the meeting ten minutes early, saying "don't let the other gentleman pay, here's my card" very simple, and it works. it gets rid of the awkwardness of fighting over the tab at the end.
4. Write down the problems, but solve them immediately.
After the SMALL problem ( i did let him talk about the menu for almost the entirety of the meal with full attention) of the menu was breached, I proceeded to ask him about his wife, which allowed me to first REALISE his problem (I'm sorry to hear that, that's a real shame) and then move promptly into a conversation about the lack of guidance that the restaurants had. I said something along the lines of " Unfortunately with your wife all but absent, I have been preforming many duties but I lack any authority to make these deals, or to train your staff" this made him realize a one thing:
a. he had no manager, and was not only losing money due to lack of quality control, bu also because of lost opportunities.
to synopsize: HE WAS LOSING MONEY.
5. Never leave a problem unanswered for more than 5 seconds. This is suicide.
I INSTANTLY countered that problem by handing him my bullet pointed 3 page plan to bring back quality and profitability. THIS WAS NOT A JOB PITCH. that comes later. this was literally free work, and a lot of it, which outlines my specific plan to take both his restaurants to a point where he could retire, work when he wanted, or sell them both. he was smiling by the end of my presentation.
The last page was my proposal for work, which started out by pin pointing value "there is no need for a full time manager and here's why"
specific duties i will preform, numbered and as specific as possible.
my rate, which had a MAXIMUM HOUR CAP. this can be changed as he realizes he needs more help. or maybe he doesn't.
The Chef realized a few things here.
1.he had a problem
2. he needed it fixed
3. he had an answer sitting in front of him.
This worked out almost exactly as I had envisioned it, which was amazing! Its impressive how often that happens.
Now I have to deliver!
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