FoodBanter.com - View Single Post

J. Clarke[_2_]

In article >,
says...
>
> "gloria.p" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On 9/23/2011 9:12 AM, Steve Freides wrote:
> >> prettymoira wrote:
> >>> I wanna be a chef and put up my own fine dining restaurant. I love to
> >>> bake and cook good food so I'm planning to go back to school and take
> >>> culinary arts. Any ideas anyone?
> >>
> >> Yes - don't.
> >>
> >> -S-
> >
> > That's a valid reply, but you need to tell her some of the reasons WHY.
> >
> > gloria p
>
> I'll give some good reasons. Most people's ideas of being a "chef" have to
> do with what they see on television and very little to do with real life.
> Loving to cook and cooking to LIVE are two totally different things. You
> don't walk out of a cooking school and open a restaurant that will
> immediately take off. Most restaurants fail in the first year or two, even
> if they have very good food. It's an overwhelming business and takes 24/7
> devotion. Don't plan on having a life outside the restaurant.
>
> As if that weren't enough, think about the financial outlay (school aside)
> for renting a building or space that is adequate and up to code for housing
> a restaurant. Think about equipping a professional kitchen, not to mention
> decking out the dining room. (Want to take over a failed restaurant space?
> Think about why it failed.) There are licenses, hiring and vetting the
> staff, paying wages and insurance and worker's compensation... I could go on
> and on but there are MANY reasons

Being your own boss sounds wonderful until you've actually done it and
found out how much _work_ it is.

Besides, if she wants to put up her own restaurant, she'd do better to
go to business school and learn how to manage and market it--that's the
part that most small business owners fall down on.