Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE FOOD INDUSTRY is like an adrenaline sport. So many things can go wrong at any one time – or all at the same time. That’s what makes it so exciting.
There are so many different elements combined into one business. It’s not like retail where your stock comes ready-made.
You’re sourcing all the raw materials and making the product, while at the same time running a service. It’s tough and if you want to survive in this industry you have to be able to adapt – within reason, of course.
You shouldn’t be stubborn – if something isn’t working, you’ve got to be able to change it. But at the same time, you can’t be too ‘knee-jerky’ and change concepts and chase every fad.
There’s a certain amount of luck involved in this business too. Sometimes things happen that are nobody’s fault.
You could be really unlucky and have Luas works outside your front door for two years. It’s not like you didn’t work hard enough or your concept was wrong.
Creativity
One of my team’s biggest strengths is their flair for branding and the creative side of our business. We’ve always had strong visions for our brands.
I love good design and have always been really interested in graphics and what works in a sign or a logo. I find it really interesting and it’s something I really adore. I guess I’d have very strong opinions about what looks good and what doesn’t.
But that’s the ‘fluffier’ side of a food company. You can’t be indecisive about that stuff. People agonise over these things, but they’re really worrying about the wrong things.
Some young restaurants and cafés spend far too long agonising about the colour of the paint on the walls, and they don’t notice that their kitchen is on fire.
You should never be distracted from what you should really focus on, which is sheer grunt work. A fancy shopfront will only hide so much if your menu isn’t up to scratch.
When you’re just starting out, I think it’s really important to carefully map out your site. You have to think about the boring but crucial stuff like how you’re going to get deliveries in.
Make sure you’ve contacted the HSE and showed them your plans before fitting out. There’s no point ploughing ahead with the kit-out stage only to learn later on that you should have put in an extra hand sink.
You should be really proactive about the health and safety and legal side of the business. If you don’t, it will bite you in the ass at some stage.
Social media
When it comes to actually getting people in the door, I can’t stress enough how useful it is manage your social media properly. I know it’s trite to say it, but social media has really transformed how restaurants get their message out there.
I’m quite long in the tooth now, and when I started, you took out ads in the Irish Times or the yellow pages.
We were only just starting websites in the late 90s, early 00s, but they were really expensive. You couldn’t edit them yourself and it would cost an obscene amount of money just to change a price on a menu or whatever. Social media has just been phenomenal for the hospitality industry.
The margins are so poor in this business so you’re not going to be able to do a €100,000 marketing campaign. You’re always looking for cheap, clever ways to market your business like with a Facebook competition.
Give it a year
Unless you’re haemorrhaging money, you should allow for at least a year to judge how a restaurant or café is performing.
If you’re seeing small, month-on-month increases and can see that it’s heading in the right direction – albeit slower than you or the bank would like – I think you have to stick it out for a year.
Of course that all hinges on whether you’re losing vast amounts of money each month.
You can open to big fanfare, but if you’re seeing repeat business dropping off each month, you’ve got a problem and you’re going to need to take drastic action.
I’ve seen that happen. There are some people who think they’re a great cook and their spouse loves people so they decide to open a restaurant. But it’s doomed from day one because their only customers are friends and family.
You have to be honest with yourself. If it’s not working and a mistake has been made, recognise it and pull the plug. That’s important.
Inspiration
If things are going well and you’re looking for inspiration to grow the creative side of your business, I think you should read a lot and always stay aware of what’s happening in the world.
I’m a bit of a magpie and collect ideas from newspapers and magazines. I just cut out stuff and stick it in a scrapbook.
I’d read a lot of cookbooks too, even just to see the direction of the food photography, what way that’s going.
I buy fashion magazines for the aesthetics. Fashion editors are a whole season ahead of where clothes are going and you can really tell a lot from that.
When you keep an eye on the likes of politics and fashion, these things really start to paint a picture of how people are eating.
There are definitely easier ways to make money than food. Never forget that. It’s a bit of a vocation and you really have to love it. You have to love food and love people.
Domini Kemp is co-owner of Itsa café and its suite of sister brands. She is the author of four cookbooks. This article was written in conversation with Conor McMahon as part of a series of masterclasses with some of Ireland’s most influential business people.
If you want to share your opinion, advice or story, email opinion@fora.ie.
Written by Domini Kemp and posted on Fora.ie
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Nothing to see here…
@Brian Houlihan: Authorisation= identification = firing .
@Brian Houlihan: This is only the tip of the Garda iceberg.
@rory conway: Perhaps the suppliers of the program, and support to the program, Pulse – or the IT gurus in the Garda department have some questions to answer. For instance, if I’m logged onto my office system and haven’t used it for 20minutes, I have to provide my passwords again. I can imagine that some authorized users would leave the station to go home after a hard days counting mouthpieces for breathalyzers and leave the computer live with them still logged on. Handy for someone to cancel some points.
Accountability is for the little people
Why would superintendents talk to the ordinary garda
I wonder how long it will take before some enterprising barrister brings up some of this to question the integrity of some Garda giving eyewitness testimony in some criminal trial. It’s something any barrister worth his salt would check once the prosecutor sends the list of witnesses to them. Imagine a small drugs seizure for example where the defendant claims the drugs were planted by the arresting Garda… First question the Garda would be asked is if they’ve a history of lying on the job or any other misconduct..How can they be credible once it’s shown point blank they’ve a history of this crap…
@Jason: it wasn’t guards that cancelled anything. It was superintendents
@Michael Devlin: Superintendents ARE GARDAI !!! And this is just another clusterfuсk in a long series clusterfuсks…. The true extent of which will start to become evident once criminal trials start collapsing… Imagine the same scenario above with the drugs search… imagine the defence knowing that a Gardas superintendent has a history of fiddling records asking the Garda if his superiors have a history of tampering with evidence records behind arresting Gardas backs ? What’s going to happen when that drops during a criminal case ?
@Michael Devlin: and well done to them.
@Michael Devlin: yes but on the basis of supers acting then does this suggest the officer was acting incorrectly
I have worked with many systems in organisation private and public. For anybody to override a decision or action by law a full audit trail is required. On top of that if it is anything important the users are forced to enter supporting evidence. If the gardai system doesn’t have the audit trail it in breach of data regs which is highly unlikely. It would take minutes to look up the data and tell them all to enter the reasons. Why this hasn’t been done is very questionable. It is not a massive investigation that should be halted.
@Kal Ipers: People often talk about a luggs brannigan who all the sc***s were frightened of in his day (when dublin was a town) and kept feral kids in their place and how that’s what we need today. In opposition to that we are eroding all discretion that the force has ever had in dealing with sc)m and making them less and less potent. There’s a fine line to thread, power can corrupt and people hate another to have power over them but the force must be allowed to police. If we make them say please and thank you at every turn and fill out a report on every time the break wind we make them incapable of effectively detering, detecting or solving serious crime.
@Carpentoza: Luggs Brannigan was a thug…another example of the type from that time period that abused their power. He was part of a force that turned a blind eye to the abuses of the likes of the Catholic Church, that gave us the “heavy gang” and that buried or fabricated evidence as it suited them.He himself used to administer summary beatings to suspects. He appointed himself judge and jury in a lot of cases. Those who want his likes around are looking back with rose tinted spectacles… anyway his type would be put in a shallow grave somewhere up the Dublin mountains if they tried that nonsense with today’s crims. Him being one of Gay Byrne’s heros should be enough to raise red flags considering his track record of “knowing how to pick em”…
@Kal Ipers: The Pulse system is what, 20 years+ in operation? I doubt that was taken into account when it was installed. Probably a log in named Admin for every station.
@Carpentoza: eh you better get to the Jax quick pal coz yer mouth appears to be expelling shite at an alarming rate.
@Jason: Ah now Luggs was a saint! He even used to refer to prostitutes as ‘ladies of the night’ or something and believed in showing them respect at all times. Then again, he was probably one of their most regular customers!
@Anthony Halpin: so was your grandfather
@Phil Swan: cheers Phil, what happened was you read it and then you burst out with an insult. It’s all part of growing up don’t worry.
@Jason: yes Jason he was a thug, you didn’t understand the point I made but massaged your opinion and offered to sell it for more than it was worth. #justsaying
The worst thing is nothing will happen to these Garda, rotten to the core from top to bottom no confidence whatsoever in them
@Jonny: infantile commentary which is common place unfortunately.
What’s the cost of a TV license relative to bringing someone to court for not having one? Cost/Benefit is not always just about the case at hand.
A few sample prosecutions for obstructing the law could have been good value for money if found to be sustainable.
@Nydon: I genuinely wonder why someone always has to mention the tv licence??? The gardai dont prosecute someone for not having a licence!!!!
Build confidence, not a hope.no consequences for 2 million false breath tests,no consequences for this.country is a joke.
So redacted has used the high court to shut down the Sunday business post from reporting on the commission looking into the Siteserv (now known as Actavo) scandal!
@John Dman: it was the commission who didn’t wan
The 744 across 17 counties is most interesting.
The 744 should be charged with interfering with the course of justice.
Are these the same superintendents that can have you put away for IRA membership based on their word lol
So basically if you knew the right Garda all your offenses could be literally cancelled just like that.
Well done to that person/s who cancelled those points.
@Deirdre D’Arcy Murphy: Saved you a driving ban, did it, Princess?
The gardai can do what they want. Mass fraud & nothing done. Great country. Quick give them another payrise. Criminal behaviour.
Different strokes for different folks
God be with the days a guard could do you a turn. Youre b*ll!xed now if youre caught doing 65 in a 60 zone. I dont see the big issue. They werent exactly letting big criminals off the hook
And why would the dog consult the tail
What’s the point in being in with a super anymore if he can’t get u off a few fines, country is gone to the dogs!!
have your say