Episode #142 - My guest today has to be one of my favorites! Mr. Jesse Vazquez delivers powerful advice from the trenches throughout a long illustrious career.
He tells of early failure in his family’s Miami Cuban Cafe where 18 hour days were the norm, seven days a week. Imagine putting it all on the line and committing to a concept that’s bleeding money. They didn’t know what they didn’t know, but Jesse was determined to find out and learn the business from the inside out.
Despite negative stigma and the disappointment of family and friends, he tells how McDonald’s gave him an invaluable education and then had him opening franchise restaurants in multiple countries.
When he was ready to start his own restaurant and then open more concepts, he applied “systems” which became his exit strategy. Before social media, Jesse talks about how he went outside his place to find customers and bring in the business (“street fighting as he calls it”).
He tells how Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and “great chicken” put his operation on the map. Imagine selling 2,000 pounds of chicken every day, while the personable “Rock” signed endless autographs for surprised customers.
Jesse ultimately pivoted and now is giving young chefs a leg up and the chance to make their mark on this great business.
Other key-learnings include:
Why customers visit a restaurant: Is it the food, the location, the ambiance, the service?
The 5 Systems used by all successful restaurants: Training, recruiting & retention, scheduling, planned maintenance and production
The power of your “Brand”, not just the business’ brand but your personal brand and what your sign says about your restaurant
Why you should grow your business slowly and this one might surprise, why we don’t want happy employees working for us.
This episode holds so much passion for this business and endless take-aways you can apply today to run a stronger restaurant. Don’t miss it!
You can find Jesse at Jancg.com or email him at jvazquez@jancg.com
Please stick around to the end of the episode to learn about our Free Webinar that gives you the tools to execute all these ideas.
As I mentioned in the episode, to watch my FREE WEBINAR: “How To Start + Run A Wildly Successful Restaurant” - Register Here >> https://go.restaurantrockstars.com/webinar
Now go out there and Rock Your Restaurant!
Roger
