Seema Boesky
Holiday Homage to Entrepeneurs
I’ll not soon forget the lessons learned on the obstacles entrepreneurs
face starting a new business. Survivors have my deepest respect.
My friend Sam’s concept for a healthy fast-food franchise intrigued me.
His eye-catching logo and concept seemed like it couldn’t miss, so I made
a modest investment and helped design menus and décor.
With a good location within walking distance from two colleges and with four
months of free rent, he was off to a perfect start. Sam hired a full complement
of waitstaff augmented by chef Bob, a grill expert with 25 years of experience.
Bob was key to the operation, as Sam had no cooking background. Primed to open,
he invited family and a few friends for a trial run.
Chef Bob, myself, and a nervous Sam met early that morning, and shortly thereafter,
Sam left to purchase last-minute items. I watched as Bob tinkered with the newly
installed gas stove. Bob seemed frustrated and then he, too, departed. Bob returned
with a $250 tool kit, removed the new grill’s front panel, and crawled
underneath. When Sam returned, only Bob’s shoes were visible, surrounded
by nuts, bolts, and oven parts. After Sam yanked him out, Bob confessed he couldn’t
find the pilots to ignite the grill. When I handed Sam the hardware invoice
and whispered, “Is it serious if the chef can’t start the stove?”
Sam nearly had heart failure. Fearing he was next in line to cook he begged
me, “Keep the faith!”
Waitress No. 1 arrived wearing black fishnet stockings, stiletto heels, and
a 2-inch skirt. Hours later, dissolved in tears with stockings shredded and
stilettos removed, she collapsed to rub her blistered feet.
Waitress No. 2 wore culottes and a strange looking ankle bracelet. It turned
out to be her house arrest cuff, part of a sentence for drug dealing.
Waitress No. 3 practiced making soft ice cream cones. Dollops of ice cream fell
to the floor or onto her clothes, but none hit their target! Sam switched her
to paper cups; her first score went onto a lid.
In addition to employee problems, there were equipment failures. Sam’s
walk-in cooler cooked instead of cooled, and the soda machines wouldn’t
make ice. Weeks passed. When I stopped in one hot July afternoon, the restaurant
felt like an inferno. I found Sam in the cooler perched on a Pepsi crate doing
paperwork. His cooler failed daily, so Sam’s routine was to climb a ladder
to the roof and restart the generator there. After months of complaining, the
company dispatched a repairman whose visit coincided with my own. Sam directed
him to the ladder, but hours later we noticed it had relocated under the Dunkin’
Donuts’ roof next door.
When the fellow saw us approaching he called out, “I think I’ve
found your problem.” Sam broke out laughing, just as the Dunkin’
Donuts manager arrived. “You idiots!” he screamed, “You blew
out my air conditioning! And what’s so damn funny?” Sam, still hysterical
answered, “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that
this expert hasn’t found my generator yet; the bad news is that he found
yours—and it’s in 100 pieces!”
Sam’s suicide threats abated once he opened to long lines of happy kids.
But shortly afterward business slumped despite radio and billboard blasts. His
healthy food unpopular, Sam scrapped his logo and brought in the deep fat fryers.
To his credit, he never lost his positive attitude. “Live and learn,”
he would say.
Headaches persisted however; filling in for absentee employees, cooking, serving,
cleaning tables, creating new recipes, overseeing preparation and presentation,
purchasing food and supplies, preparing employee benefits and filling out forms
wasn’t his dream fulfilled.
After two intense years, Sam made his best business decision—selling out
and moving to Florida! Driving away he smiled and said, “I may have aged
10 years in the last two, but my dream is clear now: Work for someone else!”
Send your questions to Seema at
The WAG will publish the most interesting questions but Seema says she will try to respond to all questions via e-mail.
We reserve the right to edit questions as space permits.
