Tuesday the inevitable happened… We ended up being without a guest speaker (due to one speaker rescheduling and multiple “backups” unable to make it on overly short notice).
Yet such is actually welcomed in Midwest Entrepreneurs; as long as it happens but once or twice a semester… It gives me the chance to reinforce one of the most important (general) things that business students can learn: The need to adapt to changing circumstances (and the need to be persistently ready to do so).
I turned to an old friend in this time of need: Spike TV’s Bar Rescue (http://www.spike.com/shows/bar-rescue).
If you are not familiar with Bar Rescue, the series stars consultant Jon Taffer, a no-nonsense former bar and nightclub owner who has owned, flipped, or somehow “rescued” over 800 such businesses in his career. Taffer and his crew of expert bartenders, chefs, and designers is brought in by bar owners–entrepreneurs–to save their declining and often severly neglected and dysfunctionally run businesses. After a period of surveillance and consultation and training meetings, Taffer brings in local contractors and other service providers to renovate and update the facility (based on his extensive bar/restaurant marketing and management expertise).
The episode that rescued Midwest Entrepreneurs Tuesday was a recent “Back to the Bar” special wherein Taffer and his colleagues went back to four previously rescued establishments to see how they were doing (roughly one year after rescue and relaunch). One bar had been very successful; to the point where a second location was being planned. One bar was given a “jury’s still out” rating by Taffer. The other two had been miserable—if not also sadly comical—failures. This variety of outcomes provided us ample opportunity to look at common themes of “what was done right” and “what was done wrong.” We also developed several over-arching, macro-level themes subsumed under the heading “Lessons Learned.”
Below, class blogger Mack Fulton nicely summarizes the lessons we learned on Tuesday.
Regards,
Professor Gabel
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From going to having a guest speaker to watching Bar Rescue, it was the perfect example of how you have to adapt and to have a backup plan for a backup plan.
Tuesday in class we discussed several lessons entrepreneurs learn while they run their business venture.
Three things that entrepreneurs must do to be successful as business owners is that they must (1) Adapt to anything that happens that was unexpected, (2) Understand that their business exists to Serve Customers, and lastly, (3) Have a backup plan for a backup plan.
These three issues are essential for success because things will go wrong and entrepreneurs must be ready for it to happen. Another mistake some entrepreneurs make are that they have a product that there is not a need for in the area they are in business. Another major reasons entrepreneurs have setbacks is because of poor management and they are too focused on micromanaging. This does not allow a business to work at its capability. This would take away from the focus needed on the consumer.
While watching Bar Rescue in class we saw vivid examples of entrepreneurs who would NOT adapt and businesses that did not exist to serve the customers (instead, the owners were out to have fun and live care-free through the business). In comparison to these entrepreneurs, the ones we have had in class serve their customers and focus on the customer’s experience. None of the bars on the Bar Rescue show we saw had a backup plan: Until John Taffer came and overhauled their venture to become successful (or not).
Entrepreneurs are going to make mistakes, it’s human nature. It is how a person can adapt when the pressure is present. How they react to the pressure determines if the entrepreneur would be successful or if they would fail in their venture.
Mack Fulton
