How to expand the size of the company in order to reduce risk and avoid losing money?

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What are the risks of growth and expansion? We often see chain brands that expand too fast at first, but half a year later, stores everywhere are confused. Is it that when the group gets bigger, something is bound to be lost? So how do you strike a balance between expansion and growth? Danny, founder of Union Square Caf é, the most popular restaurant in New York. The experience of Danny Meyer can be used for reference.

Mel became a star in the New York restaurant industry at a young age, and in 1985, at the age of 27, he opened his first Union Square restaurant, which was well received. When someone wanted to cooperate with him to open another restaurant, he thought about it and offered three conditions: first, the new restaurant must be as special as Union Square; second, it must be able to enhance the value of Union Square; and third, he must make his work and life more balanced, not increase his working hours.

In fact, Mel will make these requests in order to prevent himself from opening another restaurant. Because he was already working 16 hours a day, and he didn't think he could open another better restaurant. But he later opened it, called Gramaercy Tavern, also near Union Square. The reason is that, on the one hand, he has the opportunity to hire an excellent chef with excellent culinary skills, and on the other hand, he is worried about the increase in the turnover rate of middle-ranking cadres in Union Square. He thinks that if the promotion opportunities for these employees cannot be created, there will be a constant loss of talent.

In 1997, after the opening of "Grammy Building", it was selected as the fourth most popular in New York City by the American Restaurant Evaluation Guide, with Union Square in first place. From 2000 to 2005, the two restaurants rotated between first and second places. As his career grew bigger and bigger, many people came to him to persuade him to open branches in cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The five-minute principle and thinking about the future of employees

But Mel refused their request and invented a "five-minute principle". It means never open a restaurant five minutes away from his home, because he thinks one of the important jobs of the restaurant owner is to "show up" in the restaurant to let people know you, observe the behavior of employees and customers during the meal, and interact with them.

From 1998 to 2004, he opened four restaurants around Union Square, each with its own characteristics. For example, No. 11 Madison Park is a magnificent and luxurious restaurant with an Art Deco dining environment and bars as its selling point, while Tabra serves a mixture of American and Indian cuisine.

These restaurants are like different novels written by talented writers, each with a unique plot theme and characters, from the menu, the atmosphere of the dining space, the clothes of the waiters to the taste and smell of the food. all show the distinctive character of each restaurant.

Gradually, however, Mel is no longer so disgusted with "growth". There are many reasons. First of all, his management team, partners and employees have been able to face the growth of the company and actively seek new challenges. "I find that I am one of the few people on the team who have reservations about growth," he said. "but I will choose people who are looking forward to the growth of the company. They are very ambitious. If you want your restaurant to perform best in the long run, you have to hire ambitious people to be your employees. "

As a result, his five-minute rule later broke, and in 2004, he decided to open a restaurant and two cafes called Hyundai in the renovated Hyundai gallery. "I can't run all the restaurants anymore, so I know very well that my role has to change from restaurant owner to CEO of catering company."

These restaurants are very different from cafes and other restaurants in Mel. In general, guests in a restaurant may come from all directions before entering the restaurant, as if they had just got off the plane or just finished a meeting. But the cafes in gallery are for those who come to the exhibition, so they have to get into these people's mode of thinking and think about what customers expect to enter a cafe after a few hours on gallery.

"We found that the service must be fast, because guests have already taken the time to see works of art, and when they enter the cafe, they will probably just have to have a good rest on their feet, fill their stomachs and finish eating quickly. Therefore, our job is to think about what can be done besides meeting these three basic requirements. "

Today, the group employs more than 1,000 people and continues to grow. For Mayer, in addition to expanding his career, opening a new restaurant also aims to provide opportunities for employees' career development so that they do not have to leave Union Square to grow and take on challenges. In this way, he can retain the talent he doesn't want to lose.

If you want to have a choice, you must stick to it.

Back to the original question, what are the risks of growth and expansion? For example, can you still maintain a good relationship with your customers? "it may be difficult for customers and me to be as close as they used to be, but they must want to be good friends with the restaurant staff. When I came into the office one morning, I received three e-mail letters saying that they enjoyed eating in our restaurant. One mentioned the store manager, the other affirmed the restaurant manager, and the last one praised a waiter. Our staff will think about how to make the restaurant better.

He paused, "of course, the biggest challenge is not to lose the soul of the restaurant, once lost, I do not think I will let the restaurant grow, I have no interest in this kind of restaurant." Mr Mayer is optimistic that he can "expand while keeping a soul". After all, in the early days of his business, he successfully resisted the temptation of expansion and achieved what he is today. This means that he has the ability to choose how big and fast he wants to grow.

Another inspiration here is, "if you want to have a choice, you have to stick to it first." All successful enterprises have faced the pressure of growth, from customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and competitors and so on. If you don't stick to it, these forces will help you decide, and in the end, you won't even have a chance to go your own way.