Studying restaurant business is a
The more
waste of time.
By Yulia Akisheva
The myth about the necessity of the
studying restaurant business to succeed in
it has been ruined recently. The idea of
making young and ambitious people apply
to universities to study the business in
order to become a restaurateur was put
down.
The modern research shows that the
restaurant business requires more of
natural gifts than academic studies from a
restaurateur. Graduation from a business
school does not guarantee the future
success. A person who has a business sense
is more likely to achieve more in the
restaurant business than a person who has
studied the business at university.
The picture of Sharif Sultani’s restaurant.
The industry of the restaurant business is
growing rapidly. Modern people prefer to
eat out not only on special occasions, but
every day. It is saving time for the busy
people. It is convenient for the people who
do not like cooking at home.
consumers are using the restaurant service,
the bigger is the competition for
restaurateurs. Restaurant owners must be
on the track of the latest trends in the
industry. They should be a step ahead of
competitors. To do so restaurateurs have
to devote themselves to the sphere of the
business. And here many people get it
wrong. Personal devotion to the restaurant
business does not mean or require studying
it. More than that, it is a waste of time. To
get the needed knowledge it is best to start
off with working at a restaurant of some
kind. A group of professional writers and
successful restaurant owners suggest to
“get a job doing whatever anyone will hire
you to do, and make lists of things you’d do
differently and note things you like to
implement in your place” in their book
Starting and Running a Restaurant for
Dummies1. Studying the restaurant business
at university or high school will take up the
time that could be spent on getting the
actually relevant knowledge about the
principles of the work. Sharif Sultani, an
experienced restaurateur, has been
interviewed on the question of the
necessity of studying to open a restaurant.
He said: “Studying might help you, but to
learn how to deal with the real issues it is
best to get a job at a restaurant. I haven’t
studied the business at university, and
managed it pretty well anyway. The
restaurant business is something you need
1
Garvey, Michael. Starting & Running a Restaurant
for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007. Print.
to be born for. If you do not have a business
sense or a passion to do the work, you will
not become a success. Studying cannot help
much here.”
The main goal of a restaurateur is to keep
customers coming back. To make them do
so a restaurateur must meet the customers’
taste and be creative with it. Something
special and unique will attract a lot of
people and make a good reputation for a
restaurant. It should be something that is
hard to find elsewhere. Unfortunately, a
university does not train the creativeness of
its students. Only through working with
customers practicants become innovative. It
is a real job, and a job only, that can help
one to understand the customers’ tastes
and demands.
The restaurant business is enlarging very
fast. It is being expanded, franchised,
shared, sold and resold again. If you want to
fit in the frames of the industry and become
a successful restaurateur, you need to get
going now. Do not waste your time on
applying for a university to study the
business. You will throw away a couple of
years of your life, if you do so. If you want
to benefit from the advices of experienced
restaurateurs, here is the first thing to do:
find a job at a restaurant. You also have to
do constant research on the new trends in
the industry to handle the competition. The
research does not have to be based on
university studies – you can interview the
restaurateurs you know. The other thing to
do is to make a precise plan of the set up of
your restaurant. Here the ban on reading
books about restaurant business can be
excused. You may really need to consult
some books when writing the plan,
especially if you are completely new to the
profession.
If you are still very determined about the
necessity of studying the business, you can
attend some workshops instead of spending
several years on university studies.
Specified courses or workshops will
introduce you to the way business is held
nowadays. Trust the people who have
already run their business. Most of them
would recommend you to use your time
wisely and get involved into the world of
the restaurant business as soon as possible.
The future of a restaurant mostly depends
on its owner’s personality. Passion,
devotion, creativity and leadership skills are
the major traits that make up a good
restaurateur. University studies have some
advantages, but a university diploma is not
a guarantee for the future success. Practice
and experience is much more of such a
guarantee.