Interview With A Business Owner

For this assignment, I chose to interview, my mother, a restaurant owner. Although I do not plan on taking over the family business, I feel as though the advice of a business owner can be beneficial if I plan on opening my own someday. When asked what about the field attracted her to the restaurant business, she replied that it is all she has ever done her whole life and that she grew up in the restaurant since she was two years old. In addition, she loves interaction with customers and meeting new people. She is required to use creativity while cooking in kitchen in order to meet the unique needs of customers. She also said that she was drawn to this field because she would be doing something different everyday as opposed to the repetitious

She went on to list that she has worked at jobs including the bowling alleys, supper clubs, fine dining, and banquet halls, which have all further educated her in what she needed to know to own her own business. In addition, working in retail business to learn the financial end of money, taxes, and accounting. Today, she continues to attend yearly seminars and and gains numerous learning opportunities through local chambers and restaurant associations. Third, when questioned about how she rates her quality of life and job satisfaction, she began by stating that quality of life is important because your job becomes your life because over half your day is spent at your job. She continues by stating that your time, heart and soul is put into your job, so you need to enjoy going to work everyday She goes on to say that owning a restaurant is a very challenging, time consuming career, but it is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do because dedication is the key to a successful business. She says that she constantly looks for new ideas to stay ahead of her competition and to entice new customers to walk through the

Also, she has less employees than chain facilities which may be a downfall, but over time, the employees become family. She has given up a lot of her family time to dedicate it to the business but she believes that the rewards she will reap when she retires will all be worth it in the end. She has had to learn to balance the business and her family life. With owning her own business, this balance is not always easily maintained, and sometimes family has to suffer because she is not at home all the time. Fourth, when asked what she enjoys most about owning a restaurant, her answers are very similar to those of job satisfaction and quality of life. She lists a number of aspects she enjoys including meeting new people, training new employees, creating new entrees to serve, and going to food shows to learn about new products to be used in business. In addition, she enjoys the satisfaction of customers coming out and having a great night due to the staff and facilities. Finally, when asked what personal qualities are required to do the job well, she replied that to succeed, you need to be hardworking, determined, motivated, and a team