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COVID ruined my restaurant

Last year I added a successful family restaurant in town to my investment portfolio. To save operating costs I let 3 of the 4 waitstaff go, replaced the head chef with a minimum wage line cook, changed the supplier to Sodexo's economy tier and eliminated most of the low-profit items from the menu. I also removed a lot of the seats to encourage guest turnover. When customer volume declined unexpectedly, I had to let the remaining waiter go to protect my investment's ability to produce, and assigned their duties to the line cook. I then had barely any customers and they all complained about the food, which is the line cook's fault for not doing their job correctly. COVID killed my business, but thankfully I was able to recoup some of the losses with a PPP grant before selling the building. People who complain about business owners don't realize how…


Last year I added a successful family restaurant in town to my investment portfolio. To save operating costs I let 3 of the 4 waitstaff go, replaced the head chef with a minimum wage line cook, changed the supplier to Sodexo's economy tier and eliminated most of the low-profit items from the menu. I also removed a lot of the seats to encourage guest turnover.

When customer volume declined unexpectedly, I had to let the remaining waiter go to protect my investment's ability to produce, and assigned their duties to the line cook. I then had barely any customers and they all complained about the food, which is the line cook's fault for not doing their job correctly.

COVID killed my business, but thankfully I was able to recoup some of the losses with a PPP grant before selling the building. People who complain about business owners don't realize how much risk is involved. You can make all the smart and right decisions, and still end up with disappointment.

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