it is not too risky. so build a fan base before you go to look for the money. if she wants to start a restaurant, build a fan base of clients that she has for the catering business and then get people to vouch for her, and maybe a blog or a twitter feed where people are connecting with her, and say, i have done all of the catering jobs and all of these happy customers and now i want the next step with the restaurant. it is tricky situation because more and more restaurants are getting the start as food trucks and once they have established the loyal following going into the brick and mortar location. and the take away is to get the investment money signed before you sip on gn on to that locati and we are hearing from the businesses more and more tougher to get a loan or outside inves t ment and one thing she did not mention is community banks and credit unions which were not swept up in the financial mess and are lending to the smaller businesses and something for
so as you all know every once in a while we have a learning from the pros segment where we interview a very successful entrepreneur and this week we enlisted rod kurtz to help us. well, sir richard branson and i have had the privilege to know him over the past few years and i was down at the virgin america launch in philadelphia recently and i asked him that every entrepreneur in the world looks up to you, so what is your advice for them? little thing that you do little things matter. and what makes for a great restaurant is the owner being there, you know, often cooking in that restaurant and getting every single little detail right. and that s where, you know,
piece no matter how mad people are, make them happy. often times we get people calling us up who is so upset about things that are not our fault, and how do you make them happy and how do you challenge the employees to make the cu customer as happy as you feel as an owner. well, it is a classic challenge. the challenge is to get the ownership to the people, and make them feel as though they are a partner as well and they have a vested interest as well, and of course, you could compensate them somehow, but make it part of their business. you think about something like a restaurant or i travel a lot, airplane flight, and it is an experience, and the challenge is, you know, i can pick any airline to get me from a to b, but it is the experience of six hours in a metal tube that is important, right. and you want to i don t want a staff of employees, but a staff of entrepreneurs and empower them and give them
and where i see it falling down is when the employer says you cannot be on facebook or twitter at work, and what do you mean, you don t trust me, and when you say, i trust you to do the right thing, then they magically, the work becomes better, and they do have a vested ownership, because it is we and not us versus them. and finally the idea of hospitality or service is what you are supposed to do and hospitality is bigger than that and getting them happier when they leave than when they come in. it is an interesting concept, because sometimes when i go to restaurants, i m alone and i m on a business trip and i want to get in and out quickly. i don t want the experience. and all of the flowery stuff if i m with my family, great, but when i m on my own, i bring my newspaper, and get me the food and get me out of here. and in the restaurant that recognize recognizes that, what great hospitality, and even though it may not be in the rulebook that you get this guy in and out fast. an
you will just prove struggling and trying, you can become an entrepreneur, and i think that applies to most people. and if they fall flat on their face, they will try again and the next time around, i suspect they will be successful. it is time now to answer some of your business questions, and rod and david are with us again. the first one is an e-mail and i had an investor to open up a casual restaurant and we found the ideal space but after signing the lease, the investor withdrew his support. today, other people in town don t want to partner with me, or provide a short-term loan, and the bank won t loan me money, because of my credit, and what should i offer the next investor, and fantastic question, because it happens all of the time. tough situation. what the investors are doing is to mitigate the risks. they are happy to give money if