There is so much going on – The U.S. Open, World Cup, Father’s Day – that it’s hard to know about which topic to write. But since it’s Friday, I know the answer: food! There will be lots of cookouts this weekend – we’re going to a couple – and it’s interesting me to that I can see which hosts have lots of business savvy and which have less just from their menu. Am I psychic?
Not really. The smart businesspeople/hosts do a number of things that distinguish them. They don’t try to accomplish tasks for which they are not staffed or skilled. What I mean by that is they don’t try to smoke a brisket on a hibachi grill – not possible. They make sure that they have the proper tools to accomplish the job and plan their menus accordingly.
If they have 25 or 30 people coming, they’re smart enough to cook primal cuts – big pieces of meat which can be divided into portions when served – rather than doing piece work – cooking individual steaks to order. In fact, the really smart ones think of menus which can be prepared ahead and held for a few hours before serving – pulled pork for example. Good business people recognize that you need to tailor the process to the situation and the desired outcome. You might want to serve 50 people perfectly cooked Steak Diane but trust me, unless you have a team of cooks standing by (you’ll probably need 25 if you want to serve everyone at once!), it’s not the meal to plan.
What you don’t want to be doing, as a cook or as a business person, is trying to satisfy the needs of 30 when your only experience is in serving 6. Scaling is when a lot of problems, which were probably there all along, become evident. This is when you call caterers or buy big trays of food from a store. In business, this is when you call people like me – experts who you bring in to help for a time.
Have a happy day, all you Dads and cook something you love. After all, isn’t that what business is all about?
Consult Keith 