Should I or Shouldn't I????

[Driven29x]

Hello my fellow business people. I am caught in a dilemma..........
I am currently working at an airport with 100's of different contacts per day. I am there part time and it is just not cutting it. This pizza owner in Chicago that I met at the airport has multiple pizza places scattered throughout good areas of Chicago. He wants me to manage one near a (heavy flow of people) train station where nightclubs are by as well. He believes that I can do it with the "people person" skills that I have. I am pretty passionate about business but honestly I still need a lot a work. All I have is the confidence and drive. The pizza owner is pretty cutthroat and has been in the business 25 years. He wants to mold me and give me a chance. At the same time I still want to juggle my part time at the airport (for the benefits of flying and such) but this guy is banking and he said 2 of the store managers are banking as well.

My questions are...
Should I?
Shouldn't I?
Should I quit the airport job?
Is it the perfect opportunity?
What do you all think?

Driven 29 times

[akula]

well...it's not like you're being asked to join a coke distribution network in vegas...so I don't see any obvious problems with you entering the pizza biz

but dude..if you want more analysis...then consider your "exit options"..where is this pizza job gonna take you in 5 years? where do most guys who do this stuff end up? is that where you wanna be?

[Driven29x]

well...it's not like you're being asked to join a coke distribution network in vegas...so I don't see any obvious problems with you entering the pizza biz

but dude..if you want more analysis...then consider your "exit options"..where is this pizza job gonna take you in 5 years? where do most guys who do this stuff end up? is that where you wanna be?

It's a pizza management job. He pretty much wants me to be involved in strategic marketing and the profit part of it and all that good stuff. He was enticing me with 75k a year and pretty much saying if all goes well, I will get that. He was even talking about franchising and managing multiple stores. This guy knows what he is doing. Young and wealthy too. But I want to check out the other managers and the actually store first before I make my decision. I also think about the various competitors in Chicago he has and for what he's doing and making, it shows me signs that he is good at what he does.

[jasaunders]

75k if all goes well? What does that mean? What is the base salary and what is your bonus, and what metrics is your bonus based on?
This guy sounds like a really good saleman.
BTW, what is the name and where is this located?

[ltressel]

Hey Driven,

I think you are doing right by checking the other managers out first. Also, look into what education you can get out of being the manager.

You know-Dave Thomas of Wendy's started out as a bus boy at the age of 12. He was very determined to own his own chain of restaurants so for the education he decided to work under this restaurant (forgot the name) to learn the business inside out.

I'm saying this to give you a perspective that if you think that restaurant biz is what you want to do in the long run it probably won't hurt to take the job. If it won't make you happy though, probably shouldn't.


Hope this helps.

LT

[Driven29x]

Hey Driven,

I think you are doing right by checking the other managers out first. Also, look into what education you can get out of being the manager.

You know-Dave Thomas of Wendy's started out as a bus boy at the age of 12. He was very determined to own his own chain of restaurants so for the education he decided to work under this restaurant (forgot the name) to learn the business inside out.

I'm saying this to give you a perspective that if you think that restaurant biz is what you want to do in the long run it probably won't hurt to take the job. If it won't make you happy though, probably shouldn't.


Hope this helps.

LT

Well... My whole career by far has been customer service and food service. I am sure that I will be happy with the job even though hours might be crazy if he decides to go 24 hours a day. I can really tell with the competitive market in pizza, food in general, in Chicago that this guy really knows what he is doing

[jasaunders]

The thing is that the compensation you stated is very high for restaurants, especially pizza places. Store managers typically earn no more than $35,000 a year, general managers usually no more than $60,000. I would be very suspect of this. Especially since the restaurant you are talking about is relatively small and doesn't really do much in sales. I used to work at Lou Malnati's for about four years, which has much higher sales than the restaurant you are talking about, and the store managers who had years of restaurant experience made no where close to that figure. Especially given the fact that you have no food service experience, I would do much more investigating. And not to be critical, but it sounds very strange that this owner would approach someone he barely knows at the airport and just offer you a job to manage a store(s) without knowing more about you... he has an awful lot of trust.

Based on all the locations he is opening up, it looks like he got some infusion of capital to expand, but I wouldn't take everything at face value. I have eaten at the place you are talking about, the one on Clark St., and personally I think the pizza is terrible, but obviously my personal opinion doesn't influence sales.

[Driven29x]

The thing is that the compensation you stated is very high for restaurants, especially pizza places. Store managers typically earn no more than $35,000 a year, general managers usually no more than $60,000. I would be very suspect of this. Especially since the restaurant you are talking about is relatively small and doesn't really do much in sales. I used to work at Lou Malnati's for about four years, which has much higher sales than the restaurant you are talking about, and the store managers who had years of restaurant experience made no where close to that figure. Especially given the fact that you have no food service experience, I would do much more investigating. And not to be critical, but it sounds very strange that this owner would approach someone he barely knows at the airport and just offer you a job to manage a store(s) without knowing more about you... he has an awful lot of trust.

Based on all the locations he is opening up, it looks like he got some infusion of capital to expand, but I wouldn't take everything at face value. I have eaten at the place you are talking about, the one on Clark St., and personally I think the pizza is terrible, but obviously my personal opinion doesn't influence sales.

Well, actually all my experience has been food service and customer service. He approached me specifically because I booked him for a last minute flight, with another airline. He has been in the business 25 years and when it comes to the food, he targets the nightlife drunkards where taste buds don't exist after 20 drinks. I actually remember now that I had a slice from there and I wasn't hesistant to spend 5 bucks on a slice due to my state of mind. But I think you are right. Realistically the 75k a year doesn't really exist with 1 store. When I was talking to him, he pretty much told me everything he can tell me within 30 minutes. From profit margins, to marketing strategies and all that good stuff. I believe that he was saying the manager for the store on Clark manages 2 stores. I think the 75k figure is for franchising it. But I just got to do a little investigating. Thanks for the feedback though.

[clp11479]

i would sit down with him and discuss the compensation package. if he asks you to meet certain sales goals i would ask to see what the sales have been historically to see if the goals he is setting are realistic. i would also get everything in a written contract because some restaurant owners are scumbags and will stiff you in the end. i think it would be a good learning experience (at least in that industry - but some of it can be applied to most industries) in terms of running a business... from projecting sales to ordering the raw materials needed to handling promotions, etc.... give it a shot, doesnt sound like the airport gig is paying that much and it kinda sounds like a dead end job.