In this case, the owner had an MBA from a prestigious business school, and while in school had specialized in entrepreneurship…she was a well-trained entrepreneur—or was she?

Here were the business problems that surfaced during the course of the show:

• This entrepreneur had no previous“experience” running a business. This was her first business.

• She had no “core knowledge” for running a restaurant.

• There was a distinct lack of passion for her chosen business. She said she wanted an existing business so she would not have to “start from scratch,” and this opportunity just showed up.

• She exhibited no leadership, nor control, over her staff. The cooks did whatever they felt like doing, and the owner was mostly unaware.

• This business owner spent little time on the “front line” with her people—she was oblivious to what actually went on in the kitchen. The “front line” was in disarray and she didn’t know it.

• She could not test the products she was serving customers, because she was a vegetarian, and this was not a vegetarian restaurant.

• She was also dating one of her employees, which, in a small business, totally precludes any sense of leadership within the business.

• This entrepreneur was totally out of touch with her customers. The food was poor, and she responded to their immediate complaints with apologies, but never tried to fix the long-term problem.

• No improvements were ever made to the customer’s “experience” during the five years this person owned the business. The menu stayed the same, as did the décor, and dishes.

• The computer system for transmitting food orders to the kitchen was antiquated and worn out.

It was obvious that during her MBA studies, this person was not taught much about becoming an entrepreneur and actually operating a Business. Of course, Gordon Ramsey “fixed” everything and turned the business around—but for how long? It would be interesting to see a follow-up show to see just how much this person learned from Ramsey about becoming an entrepreneur.

Watch for my next post where I will give some tips on how to become an entrepreneur.

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Civility and thoughtfulness and manners–it was George Washington’s forte and ‘competitive advantage,’ and it’s worked for me in far, far, far more humble settings.

–Tom Peters

Costco publishes a monthly magazine called the “Costco Connection,” and in each issue the editors pose a debate question and asks readers to respond. A recent issue of this magazine asked the question “Is civility dead?” Interestingly, 71% of the respondents answered YES. It appears that the vast majority of people (who read the Costco Connection) believe that civility is indeed dead.

Obviously, this is not a scientific poll and needs to be taken with a grain of salt. But, I think it does say something about our U.S. society. Of course there are many caring, and giving, people all across the nation, but I think what is being considered here is the everyday experience of interacting with our rapidly changing narcissistic culture.

What do you think—is civility dead, or dying, in the U.S.?

As an example: BusinessWeek recently published the pay records of 10 of the highest paid board members of various big-name companies. The average pay to sit on the boards of these companies was $1,686,297 for the year 2008.

The highest paid of the group was Anthony P. Terracciano, who was paid $4,789,993 for sitting on the board of SLM—a giant student loan company. To Terracciano’s credit, he also turned down more compensation in the form of bonuses and additional stock options.

The biggest problem for most directors is that, because of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, they have had to increase their annual hours worked from an average of about 100 hours per year, to an average of about 225 hours per year.

A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work?

Try it—maybe you’ll like it!

Bob

• NBC paid $820 Million for the broadcast rights to the games—34% more than they paid for the rights to broadcast the 2006 games.

• The 2010 games are costing Canada $7.85 Billion, of which $1 Billion is for security alone. (What has happened to our world where so much security is needed for a “sporting” event? What is mankind becoming?)

• The most profitable Olympics were held in Los Angeles in 1984, with $464 Million (today’s dollars) profit.

• Rumors estimate the cost of the next winter games in Sochi, Russia at $33 Billion.

• The most expensive Olympics were held in Beijing in 2008 where they dropped a cool $40 Billion. (I imagine much of that expense was for facilities that did not exist prior to the games).

• The Royal Canadian Mint extracted gold, silver, and copper from 6.8 TONS of electronic trash headed for the landfill, to make 615 Olympic and 399 Paralympics medals.

• Today’s Olympic Gold Medals are 92.5% silver (the rest copper), covered with 6 grams of gold plating.

• The last all-gold medals were made for the winter Olympics in Stockholm—in 1912.

I hope these Winter Olympics are profitable for Canada, and I wish the best of luck to all the participants!

Has anyone ever worked for a boss that used intimidation as their management style? Something for all small business owners to remember—it destroys all semblance of teamwork.