The Saturday Market Theory Of Waiting Tables
It's my morning opening shift for the restaurant and I have a
new server trainee following me. We are going through the scheduled routine of
opening and cleaning (including waxing tabletops and picking gum off the
bottoms). My trainee says, "For such a big company why don't they have a
cleaning company do this? They're probably just trying to save a buck."
I looked at him and said, "Have you ever been to Portland's Saturday Market?" (I
should explain that the Saturday Market is familiar to many across the country.
You know... the craft fairs and flea markets. Where entrepreneurs gather to sell
their crafts and services.)
"Yep", he answers in a quizzical tone.
Well, here in my restaurant, I'm in the same boat at the entrepreneurs at the
Saturday Market. You see, my "booth" is my three-table section and my success is
completely determined by what I am willing to do with it. OK, yes I am an
employee. But, when I encounter my customers they only see me... I am the owner.
I am everything they expect to happen. In my customer's eyes I am responsible
for everything that happens to them during their visit... at my Saturday Market
booth.
Now on a practical basis that's a ridiculous concept. But, the reality of my
being "in charge" of my opportunity to stage myself for professional and
financial success is to understand and appreciate what an entrepreneurial
opportunity I have handed to me as a professional waiter. I dream of having my
own business, but on the immediate, I don't have the resources to make that
happen. I worked another career for ten years that was based on the concept of
using other people's money to get ahead... insurance. (A dignified profession I
might add.)
Well, I got hired as a waiter (not so dignified in some eyes) by a restaurateur
who handed to me a facility (a clean facility with polished table tops and no
sticky "gak" on the bottoms) that cost over $1,000,000. They also gave a food
and beverage inventory exceeding $70,000 to offer my customers. They also
provided an accounting department to calculate my business costs (to save a
buck) such as taxes, health insurance, vacation pay, and even retirement. Plus,
an executive division to plan my future profitable expansion (and managers to
execute effective daily operations, staffing levels, guidance, and personal
support to satisfy my customers). They even hired and trained a professional
in-house support staff (other waitstaff, hosts, bartenders, cocktail servers,
cooks, and dishwashers) so I could focus on my customers' needs and requests.
Why, they even paid thousand of dollars for advertising to bring in customers
for me. All of this for my own personal use!
You know what's crazy? The first day I showed up they paid me an hourly wage...
without ever selling a thing for them! But you know what is really, I mean
REALLY NUTS? I get all this opportunity handed to me... for nothing. I didn't
have to pay a dime for any of it. All I have to do is show up and invest
creative professional effort using the resources given to me. I am responsible
for my future. My challenge is how am I going to maximize all this opportunity
given to me at no cost?
Who says I'm not an entrepreneur? All I have to do is think like a business
person. I have my own business as a waiter...
A dignified profession, I must add!!
Paul C. Paz
WaitersWorld
12700 SW North Dakota, Suite 180
Tigard, OR 97223-3334 (USA)
503. 524.0788 FAX 524.4183
www.WaitersWorld.com
Dedicated exclusively to those aspiring to gain personal,
professional, and financial success plying the craft of Professional Waiter!
Career Professional Waiter, Hospitality Consultant, & Author
Service At Its Best: Waiter Waitress Training
A Guide to Becoming a Successful Server
Prentice-Hall Pearson Education Publishers
ISBN: 0-13-092626-4