Adrian Richardson Q&A: How to Run a Successful Hospitality Business

Adrian Richardson, owner of Impos venues La Luna Bistro and Bouvier Bar, was one of the first Impos customers. Since 2009, Adrian’s business has been benefiting from the Impos point of sale system.

His restaurant in Melbourne, La Luna, is a small but much-loved, long-standing venue, famous for serving fantastic meat dishes. Adrian also recently opened up a New York-style bar called Bouvier Bar. Impos had a chat with Adrian to find out how he built his successful empire.

What was your inspiration to open La Luna Bistro?

Really my intention from the very beginning of my career was to own my own venue. I wanted to become ‘known’ for providing simple, robust and flavour-driven food, with a strong focus on meats.

I worked with a number of different people in Australia and overseas to learn how to run a business, then when I thought I was ready, I went out on my own.

What were the biggest challenges that you fronted early on?

The hospitality side of the business – being a chef, running front of house, managing a kitchen – that’s what you’re familiar with and you’re trained to do. However, running a business – the management and finance side – is a different ball game altogether. Learning how to run a business was certainly the most challenging part of it as opposed to learning how to run a kitchen or manage a restaurant.

What are the top business mistakes hospitality owners commonly make when they first start out?

A big one is overcapitalising on the set up of the venue, leaving them with little cash flow: cash flow is king to a small business.

Many new hospitality business owners are also very focused on the kitchen, front of house and the wine list, instead of being equally focused on ensuring the business is sound. Sometimes chefs have a mentality that they’re going to ‘change the world,’ or ‘teach people how to eat well’. But at the end of the day, your venue is a shop front; people come in and buy what you sell. If the experience isn’t good, or you come across arrogant, they’re not going to come back and your business will come unstuck pretty quickly.

How do you know when is the time to launch a second venue?

I launched my second venue, Bouvier Bar in Melbourne’s Brunswick East in October 2016. Prior to launching I spent a lot of time researching and observing how people are eating today. What I found was people want to spend less money, but eat out more often – I believe this is the trend of the future. People like sitting in a bar, and if you’re clever about it, you can make it a venue that people want to return to.

In terms of nailing where to launch, do your due diligence and research the areas you’re interested in. Brunswick East is really booming in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs; it’s experienced strong real-estate growth, has the right demographic for Bouvier Bar. Also I was lucky enough to find a good-sized venue on bustling Lygon Street, where I could expand in the future provided the business is successful.

Finances aside, I think it’s a matter of when you feel confident enough to do so – when your family is happy and you are healthy.

You also need to make sure you have a good management structure in place. People will generally be more forgiving when you open your first venue, but with a second venue comes high expectations, so you need to be at the top of your game.

What’s your advice for new business owners?

1. Don’t do it! But if you decide to do it, have a business plan.

Really clarify what you’re going to do, where you’re going to sell it, and who you’re selling it to

2. Smart up on accounting

Do a bookkeeping or accounting course. Consider taking on a partner who you trust to manage that side of the business

3. Shadow successful hospitality business owners before going out on your own

Go out and work for people who are good at what they do. I worked with a number of great people including; Michael Bacash who owns Bacash Restaurant in Melbourne, Harry Kambolis in Canada who previously owned Raincity Grill and C Restaurant, and Anthony Worrall Thompson in England. These guys taught me that having a love and passion for what you do is key to having a successful business, helped me realistically prepare for what was to come, and also gave me insight into how to successfully run more than one business.

4. Don’t try and be the best in the beginning, give yourself time to find your niche

You build success, it’s not a given. You might aim to get a small business up and running over two to three years; serving great food at good value, and reassessing at that point. That way, you can learn, trial and tweak your offering without getting people offside – whether that’s customers, staff or suppliers – early. Along the way you might realise that your pies sell like hotcakes – so why not sell pies wholesale to the supermarket? Or instead of being a fine dining restaurant, your business will be more successful bistro style.

5. Stay true to yourself

Owning a business is a lot harder than you think; there is a lot of commitment and compromise, and every day is different and challenging. But at the same time, it’s very exciting and you’re always learning. So good luck!