When my mom opened Dotty’s Diner in North Minneapolis, she and the waitress she’d hired sat at the counter for many days, waiting for customers to show up.
Mom was scared.
She was divorced with a teenage daughter in 1960, not an encouraging combination. She had moved back in with her mother to save on rent, and borrowed $20,000 from her four brothers, sinking the money into professional kitchen equipment, counters, tables and chairs. And food. Perishable food. That no one was coming in to buy. She could see the money draining away as she did the books in her little back office every night after closing.
So she did what every entrepreneur has to do when business isn’t going the way they want: she took a look at what was wrong and found a way to fix it. Some things she tried, like radio ads, didn’t work. Others were harder to quantify, but began to add up:
- The previous owner had let the place run down and it had a reputation in the neighborhood as a greasy spoon, so Mom recruited family and friends to spend a Sunday literally scrubbing the place from top to bottom – including walls and ceilings – so it would feel sparkling clean.
- She hired a sign painter to create eye-catching, colorful ads on the big plate glass windows.
- She saw to it that surrounding factories in that industrial neighborhood had flyers on their employee bulletin boards, telling them about the new management and low prices.
- And she cooked good food.
Soon, the factory workers started coming in to check out the food. They discovered the coffee was good and strong, just the way they liked it. Hot, homemade cinnamon rolls drew them in for breakfast, along with fluffy, buttermilk pancakes with a side of eggs (over easy!) and sausage. They came for a fast-but-filling lunch of meat loaf with mashed potatoes swimming in gravy, or a cheeseburger with fries and a chocolate malt. This wasn’t health food, it was comfort food, and it was just what the factory workers, the truck drivers, and the small business owners in the neighborhood wanted – at a reasonable price. It was a good product and a great value.
Mom hired more waitresses and a cook to help with the growing work load, and the customers liked them too. There was much banter and laughter.
Lunch hour became Lunch Rush, when 100 or more people would swoop in out of nowhere, filling every seat, making it hard for waitresses and cooks to keep up. There was a satisfying rhythm to working the Lunch Rush: everyone was in sync and working at peak performance. When lunch was over and the Diner emptied out again, Mom, the waitresses, and the cook would plop down at the counter for a smoke and a rest before gearing up for the next rush.
Business was good.
But instead of sitting back and enjoying her success, Mom closed the Diner for a week and recruited her brothers to help remodel, expanding into the back storage area and kitchen to make room for more seating. She reinvested in her business. And: she relied on a strong support network – her family.
Now, customers could sit at the new counter, sipping coffee and shooting the breeze with her as they watched her cook their breakfast on the grill. She engaged with her customers.
Mom had one cardinal rule: always open on time – until she opened 24 hours. That’s when business boomed. The same factory workers and truck drivers (plus a lot of new faces) jammed the Diner after the bars closed to enjoy a steak and loud conversation before finally heading home. She gave them reliable service.
Now, business was great.
What Mom did wasn’t easy, but it was simple. And it’s simple for you to do the same:
- Be flexible – and honest with yourself. If it’s not working, figure out why and fix it.
- Offer a good product at a great value.
- Find your rhythm and enjoy the work.
- Reinvest in your business.
- Gather a strong support network of people who love you.
- Engage with your customers.
- Give reliable service.
You can take care of numbers 2, 4 and 5 by checking out the new Customer Love Machine e-course that starts this Tuesday – Day 1 of the #customerlove challenge! Or take the short course on how to create a kick-ass product by signing up for Monday’s free webinar.
Mom would approve.
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To borrow a phrase from a very good friend of mine: I LOVE EEET! 😀
Haha! I owe you big time for helping me figure this post out. Now I have another career for you: Writing coach!
“What Mom did wasn’t easy, but it was simple”
Sometimes getting that birds eye, overall view on your business is the hardest part. We get bogged down in detail that we forget simple rules like these. Thanks for the reminder!
I like that: bird’s eye view. Yes, we need to be able to see the big picture.
Thanks for visiting and commenting, Amy!
Hi LaVonne, Your Mum sounds like a lovely lady. We can all learn from her tenacity. Have a great weekend. Emma x
P.S. I will come back to you shortly to book a date for the voice coaching session I’ve paid for…….
She was, Emma, thanks. I still try to learn from her example every day.
Can’t wait for our session!
LaVonne,
This is a great story. Your mom sounds like a fabulous woman. Good for you.
I like the idea that she grew her business. She added new elements when the time was right.
I worked as a waitress in a place similar to your moms, Keiths Lunch. It was some of the funnest times of my life. At the time I did not know how to look at what a great businessman Kieth was. Now it is fun to look and take in what worked.
Thanks, Sheila! Mom was the best – really smart and courageous. She only had a 10th grade education, but she didn’t let anything stop her.
Keith’s Lunch sounds fabulous!
Mom was the best – really smart and courageous. She only had a 10th grade education, but she didn’t let anything stop her.
Keith’s Lunch sounds fabulous – thanks for commenting!
What a great story LaVonne! Mom was a true entrepreneur, and quite the independent lady of her time.
I can’t imagine the back-breaking biz of restaurant ownership. I spent my college years working for various food service establishments, and the owners/managers were the first to arrive and last to leave.
I love the tips to open on time, and establish your rythym. Without that structure and sync, it’s too easy to slack off.
It’s no wonder you wanted to flake off a bit in adulthood;)
Btw, what ever became of Dotty’s Diner?
Thanks, Linda! I’m very proud of Mom, even though I was an angsty teen who didn’t appreciate her at ALL back then. Your point about owners/managers being the first to arrive and the last to leave was very true with Mom, and I was resentful that the Diner took all of her time – as well as mine whenever I wasn’t in school. And yes, I have a bit of a lazy, flaky streak because of it, lol. But now that I have my own business, I understand her a lot better.
Sadly, Dotty’s Diner is a machine shop now. The whole neighborhood has been stripped bare by a freeway that ran right through it. Makes me cry sometimes, but all I have to do is write about it and it all comes back to life. My dream is to write a book about Dotty’s Diner and have some indie filmmaker make a movie of it. 🙂
The job that I loved the most was when I was in high school, working at a pizza parlor. I enjoy engaging with people. Sounds like your mom did too, and knew how to tackle the problem. – I’m still sorting mine (blog stuff) out, and trying to figure out how to provide something worthwhile online for others, so I can do it full time too. 🙂
I think that you’ve a blog that I’ll enjoy returning to. 🙂
Randy
I worked in a pizza parlor briefly, and loved it. What fun! Sometimes I think it would be awesome to have my own little breakfast place, and then I remember my feet and back – no thanks!
So glad to see you here, Randy. Looking forward to your return visits. 🙂
This was a great, practical post. Your mom sound wonderful. What a woman.
Alison, thank you so much! She was wonderful indeed. 🙂