Seven months now seems to pass by at a blink of an eye, however back in 1985 it appeared to be a very long time. With John and Kay (primarily John) as my mentors there was so much to learn and get to grips with in a new career. As I was finding out it wasn’t just a job but a ‘way of life’.
John took his ‘way of life’ very seriously and was constantly looking at ways to improve, always had his finger on the pulse with the market competition and maintained high standards at all times. This last point in particular has stood me well in my life realising that you can please some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time. John always used to say ‘the customer is always rights..... except when it comes to money!’ Both John and Kay were a wealth of information, but from my side it was understanding how to access that and utilise it to my advantage.
Unlike most publicans, I had two days off a week (never had that with my own business) and would generally go back to my parents home and spend time there. From my perspective I thought that was all I needed to do as I was working 5 days per week (including weekends), long hours but I thought it was my right to ‘switch off’ from this new career, I was wrong.
One week after returning from two days off John was not in the best of moods (his moods did tend to vary anyway), I really wasn’t sure why. A few days later I remember him exploding with rage on how I didn’t seem to really care about this new career. He was clearly angry and accused me of not committing, this really did catch me on the hop, in fact I was quite hurt by his remarks because I thought I was working really hard and getting on with what was needed doing. However, the point that I was missing was when it came to being ‘my own business’ the success and failure would be down to me and that would be where the buck would stop. Quite clearly I had missed the point that having your own business you never really switch off from it and need to be constantly on your guard and develop your ‘way of life’. After spending a few days of licking my wounds, I decided I would ‘show him’ that I ‘did’ care and prove to him (more importantly to myself) I did have what it takes.
The next two days off weren’t spend relaxing at my parents, instead they were focused on visiting as many pubs in 2 days and assessing the opposition, seeing what they were good and not so good at, compiling a mini report on each and returning back to John on the Tuesday evening with the findings. In fact 19 pubs were visited over that two day period and much was learnt in a very short space of time, the penny had dropped!
From that point onwards, I had learnt a lesson which I have stuck to ever since. If something means that much and you believe in it, then you need to put in the spade work to give it a real chance of sustaining and growing. In fact it was a ‘way of life’ and realisation that by putting something in to it you will get something out.
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Sunday, 13 June 2010
The Steep Learning Curve & My First Mentor
In some ways as we all find out in life ‘getting a job’ can be the easy bit, the work really begins when you start it and I wasn’t anticipating the steep learning curve either.
Being young, I had little fear and the bigger picture of buying a house, having kids etc really didn’t come into it, I would have plenty of time to do that later. As I’ve said I fell into the licensed trade more by accident than plan, I had to give up my DJ career; watching my favourite football team on a regular basis and being within a stones throw of my immediate family. But hey, this is a brave new world and it was exciting, a challenge and certainly a step into the unknown.
Not too sure if it was an omen but my licensed career started on 1st April 1985, April Fool’s Day! I remember it well; it was a Monday, the week leading into Easter and quite different from being a pen pusher with the council. I was there to learn about cellar management, serving drinks, taking food orders, completing dray orders and of course seeing the dray in, yes a very different world.
Going back to the first day I distinctly remember my first morning serving in the bar, never pulled a pint before or really engaged with customers in the way I needed to, in fact my stomach was churning. Getting through that lunchtime session was an achievement. We had lunch with the licensees John & Kay Cook, John was about 10 years older than me and Kay about six years older. By that time John and Kay had been in the licensed trade for many years, in fact Kay was only 18 when she started, even younger than me. But with hard work, long hours and sticking to their principles they had carved out a very lucrative business and were perfect Mentors.
John (who has unfortunately passed on) was to say the least an odd character, he had many quirky ways but had a strong sense of doing things the right way and constantly reminded me about the ‘small things’ that really matter. He clearly lived, ate and breathed his life/profession, never settling for second best, always looking to improve and expecting his staff to follow in the same manner. Kay was a little different, much more approachable, the same strong principles but you knew where you were with Kay as opposed to John. These were great mentors and the wiser I have become the more I realise what a profound impact they have and still have on me to this very day.
John loved his cars, when I started working for them he had a Rolls Royce and a Scimitar and there was me with my Mark IV Ford Cortina. He also loved good food, good company and a decent bottle of wine.
In those early days I didn’t realise at first how much I needed to learn/take in and focus on to be successful. The learning curve was certainly steep but I had the ideal Mentors to guide me.
Being young, I had little fear and the bigger picture of buying a house, having kids etc really didn’t come into it, I would have plenty of time to do that later. As I’ve said I fell into the licensed trade more by accident than plan, I had to give up my DJ career; watching my favourite football team on a regular basis and being within a stones throw of my immediate family. But hey, this is a brave new world and it was exciting, a challenge and certainly a step into the unknown.
Not too sure if it was an omen but my licensed career started on 1st April 1985, April Fool’s Day! I remember it well; it was a Monday, the week leading into Easter and quite different from being a pen pusher with the council. I was there to learn about cellar management, serving drinks, taking food orders, completing dray orders and of course seeing the dray in, yes a very different world.
Going back to the first day I distinctly remember my first morning serving in the bar, never pulled a pint before or really engaged with customers in the way I needed to, in fact my stomach was churning. Getting through that lunchtime session was an achievement. We had lunch with the licensees John & Kay Cook, John was about 10 years older than me and Kay about six years older. By that time John and Kay had been in the licensed trade for many years, in fact Kay was only 18 when she started, even younger than me. But with hard work, long hours and sticking to their principles they had carved out a very lucrative business and were perfect Mentors.
John (who has unfortunately passed on) was to say the least an odd character, he had many quirky ways but had a strong sense of doing things the right way and constantly reminded me about the ‘small things’ that really matter. He clearly lived, ate and breathed his life/profession, never settling for second best, always looking to improve and expecting his staff to follow in the same manner. Kay was a little different, much more approachable, the same strong principles but you knew where you were with Kay as opposed to John. These were great mentors and the wiser I have become the more I realise what a profound impact they have and still have on me to this very day.
John loved his cars, when I started working for them he had a Rolls Royce and a Scimitar and there was me with my Mark IV Ford Cortina. He also loved good food, good company and a decent bottle of wine.
In those early days I didn’t realise at first how much I needed to learn/take in and focus on to be successful. The learning curve was certainly steep but I had the ideal Mentors to guide me.
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