Well, I was talking to a dear friend this afternoon... That's right, I said,dear friend! note..."Dear friend" is a phrase that somehow makes me feel bashful but is earned through 33years of friendship or 87% of my lifetime. Those sorts of non family relationships are truly rare if you ask me so instead of just saying, "a friend," or "my pal," or "an old friend," I have chosen to modify with "dear." Now you know I am talking about someone who matters a great deal to me. Gooey I know ..."I love you man," says the drunk guys.
In the words of my music history professor, I digress.
My friend is a chef, a personal chef to be certain. He designs dazzling culinary creations for some fabulously rich people in NoCal. We were talking about his business, my entrepreneurial aspirations and life in general. Somehow we ended up on the subject of increasing revenues, though he used the humble phrase, make more money! The dilemma, how to increase revenue's and remain a small company of one or two? [digression #2: a great quote from today, " they aren't rich like that [billionaire's] but if the shit hit the fan they'd just wipe off the fan and turn it on again" -A+].
The combination: personal chef's + innovation conferences = taste and smell sensory innovation engagements!
Ever noticed the best conferences with the brightest people and most intriguing subject matter still have the worst freakin' food known to man? For real, you have been there...How to Innovate Your Business To Heavenly Heights conferences...magazine editors...celebrity designers...A-list consultants...honest to God Rocket Scientists...D- to C+ food. This is not to say the organizers didn't have the best intentions! For goodness sakes they made sure they offered at least 35% vegetarian and a balanced assortment of option A, B & C (sandwich, pasta, fruit). They were smart about priorities making sure the content of the event was rockstar from InspireTheWorld dialog down to scheduled networking intermissions. In short the food and the food experience at these conferences often does not up hold the conference theme or brand promise of INNOVATION and CHANGE. Best case scenario, any failing's in food-land would be forgotten following the late afternoon chocolate chip cookies unveiled at the onsite book signing! In fact I would say that in most cases the food experience is in opposition to theme and brand objectives of such conferences. As I said it isn't poor judgement or ill intentions. It is just a reality of the planning priority process. The food becomes much less important than the speakers and content and I am gonna bet that nine times outta ten the venue dictates the food vendor. That's right, the venue dictates the food vendor! And nine times outta ten that predefined food vendor ain't innovative or interesting or remotely inspiring (thank the wife's years of planning training events for that insight).
Ha, I do believe I have over emphasized my point sufficiently thus leading us to kur-POW and whiz-BANG! Imagine how amazing that AMAZING Innovation or Management event would be with Jamie Oliver in attendance. Imagine him presenting an innovative business model story TED style. Okay fine, he already did that. Now imagine him teaching attendees how to innovate with food and subsequently helping those lucky attendees make their own lunch. No need for catering, you got Jamie Oliver teaching the "innovatee's" how to make something new. Bam! That's an experience worth remembering and one that ties all aspects of the Innovation experience together rather than leaving lunch quite literally [uneaten] on the table. True, not all conferences would be able to draw Mr Food Revolution much less get him to cook lunch for attendees. For certain that would be a Presidential undertaking, but we all know that most conferences are not Presidential thus we find a significant opportunity for my dear friend in the Bay Area. The opportunity to take his culinary craft, sensory know-how and design foundation straight to the lunch hour break at Innovation and Change conferences across North America (or at least California! LOL).
The back story: My dear friend is a self professed slacker who enjoys walking his strange little dogs and taking frequent naps. He professes to be a lazy SOB but I know different. At his core he is a social connoisseur, and I know he gets off more by interacting with others and engaging them in active dialog (cook + debate + teach) than simply being an invisible crafts-person hidden away in a stainless steel luxury kitchen somewhere in Marin County. Taking his personal chef business to conference markets would combine his "bests" and ability. It would grow his market potential, introducing him to the best, brightest and busiest business professionals who might someday employ his services in private catering functions or as their personal home chef and life coach. [yes that's right, there are people who have their own chef's and he is looking for more of them to expand his business] Bonus, StoryTelling is all the rage in business and innovation and my dear friend can tell stories, linking personal know-how to insight and humor while tying it all together with a mind blowing curry or dry rub roast lamb shank.
In Summary: the business would be an expansion of an existing personal chef and private party catering business. This business would sell experiential training interactions targeted at the Innovation/Management Conference market. The goal would be to develop engaging culinary content that supports and completes the primary goals of the Conference Brand Promise while being the primary food and beverage creative director of the conference or training event. Focus first on a targeted experiential engagement. ..second on filling bellies. If the hosting venue has an exclusive catering requirement then the business would either work directly with the venue to deliver a non traditional event/menu (creative director) or just end around with legal semantics...you aren't providing/catering or lunch service, you are providing an immersive educational spectacle. The food is simply a byproduct of the spectacle, and it was coincidence that the spectacle occurred from 11am to 1pm! :)
Finally, notes to my friend:
First dear friend, you know innovation. You quit Industrial Design before art and ID got cool with MBA's. They love us now and that is a good thing. Now you can bring your design knowledge back to the table in the form of a food experience that takes eaters on mystical, magic carpet rides from hunger to satisfaction while explaining the relationship of that experience to the search for New.
Second dear friend, conferences do not happen everyday thus they are perfect extra-cash opportunities that would allow you to retain your current beloved clients while experimenting and refining a new business model for yourself. Plus your current clients are gonna love telling their friends that their guy is off teaching at an innovation conference.
Third dear friend, you already teach culinary arts part time. Why not take those skills to a new market; a market of soulless, mediocre big box catering and conference go'ers who are stuck eating soggy bread rolls and flavorless sauces. Just make sure to bring the best darn cookies to the show...I know you got the goods -please send more for christmas again! digression 3 -Cookie smells sell homes.
Fourth dear friend, everybody loves you. You know this, people who know you know this. For crying out loud your clients trust their kids to you as if you were some sort of super Nanny ultimate Uncle of Awesome. Your ability to engage a crowd for 40 minutes of culinary expertise shouldn't be a problem and for the most part I am betting big that you will get off on it and find that it is your true calling.
Fifth my friend, this business idea is scalable on a bunch of levels from something simple and local to a monster much bigger.
- You could decide to be a promoter and place innovative personal chef's with conferences, noting that chef's might work for next to nothing because the event would actually be a marketing event for them (give away to get more). You would take fee's from the event and or act as an agent for existing chefs.
- You could run the entire show and develop a specific range of topics/lectures to give at events such as Innovation through Curry (dumb, I know) or "learn to lead: how to not overcook your vegatables"
- You could scale your event to include break out sessions, which MBA's and southern men seem to love dearly, thus allowing you to tackle such topics as, "innovation and brownies, how to reward staff and reap rewards"-LOL, or "cream sauces won't increase profits but they sure as hell will make everyone on your team dig you"
- You could simply become know as the guy who innovated the personal chef business model thus leading to fabulous book deals and exotic speaking engagements including conf's where they don't even want you to cook, you'd just stand up and tell your story.
- There are very few chef's who are teaching the value of craft to business (the hot pan, cold oil rule, or the right knife necessity) ...as in= know your tools and don't get hooked on gimmicks that create more dirty dishes (business waste). This could translate into coauthored management books or the first ever coffee table business book with recipes>>>holy cow that would be awesome!
- Oh and website too.
- Once you refine the gig you could set up a catering business to address innovation, collaboration and team development selling your services not only to targeted conferences but also corporate development entities, management/retention seminars and training for the trainer/executive coaches.
Last and not least dear friend, you gotta start calling what you do Your Business. As long as you call it a job you will never be in control or feel satisfied. Calling what you do a business will make you think differently about what you do. Calling it your Business will make it your own. Things that are your own are easy to pour your heart and soul into. Making it your own could be the thing that sets you on fire and leads you to that happy awesome place. Also as long as you consider your work a job you will never increase revenue because on a job the job of increasing revenue belongs to someone else, surely not you. You are in fact giving away the greatest power that you own, your own value. When you call what you own a business you start to think about your value very differently. It leads to great things man!
I could go on all night about this but I think you get the picture. Nice idea I think...esp the coffee table business/management book with recipes. We should write that one!
thanks man!!! i feel honored to be blogged about.
so 21 st century
Posted by: nehpets | 10/03/2010 at 01:17 PM