We’ve all heard the horror stories about the crippling costs, sleepless nights and terrifying failure rate of running a restaurant. Katharine Jacobs chatted to some of SA’s most prominent restaurateurs to find out how they do it.

There’s a much-quoted, not entirely reliable figure that suggests that 90% of restaurants close in their first year. While this number’s source is not entirely clear, Bloomberg Business Week suggests the number is probably closer to 60% in the States (which is in line with statistics for all small businesses).

We lack these statistics in South Africa, and whilst prominent restaurants such as Caveau and Paulaner Brauhaus at the V&A Waterfront cause a stir when they close, it’s easy for smaller businesses to fall under the radar. However you look at it though, running a restaurant is no walk in the park. So what does it really take?

Successful restaurants differ in their business models as much as their recipes. While some owners – like Giorgio Nava of 95 Keerom, Carne SA, Mozzarella Bar and Caffe Milano – take a hands-on role, spending all their waking hours on the floor, others rely on a centralised office and external management teams.

Then, of course, there’s the franchise model. Siblings Natasha Sideris and Sivya Sideris turned their two-restaurant-strong business, tashas, into a nationwide franchise by selling a controlling stake to franchisor, Famous Brands.

But what are the constants? Are there any factors upon which our restaurateurs agree?

The staff
Richard Griffin, founder of the Madame Zingara group (which encompasses Bombay Bicycle Club, Sidewalk Café, Café Paradiso, Café Mozart, Don Pedro and retail establishments White Rabbit and This is not a Post Office) is not afraid to discuss failure. After rebuilding his company from scratch twice – once after a fire destroyed his restaurant in 2007 and once after being liquidated – Richard says he’s shifted the way he runs his business.

“After London and losing everything, having to sell Zingara, our focus has been on staffing and how we attain responsibility.” By turning the company into a staff-run organisation, and focusing on skills development, Richard hopes to create a sustainable business for years to come.

Peter Weetman of the Societi group (Societi Bistro, Societi Brasserie, Josephine’s Cookhouse and Jonkershuis) is another proponent of investing in staff and training. “Stop spending on décor, spend more on staff”, he advises.

Paul Kovensky (The Kove, Zenzero, Paranga, Pepenero, The Bungalow Restaurant and most recently the Alphen’s restaurants, 5 Rooms and La Belle) agrees. In an interview on the Alphen Hotel site, he notes, “The single most important aspect of your business is the people you employ. No matter how good your concept, if you don’t have the right people to run it, it won’t succeed.”

The location
With restaurants in several different locations – the city bowl, the Southern Suburbs, and the Cape Winelands – Peter points to the importance of responding to the specific the market in which you operate. While diners in the central city are content with smaller salads, the Constantia set (with its ladies who lunch) requires larger salads. In order to understand details like this, it’s important to get good feedback from the managing partners.

David Raad of (Caprice and Hudson’s) agrees on the importance of location. “I learnt my lesson, trying to open up a branch of Fratellis in Cape Town.” While the restaurant, which David ran with his brothers, was a strong brand in Joburg, it didn’t work well in Cape Town, tucked away in the food court in Cavendish Square.

David’s second Cape Town venture was a little more successful. “Everyone is asking why I haven’t expanded on Caprice,” he says. But, situated on the beachfront in Camps Bay, and with a unique vibe (it pumps even on Sunday evenings), Caprice is impossible to duplicate. Rather, when friend and former manager Ross Collins wanted to open up a restaurant, David entered a partnership to create Hudson’s burger joint.

Paul Kovensky has also noted the importance of responding to the specific demands of the audience. When Pepenero first opened, Paul said he had ideas of a fine dining establishment, but found that patrons didn’t respond to this. “I decided to change the offering, and seeing it transform overnight, from being relatively quiet to pumping, was incredible!”

The timing
“You never know the true ingredients for success and why something is going to work or not work,” says David, but it seems timing is crucial. The burger culture was starting to blossom when he opened up the first Hudson’s. The brand’s expansion, too, has been timely: the Greenpoint branch opened up en route to the stadium just before the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Theo Holiasmenos is another restaurateur who’s successfully picked the trends. Theo started out with just one steakhouse in 1967 and was the first restaurateur to incorporate a carvery buffet into his offering in South Africa, with Shaft 58 in Eastgate, to capitalise on our country’s love of meat. From here, he started the MacRib group of restaurants; Italian, Greek and seafood spots; and even an ice cream parlour. Today, he has 15 restaurants under his TH Restaurants group, which encompasses the Karoo Cattle and Land, Ciao Baby Cucina, Smith and Kale and Kerasma brands.

The drive
“If you don’t know the industry, don’t do it. It’s a way of life and not a job,” cautions Theo. In fact, the incredibly long hours involved in running a restaurant, and the stresses it causes family and relationships, is named as one of the reasons that restaurants collapse. A report by H.G Parsa of Ohio State University actually cited this as a bigger reason for restaurants failing than the most commonly repeated mantra, ‘location, location, location’.

This doesn’t seem to discourage the average restaurateur, however. Like the thrill of the stage and the bright lights of showbiz, the restaurant trade draws in dreamers, those with a desire to entertain. “If you’re going to work an 18-hour day, you should build restaurants you want to go to,” says Peter. “You have to make it feel like you have never worked a day in your life.”

By Katharine Jacobs