Thomas Keller Case Study

Company Overview I have selected the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group as the company that I will be using in the opening of a new restaurant. The company is a private corporation owned and operated by Chef Thomas Keller (Company overview of Thomas Keller restaurant group). I chose this company because the Owner/Chef is a world class Chef who owns multiple 3 Michelin star restaurants, The French Laundry in Napa County and Pre Se in New York, New York (Le chef américain thomas keller reçoit la légion d’honneur, 2011). Thomas Keller “is the only American chef to have obtained simultaneously three Michelin stars” (Le chef américain thomas keller reçoit la légion d’honneur, 2011), he currently holds seven Michelin stars, “3 Stars, The French Laundry,

In the economic category, there are many risks that could cause closure such as “decreased profits from diminished revenues; depressed profits resulting from poor controls; and voluntary and involuntary bankruptcies, involving foreclosures, takeover by creditors, receiverships, or frozen assets for nonpayment of receipts” (Parsa, Self, Njite, & King, 2005). The largest risk to a startup restaurant is having enough funds to hold out until the restaurant makes enough money to support itself (Scott, ). Scott goes on to explain that a new restaurant needs to have enough money that it can pay payroll and pay its vendors for as long as the restaurant requires to start making a profit. Entrepreneurs who fail to do this usually are pulling from their personal savings or charging items on credit cards (Scott,

The risks of failure can come from many different reasons, such as “changing demographics, accommodating the unrealized demand for new services and products, market consolidation to gain market share in selected regions, and realignment of the product portfolio that requires selected unit closures” (Parsa, Self, Njite, & King, 2005). The ever-shifting trends can also be a risk to a restaurant if the trends move away from the concept of the restaurant. Market saturation of restaurants can also be detrimental to a business, if there are too many business’s in the area serving the same style menu as you, then you could lose out on a lot of potential customers in the slew of competition (Scott, ). Poor management is another reason a new restaurant can fail. This includes poor planning of labor and ordering of inventory. Our company has previous experience of opening restaurants, so we understand the importance of hiring good managers who fall in line with our concept. The managers will also have the risk of poor planning, over or under ordering, and not watching the financial aspect. Any of these can cause a restaurant to fail, some just take longer to play