Posted by Gerard on July 09, 1997 at 00:24:51:
In Reply to: what should I do first? posted by Joanne Kozovich on July 08, 1997 at 13:14:38:
: I am a high school senior and want to be a chef and eventually own my own restaurant or bakery.
: Should I get my business degree first and then attend culinary school, or will I learn all i
: need to know about running a business at culinary school? Any info or opinions on this would be
: greatly appreciated!
I currently own a bakery but previously owned a restaurant and was curious to see nowhere in your planned curriculum is there any actual training in the trade , schools can only impart so much. I never went to any schools but think some bookeeping woulda helped, the business side of the bakery is all black magic to me. I've had to learn how to manage on the fly so to speak.
It seems to me a lot of running a business is innate, the worst businessman I worked for went to Harrow business school in England, (like Harvard but with class), he knew it all but was an idiot in his personality and consequently couldn't manage a peanut stand. I didn't have a clue what he was talking about when he said "marginal labor units and keynsian handouts or peter principles" but the important thing was he failed and I succeeded staying in business. Its not the degree, its working knowledge that counts.
Does that confuse things now?