Don't Open a Restaurant Business Until You Watch This!

Restaurants are a tricky business to become highly profitable, but one of the longest-running restaurants in the U.S. is approaching its 150th year in business. They’ve kept running through over 30 recessions and are the largest purchasers of Kahlúa in the galaxy!

James Louie bought his share of Huber's Cafe in 1991. Today he’s generating over $2 million in revenue. James grew up in the restaurant business and started working at Huber’s at the age of 14. He had dreamed of becoming a baseball player, but Uncle Sam drafted him instead. He went to a few years of college before deciding to join the family business.

In 1999, James was named Restaurateur of the Year. He’ll share his customer service strategies, marketing tips, and how to get 40% of your revenue from drinks.

He’ll even share what he learned while keeping his business afloat with the Paycheck Protection Program and the Restaurant Revitalization Grants. That’s quite an accomplishment since over 70,000 restaurants closed during the pandemic. Get ready to find out how to open a restaurant business.

Resources:

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
01:05 - How Family Businesses Start
02:16 - Touring The Hubers Cafe
02:45 - How To Handle Inflation
03:37 - Tips for Beginner Restaurant Owners
04:57 - How To Keep Employees Long-Term
06:00 - Exploring The Food Prep Area
6:37 - The Importance of Leadership Style
07:42 - James’ Best Sellers
08:58 - How Much a Restaurant Makes Per Month
10:21 - What Makes Hubers Cafe Unique
11:24 - The $1 Purchase
12:38 - Breaking Down Revenue
13:35 - The Benefits of Loyalty Programs
14:33 - The Key To Hiring Good Employees
15:15 - Systems and Processes
15:58 - Blitz Time with James
16:29 - Maintaining the Restaurant
17:57 - Expanding Hubers Cafe
18:46 - Tools for Great Management
19:44 - How To Have Loyal Employees
20:52 - Tips for Advertising
21:26 - Advice on Formulating a Menu
22:11 - The History of Hubers Cafe
22:59 - How Kahlua Got Popular
24:21 - The Reason for James’ Success
25:00 - James’ Family Tree
25:48 - How The Restaurant Industry Has Changed

#restaurant #restaurantbusiness #openarestaurant

[angelas]

What a classy, calm, confident and humble man James is. Such an admirable character!

[myhomehandyman]

My first business was a restaurant and I have friends that still own them. It’s a tough industry to be in. Long hours, 7 days a week, and when your dish washer calls in sick you have to be ready to fill in. Glad to see he has had such long term success, great person.

[kevinbae]

Humble, classy, and an incredible mindset for operating a restaurant business. I'm certainly going to make my way to Huber's the next time I'm in Portland. God Bless James!

[jimmynguyener]

I started building my pho restaurant in Feb. 2020 and then covid19 was announced in March 2020. We opened on July 15th 2020 praying we would stay alive and till this day we're still standing. And like James said, margin is about 5% but since I'm running a small restaurant, breaking even is common. Not many people that open during covid made it, fortunately we did.

[plannerjoy]

I’m glad that they touched upon a point of difficulty of finding help now vs. in the past. It’s mind boggling that people won’t even show up to an interview today.

[daniellalama]

5% profit, but we don't know what he pays himself. Great video. Owner is a class act.

[joeyricci]

I've been a chef in all types of restaurants and catering for 30 years and people just don't understand how difficult it is to pull in above 15-20%. 1 off week can kill your month. Recently I saw a 60k pull for the week dissappear because of a decline in previous weeks. Crazy this business. Not all the glam you see on TV.

[m.rizadjoeli]

The owner of the restaurant is so humble.He always appreciates every little thing that his employees do, and never forget to praise his employees by calling their name one by one....great..👍👍👍

[AtlantaHomesforSale]

Awesome content for any new business owner or someone thinking of starting a business of any type. Thanks for sharing.

[pachena]

Love this interview. They definitely need to upgrade their accounting system.

[kingofcorridosfilm]

Loved this guy! Great story and great vibe.. I'd work for him any day.

[yogayoggie]

What a guy James is! Who will not love a boss like him!

[gr]

Person of this nature is only the outcome of vast life lessons learnt. Elegance in all ways. Thank you for doing this interview. Please, if you see him again, convey that I have learnt to be even more humble and polite. ICONic stature.

[stackals]

I love that he gives credit to God. It resonates w/ me. Inspiring story. Thank you both!

[junkmail]

God bless this man, his business, and his health. You can see the gods miracle throughout, his humbleness is testament that you don’t need to treat employees or customers as a number. I wish him great success

[bobbico]

Love that this guy wasn’t scared to share his faith. Thank you Jesus. Also, Xero Accounting is really good.

[aboveaveragejoe]

Put God first in your life and everything else will fall into place. Thankyou Lord Jesus I’ll never run away from you again.

[Steven-wekr]

NO ONE CAN BEAT Longer you stay open the more people will know you... hence more business

[michellecelesteNW]

I remember my grandparents raving about going to Hubers for special occasions. Glad to see it's still in tact.

[myfortezza]

Awesome. The passion and hard work is truly original. Most restaurants are too idealistic and gimmicky. Dining is a pleasure and what makes the most is satisfaction. If I’m a customer my priority is to appreciate what goto to making this dish and how much effort goes into it. It’s like coming home.😊