Kitchen Nightmares

I have taken to watching Kitchen Nightmares on Hulu on my second screen while doing work (the laptop means I always have a blank screen doing nothing.) While it's a great look into nasty restaurants it's also great in understanding just how businesses fail.

the premise of the show is pretty simple. Chef Gordon Ramsay a successful swearing chef goes to failing restaurants and helps them, with the usual Fox reality show subtlety of heavy handed music, playing the most dramatic moment before every commercial brake, and lots of "reaction" cuts.

If you can get past that it is a great learning tool that drills the same basic messages into your head. First and foremost it is Always your fault. That's not to say you are actually to blame, but no matter what your position is, your responsibility to to the customer (because they are the ones you make your money on) is vital, so if there are any problems you treat them as your own and do your best to fix them. Almost every manager, owner or chef of a failing restaurant has a common mantra, Blame somebody else. "It's not my fault, I'm doing everything right." All while the business is run into the ground, often costing people their jobs, houses, and marriages.

The second most common mistake seems to be not caring about quality. Many of the restaurants send out microwaved dinners and are happy to do so. The excuse is often that they don't have enough money for real food.

The great thing about these shows is they are about a year old, which means you can look up the restaurants and see how they did. The reality (that fox doesn't ever mention) is that most of these places don't make it. There is no "reality show magic bullet." It takes hard work and dedication, something that many of the owners never have and don't learn in the week that Ramsay is there.

There are a lot of similarities with this and photography. Almost anyone can microwave a dinner, almost anyone can take a photo. That's the beauty of photography. Unfortunately the downfall of many photographers and restaurants is the belief that by just providing the service you are doing something special. You aren't. The real service is by providing a new approach that combines your own style with a good attitude and business sense. There are many people that make a living by being a competent photographer and an excellent business person. Taking photos is the easy part.

Kitchen Nightmares

Editors note: I have since watched the UK version and highly recommend it as it cuts out a lot of the fox faux drama.