STOK'D Will Be A Chain - A Small World

Last night I posted an article about STOK'D the restaurant we visited on opening night last week Friday and mentioned how smoothly things seemed to run so this got me thinking. Today I popped in for a coffee and out of curiosity asked who the owners were and it turns out unsurprisingly they are not new to the restaurant business. I have seen and met one of the owners before and could not place him and now I know as it has been bugging me over the weekend and why the coffee this morning.

The one owner in particular was CEO of Nandos and was the one who launched Nando's internationally across 25 countries. I guess he was not a major share holder or other wise he would be sipping cocktails on some tropical island. The other partner has over 40 years in the business mainly in Australia and the Middle East helping build brands like Hunter & Barrel, Ribs & Burgers, The Meat & Wine Co and a few others I could not remember.

STOK'D is Lebanese cuisine which makes sense as one owner is Lebanese and is basically dealing with food he knows very well and why the extra effort will be noticed. As I said before the opening night stood out because it was run like you would expect a restaurant if it had been open a few years and not the very first day.

I think this is why you are advised to always stick to what you know because this reduces the risk of failure. When you do your MBA they say stay and play in your pond which is basically what these two owners are doing. This business they can do in their sleep and is exactly what they know and why this is going to be with out question a chain/franchise business.

Back in the late 1990's I met the one owner as I was negotiating a Nando's franchise for myself when they only had one outlet in the UK. I never mentioned this to him on opening night as another time would be more appropriate, but it is a small world and you just never know what to expect next. I was offered any site above or North of Manchester and like a fool I declined as I wanted a place closer to home in the South of the UK. They offered me a steak house called the SPUR which was also a franchise I knew very well which they owned or had the rights to. Nando's was different though and I knew back then or had a hunch it would take off. STOK'D will take off, but this time I have no interest as times have changed along with myself.

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There are now 475 Nando's restaurants in the UK so the hunch was a major understatement because it was a winner. Every now and then you have this feeling with an idea and why you just have to go with your gut.

On another occasion I had been eyeing out this building for about 6 months working out how I could buy the property and develop it. If you have money then it changes things drastically because you can back your ideas and see them through. The original idea was to turn this into a garage and bakery which it eventually turned into a Tesco's garage so the thinking was on the right track.

Not every idea is a good one and I have found if you are still mulling over the same concept 6 months or 12 months later then you should listen to yourself and try and make it happen. The saying is money makes money and you can understand why knowing the opportunities you have let slip over the years.