Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chain has gone into administration. It most likely comes as no real surprise to Oliver going on an interview he gave to the Financial Times under a year ago when his company first started to experience some issues.
“We had simply run out of cash” he said, referring to the end of 2016 when his company was first teetering on the brink of administration. From the initial 43 restaurants open, only 2 will remain causing the loss of thousands of jobs.
Many have speculated the dishevelment of the company and the reasons behind it. After some research, it could be concluded that it was down to his brother-in-law’s poor decision making as CEO, on the other hand it could be Jamie’s focus on his job as the “jazz hands” man instead of the company, or it could be the rapid and potentially naïve over expansion of his restaurant chain.
With so many speculative reasons behind why the company has gone under, does this provide an opportunity for other business owners to receive an education on how not to run a business? Perhaps. We’re going to compare the potential wrongdoings of the Jamie Oliver Group to the contrasting positives that might be useful to business owners everywhere.
Branding and communication. These are both really important factors to think about when starting up or running a business. The branding of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants was based on Jamie Oliver’s Masterbrand. One of the reasons it’s said that it’s failing is because of the restaurants’ inability to pull the public to eat in the restaurants despite reading the books and watching the TV shows. This could suggest that the branding used for the restaurants wasn’t as effective as the branding for the TV shows and books. Business owners should regularly reflect and review their branding and asses it’s appropriateness against the business’ bigger picture. Make changes when you need to but be careful not to overcomplicate the brand.
Communication (or lack of) is something else Jamie Olivers’ chain has been criticized for too. Olivers’ focus on being the “jazz hands” man left him relying on others to oversee his businesses for him. If make sure you’re able to be constantly updated on your business. If you’re not physically there for your colleagues to communicate with you or have other people overseeing many important aspects of the company, be sure to regularly update and be updated on matters and ensure a constant flow of communication within your business.
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