November 16, 2009 | Category: Success Stories | Tags: Small Business Success Stories

Not Just Winging It: A Hot Business Success Story

When people think about opening up a restaurant, everyone seems to be full of dismal statistics. However, few people want to share the success stories. Portland, Oregon’s Fire on the Mountain Buffalo Wings is a small restaurant that has been lead to success by owners Sara Sawicki and Jordan Busch. With annual sales in the seven figures and another location in the works, it’s fair to call this a small business success story.
Busch and Sawicki claim that their success is due to their love of hot wings, but this is not the only factor. Here are a few things that the two owners have learned along the path to success.

It takes time. Owning a business will draw on your tiume the way no other small business could. Owners often find themselves working days, nights, weekdays, and weeknights, something going into work as soon as they wake up and leaving after the last dinner plate has been washed and put away.

You need a concept. Passion for food is not enough; you need a factor or set of factors that will set your restaurant apart from all of the other restaurants on the same road. This concept needs to extend beyond the food and into the décor, the clothing worn by staff, the telephone greetings, and yes, the marketing as well. This will provide the cohesive experience that keeps customers coming back. It would also help to have a great looking restaurant logo design.

Experience is key. Everyone has eaten in a restaurant and most people have worked in one, but this isn’t the experience that is key. The most important indicator of success in opening a restaurant is whether you have actually ran one before, actually managing employees and tallying books. If you simply don’t have the right experience and are still determined to forge ahead, consider talking to someone who is successfully running a restaurant similar to yours. While neither of the owners of Fire on the Mountain had ran a buffalo wing restaurant, one of the owners offered to work for free at one in exchange for guidance from the owner.

Be different. The owners of this hot wings shop loved hot wings but disliked the loud, sports bar establishments where they are generally bought. The two owners decided to give their hot wings store a calmer ambience, with a chalkboard menu sign and the cozy feeling of a local deli.

Location, location, location. Busch and Sawicki both were open to different locations for their hot wings restaurant. They were particularly interested in the Pacific Northwest and finally settled on Portland. Portland had the right bohemian feeling for the two, and it was sorely in need of a decent hot wings restaurant. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

Change the formula as necessary. After turning away what seemed like troves of vegetarians, the two owners knew that they needed to add a vegetarian option to their menu. The ‘Portland wing’ was born, a soy based wing that was herbivore friendly. Tweaking a business formula even when it is successful is crucial to changing with the times as with all food and drink industry.