Enlightened Conflict

Gorilla BBQ – A Study in Successful Entrepreneurship

February 9th, 2010

Note: Click here for my earlier post on Gorilla Barbecue and their amazing ribs.

As I walked into Gorilla BBQ for my Sunday beef brisket and the most awesome ribs in San Francisco, I had a moment to reflect on their success model. Plus. Gorilla (the co-owner) and I actually had a minute to talk.

They always have a line. Sometimes very long. I would say 2 weekends out of every month they run out of at least two items on their 4 item menu list before closing.

He loves it. No hassles of sit down – it’s all take out. He sells what he makes every day. He slowly expands how much he makes as his “running out” drives customers to come earlier and he feeds the new later ones. He is thinking about maybe having a second location but he has reservations because he is concerned about replicating how he makes his food elsewhere.

Quality is numero uno to Gorilla.

I have worked with a number of extensive franchise organizations and I have lived through how difficult expansion planning can be.

The pursuit of profit is enticing. And sometimes the overwhelming sense of “I have to do it before someone else gets there” is difficult to stave off. ‘How much is enough’ can be a facts and figures discussion or it can be a philosophical discussion.

What Gorilla understands is the charisma or mystique factor. His stuff is good. Unfailingly good. But his business’s reputation outstrips his stuff. He is constantly reaching out to more sales rather than excess capacity.

So. Expansion in retail is tricky. Heck. Any expansion is tricky.

Do organizations make it a science? Sure they do (analysis of geography and consumption and possible customers and ticket size and all that crap – albeit useful crap). I have seen multi-page spreadsheets and maps and revenue analysis information presentations and binders that would make your head spin.

I am sure Starbucks had numbers out the wazoo for location growth plan. What I personally believe they missed was the mystique quotient (never seen that number in an analysis). That, I believe, is more a gut thing. It is also a philosophical vision decision. I personally wouldn’t have expanded Starbucks that fast and I would have tried to maintain some mystique. But, yeah, I could be using hindsight (as they run into some struggles).

Yeah. I know (and like) their “third location” strategy (home, work, starbucks). It’s just that maximizing that location strategy threatened what made them so popular in the beginning.

Hey. Starbucks isn’t going to crash. But their over expansion has created issues they may not have had to deal with had they been a little less aggressive in store openings.

Hey (again). Many businesses cross that line in expansion. It is a line that is difficult to see. Especially when it becomes about money.

But. Back to my man Gorilla and his business. He has two huge things going for him:

He understands exactly what makes him successful: His food. While maybe he is conservative about expanding at the risk of that standard, he fully understands why he has lines and a profitable business.
He understands his priorities. I am sure he likes money but he hasn’t let it overwhelm his direction.

Once again, having worked with dozens of companies and expansion, I don’t doubt for one minute all those companies who expanded beyond what now seems unreasonable fully understood #1. In fact I think they sometimes fool themselves a little into believing that expanding is a formula (at one or a small group of locations) that can be easily replicated (replicating quality is a tricky thing too).

It is number 2 that really gets people in trouble. Money is an evil thing. Greed is good (for the economy). Greed is bad for a great business guy’s head. It leads thinking astray.

What Gorilla has going for him is he isn’t greedy. And he likes to like his stuff (and won’t compromise that).

Will he be a millionaire? Maybe. I doubt it.

Will he make money? Sure. No, let me take that back and say, absolutely.

Will he be happy? In no uncertain terms. Unequivocally. Yes.

What more could you ask for?

Renovations from Mother Nature in Pacifica

January 27th, 2010

I recently contacted Mother Nature inquiring as to her costs for renovation. She has been doing some nice work right down the street from me. On Thursday night (apparently she works overtime) she made some changes to the view at the complex nearby. Unfortunately she forgot to warn the owners.

“It was this ‘pow-pow-pow,’ then ‘crash!’ and I dashed into the living room to have a look,” said a resident. “And what I saw was this.” She pointed out her back door to where a stub of what used to be her concrete patio stuck out sharply into the air.

improved view in pacifica

A 60-foot chunk of soil, fencing and the patios of three apartments had plummeted into the churning ocean waves 85 feet below.

Thursday was the second time in two months that cliff erosion shuttered apartments in the series of complexes lining the fragile coastline that sits on Pacifica’s Esplanade. (uh, anyone reading this, I am on the “fragile coastline”… so…if the blog stops you know why)

And though city officials said they have no fear that the building affected Thursday will fall into the ocean, they are considering ordering the rest of the residents in the complex evacuated.

“It’s a pretty bad situation, very confusing for people,” said Doug Rider, Pacifica’s chief building inspector. “They can all sleep there tonight (Thursday), but we are assessing whether it would be wise to shut off the gas lines to protect them from breaking.”

Ok. Maybe it’s just me but

1. I am not sure I would be staying in a place where the patio just fell into the ocean and my living room has become the patio.

2. I am pleased they are allowing me to stay some place where they have disconnected the electricity and gas.

But. The residents should be reassured by confident officials who say “That building’s not going to fall, but we do have to take a good look at everything.”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…my translation of this is “hey, we think it’s not going to fall into the ocean but it may.”

On a side note. My mother is relatively sure the Apocalypse is now upon us, and my sister hopes it has only targeted me.

Quasi Apocalyptic Follow-up: This whole piece of California near me falling into ocean thing

December 20th, 2009

So. This whole semi-apocalyptic event that happened near me is kind of fascinating. Today, in order to stop further erosion (and keeping the apartment building from dropping into the deep blue sea), they dug out huge boulders about a half mile down the road, plopped them into big boxes on the back of some trucks, drove the ¾ miles back down the road to the building in jeopardy, then proceeded to have a crane pick up the boxes of rocks (uh .. boulders) and swing them over the building, proceeding to drop them in a quasi-unscientific, inexact way to the bottom of the bluffs (to break up the flow of the waves before they pound into the bluff).

It is a little boys dream.

Big trucks. Lots of noise. Men shouting at each other. Big rocks. A huge crane. No little girls around bugging them.

The interesting thing to me (beyond the inexactness of it all) is the fact the owner of the property is going to continue renting out apartments once the work is done. Now. He may be able to charge more because the view is spectacular and significantly less impeded with the loss of the 30 feet of bluffs. But gotta tell ya. I am not quite sure what I would have to tell a prospective tenant to get them to feel comfortable they wouldn’t be going for an unplanned swim later this winter.

Anyway. They worked thru the night with huge klieg lights which I assume the surrounding zip code loved as they tried to go to sleep (you figure they could have at least used red and green lights for the holidays). They worked as long as low tide let the men with hard hats at the bottom of the bluffs stand there and direct the boulders falling out of the boxes (so. I wonder who got nominated to do that job and if they felt like the hard hat was gonna do the job with the falling 2 ton rock).

I am sure the Tonka trucks will gear up again today and little boys will celebrate throughout the area.

Oh. So far so good. I am not in the ocean yet.

Note: Check out Part 1 of this story if you haven’t yet.

A Quasi-Apocalypse: California is falling into the sea

December 19th, 2009

It’s not quite the apocalypse but a 30 foot chunk of California fell into the Pacific

(and it was REALLY close to where I live)

So. Here’s what happened within a good throw (ok, I would have to be able to throw like maybe Roger Clemens juiced up) away from where I live. Waves crashing into a piece of land caused a chunk of earth near an apartment complex to fall into the Pacific Ocean early Thursday morning. That apartment complex is now…oh…with only 10 feet of land (some people call it a bluff I call it a cliff) between it and the Pacific Ocean (yeah. that would be one of the big, really deep, and cold on this coast, oceans). Thank God my complex has a good maybe 50 feet between me and the ocean.

I only bring this whole thing up because…well…we are heading into the winter season and with some high winds and maybe some more of those good ole waves crashing into the bluffs…and…well…if one day you happen to see the posts on my site come to a crashing halt it may simply be that Tigger (my border collie) and I have gone for an unexpected swim.

Have to say. It certainly hasn’t been dull here since I moved to the San Andreas Fault…oops…I mean California.

best ribs everywhere

December 4th, 2009

Ok.

Everywhere has a “best ribs” claim (I bet even somewhere in Alaska some Eskimo is smoking some amazing pork ribs). And, you know, people are right. Every place does have a great rib joint. And, as with most things in life, it is difficult to compare best to best … particularly when you are talking about taste & food.

So. I have lived in 11 different states. And everywhere I have lived has claimed to have the best ribs (and locations include Dallas, Georgia, Ohio and North Carolina … although rib connoisseurs seem to gravitate to the south). It is difficult to believe everyone is right … but they just may be. On any given day any one of these places may actually be the best. And they are all darn good.

I will admit, if I had to vote once, I would vote with a memory (because it has been decades since I tasted their ribs) of “the best” I have ever tasted residing in Owensboro Kentucky (don’t laugh but I was there for business).

Even better for the memory is I ate them with a great business friend named Pike (who wore something like a 58 regular jacket his shoulders were so big) and the ribs were awesome. On a side note … someone should remind me to tell the story of how Pike was driving a 4-door nondescript Ford and got lost in Washington DC and stopped at a corner to ask directions … it was like a cross between a linebacker looking FBI agent stopping to share some jokes with the boys in the local ‘hood.

Anyway.

Don’t ask me technical things about the ribs like dry or wet or whatever. They just tasted great (that is my dining rating system – tastes).

OK. I digress. Most places in America (except maybe Hawaii I guess) have a great rib place. But I may now have a new one for you.

In a little beach town of Pacifica in Northern California there is a place called Gorilla BBQ. It is in a train car. Take out only.

The guy who sits behind the register is Gorilla (needless to say he is a big guy with outstanding chin hair). Big personality. Remembered my name the second time I came in a week later. Traded random quips with my kooky mother.

But that is not the reason you should stop there.

Walking in there are 4 items. Ribs. Chicken. Beef brisket and some other meat I can’t remember but not relevant to this. I was tempted to order brisket (mom did and it had a wonderfully smoky tasty and so moist you could have it melt in your mouth).

I asked Gorilla what he recommended.

He didn’t say a word.

Put down the pencil and showed me two fists where PORK RIBS was tattooed on his knuckles.

<Think he’s passionate about this? … whew … I hope he doesn’t leave this and become a sushi chef someday …>.

The recommendation was dead on … amazing ribs. Meat falling off the bone.

Plus.

How can you not make great ribs if you’ve tattooed yourself with the promise?

Just wanted to share.

Gorilla BBQ and pork ribs (although anything is good there).

While to me there is no one “best ribs” gorilla is worth stopping by.

Even if it is just to meet Gorilla.