What Business School Cannot Teach You About Running a Restaurant

By Ananya Agrawal, CEO & Co-founder, Lume & Lime

In an accounting class, reducing wastage sounds straightforward: waste less and keep costs down. Running a cafe while still in business school has shown me how tricky that instruction becomes in real life. Knowing what needs to happen and knowing how to make it happen are very different things.

I feel lucky to have started a cafe while studying business. It gives me two ways of looking at the same problem. In class, I learn about costs, burn and runway. At the cafe, I have to think about what those numbers mean for the decisions we make every day. Wastage is not simply something to write about in an answer. It is something you have to manage while keeping the food quality right.

The same gap exists when it comes to people. A classroom cannot prepare you for every problem that might arise in the kitchen or at the front of the house. What if a manager suddenly decides to leave? You might need to stay longer yourself, take the assistant manager into confidence and make sure the food and service are still being looked after. There is no single answer that makes all of that easy.

Then there are the customers. If someone does not like something, you have to work out how to respond and make them feel satisfied. Training staff, working with chefs and managing the front-of-house team require a mindset that develops through doing the work. For me, this is where studying business and running a business feel most different.

It also makes me think about what people want when they walk into a restaurant. I believe dining is becoming a third place because people need a break from both home and work. They want somewhere they can relax, feel comfortable and leave some of their personal or work-related stress behind for a while.

Good food can lift your mood. But feeling at ease matters too. I want people to be able to sit down, enjoy their food and not carry every worry into that moment.

To me, these two sides of running a restaurant are connected. Behind the scenes, you are dealing with costs, wastage, staffing and unexpected problems. For the person sitting at the table, you want the experience to feel comfortable and relaxed. Business school gives me concepts to work with. Running a cafe is teaching me how much daily work goes into making that comfort possible.

Ananya Agrawal is CEO & Co-founder of Lume & Lime, a contemporary bistro on Dwarka Expressway, Gurugram, which she is building while completing her Bachelor’s degree in Management Studies.

Images: courtesy of Lume & Lime