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Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

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Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#111

Post by disjunct »

xwdv wrote: post #86
sharts wrote: post #80

Worker-owned anything can work. It's democracy in the workplace.

It’s a hellish concept. The workers relationship to the company becomes less transactional, and they get all the stress of owning a business but without the outsized profits.

Have you worked at a worker-owned company? I think, largely, a goal of worker-owned restaurants is to make the work experience less transactional. Is there anything besides stress (which is not mentioned in the article) that would make transactionality and outsized profit a necessary thing?

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#112

Post by saled »

exabrial wrote: post #88

Yes, absolutely, but there are pitfalls: * Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay * Consumers despite "Least common denominator" which is often the result of "design by committee". Usually consumers are after something niche, unique, artistic, and creative, which is the inspiration…

These points are solved by the workers electing an executive or directors who makes those decisions, until the workers are sick of them and replace them in an AGM or an emergency meeting.

Works the same as shareholders.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#113

Post by Nifty3929 »

p1necone wrote: post #105
exabrial wrote: post #88

Yes, absolutely, but there are pitfalls: * Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay * Consumers despite "Least common denominator" which is often the result of "design by committee". Usually consumers are after something niche, unique, artistic, and creative, which is the inspiration…

> Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay If it was worker owned wouldn't you just pay everyone some reasonable wage that the business can afford and then also split profits evenly?

Yes, but only if there is enough money to pay the base wage in the first place, which is far from a foregone conclusion. Let alone having any profit left to distribute.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#114

Post by carabiner »

p1necone wrote: post #105
exabrial wrote: post #88

Yes, absolutely, but there are pitfalls: * Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay * Consumers despite "Least common denominator" which is often the result of "design by committee". Usually consumers are after something niche, unique, artistic, and creative, which is the inspiration…

> Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay If it was worker owned wouldn't you just pay everyone some reasonable wage that the business can afford and then also split profits evenly?

What is "reasonable," what is "fair." These words signify a death spiral in wage discussions. The reality is that businesses cannot increase prices forever and have a market that still wants to pay them. If I sell burgers for $10k and they're shit burgers then I'd make no money and have to shut it all down. Just like my friend who shut down his cabinetry business because he was paying his employees more than himself (doing the "right thing"). He is a one man shop working out of his van and is doing much better, but his employees' wages became 0.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#115

Post by ajkjk »

tech_ken wrote: post #21
scotty79 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the exactly the same reason why basic income can't work if it's introduced on its own. This money will immediately land in the hands of landlords who'll just increase rent.

Doesn't any landlord who defects from colluding stand to gain though? Like how Georgists argue that their land tax won't get passed directly on to renters because if it's applied to the whole market at once then absent perfect and universal collusion on behalf of the landlords renters will arb out those with the highest rent spikes.

Not if they wait to raise the rent until after they have a tenant who has a large cost to move already.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#116

Post by willyt »

There’s a whole chain of department stores and supermarkets in the UK that’s ‘worker owned’ John Lewis which also operates Waitrose supermarkets. It’s a partnership, everyone that works there becomes a partner in the firm after a probation period. It’s a successful business; there’s a John Lewis in every big city in Britain and Waitrose is in many large towns and cities.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#117

Post by moate »

programmarchy wrote: post #26
SenoraRaton wrote: post #5

One thing that I never understood was, if an employees wages are tied to the success of the company, would that not incentivize better work ethic as a whole? That is how it works in the start-up world. You get equity, you have literally invested in the company, and you know that your work should (in theory) directly benefit you financially. Instead we end up in a system where the employee/employer relationship is inh…

Ever done a group project in school? Free riders ruin shared incentives.

I never did a single group project at school that had a legally binding contractual agreement or a board of shareholders, so I imagine these are entirely different situations.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#118

Post by danielheath »

p1necone wrote: post #105
exabrial wrote: post #88

Yes, absolutely, but there are pitfalls: * Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay * Consumers despite "Least common denominator" which is often the result of "design by committee". Usually consumers are after something niche, unique, artistic, and creative, which is the inspiration…

> Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay If it was worker owned wouldn't you just pay everyone some reasonable wage that the business can afford and then also split profits evenly?

It’s challenging to retain senior staff at those rates; there’s a limit to how much of a cut I’ll take to work at a cooperative.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#119

Post by kikokikokiko »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #93
exabrial wrote: post #88

Yes, absolutely, but there are pitfalls: * Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay * Consumers despite "Least common denominator" which is often the result of "design by committee". Usually consumers are after something niche, unique, artistic, and creative, which is the inspiration…

It would be interesting to see reports of long-term experiments of this sort, see how businesses run this way fare over time and whether this sort of model is unsustainable, or if these people are onto something effective that stands the test of time. Any other restaurants who have tried this sort of model in the past and stuck with it?

The simple fact that you never ever heard about something like that, tells you all you need to know aboit the long term prospect of business owned by "the collective". In my part of the world we have a saying " what fattens the cows is the owner's gaze". A company that belongs to everyone working there belongs to no one, and it will eventually become a freeloader's dream. I have heard of one or two examples of this things being tried, one even a restaurant close tomy home town. It never lasts.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#120

Post by dsr_ »

TylerE wrote: post #74
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #65

The Seward Cafe in Minneapolis has running successfully as a "cooperatively owned, collectively operated restaurant and community-oriented venue" for 49 years. https://www.sewardcafe.com

Green on pink is now my new least favorite color combo. Thanks, I hate it! Edit: I encourage downvoters to actually try to read the linked page before downvoting me. It’s incredibly unreadable.

MacBook M1, afternoon sunlight behind me but not directly glaring. Brightness is at about 60%.

It's readable. It's not great. I've seen a lot worse (slightly dark grey on lighter grey, faded tan on medium blue, cyan on bright green...)

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