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Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

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Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#241

Post by DangitBobby »

hot_gril wrote: post #236
TylerE wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a great way to turn a business into even more of a hyper-politicized environment than it already is. It becomes not about what you can do, but who you make like you.

Yeah, or it works ok at a small scale but you can never expand, and a competitor (maybe your own ex-employees) eats your lunch like what happened to Cheeseboard. Which is still ok, you can be in that cool little niche if that's what you like, but don't tell me it's a better model overall.

It's almost certainly a better for the people who are working somewhere they actually care about for more than minimum wage with performance potentially tied to income.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#242

Post by DangitBobby »

crabmusket wrote: post #211
p1necone wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but that's not a problem unique to worker owned businesses, any business without enough revenue to pay its bills is going to fall over.

Not if they keep raising investment rounds! Which is an option that worker-owned businesses simply don't have.

I don't see Kelly's Big Burger raising investment rounds, TBH.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#244

Post by TylerE »

DangitBobby wrote: post #241
hot_gril wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, or it works ok at a small scale but you can never expand, and a competitor (maybe your own ex-employees) eats your lunch like what happened to Cheeseboard. Which is still ok, you can be in that cool little niche if that's what you like, but don't tell me it's a better model overall.

It's almost certainly a better for the people who are working somewhere they actually care about for more than minimum wage with performance potentially tied to income.

Except that looking at the two linked here (Seward and the pizza place) both are struggling - raising prices, cutting hours, and both are essentially begging the community to fund them so they continue to exist.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#245

Post by magicalist »

hot_gril wrote: post #184
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…

Here's the reduced-down version: You get some stake for free when you join, it entitles you to a fraction of the profits while you're there, and you lose it if you quit or get voted off the island according to some bylaws. Stake also gives you voting power for hiring new employees (including managers), and how much stake to give them. And nobody can buy shares, especially those who aren't employees. To simplify thing…

The takes in this thread are so funny. Oh no, what if they have too much money and there aren't owners siphoning it off disproportionate to their value? People might fight over it! Or they might have to plan on steady operating income, but how can they do that if they didn't go through the rigorous schooling that the ownership class does?

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#246

Post by afavour »

Aunche wrote: post #195
SamWhited wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience the opposite is almost always true: > Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some At most places I've been involved in the workers are more careful with money because they are standing together and want the business to succeed. They have transparency into the finances, so they know what's possible and try to make sure not to go overboard. > Consumers despite "Least common…

> At most places I've been involved in the workers are more careful with money because they are standing together and want the business to succeed. This doesn't contradict anything GP said. Worker owners are careful with company money because they have to be, due to being invested into it. That's a responsibility that not everyone wants, especially when an organization approaches the scale of tragedy of the commons.…

> This is only true when you're defining success as a binary "does this company still exist." Worker-owned companies are significantly less likely to expand

Why would that be a criteria of “success”, though? A worker owned business capable of supporting all its employees and maintaining itself long term is definitionally a success.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#247

Post by afavour »

TylerE wrote: post #244
DangitBobby wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost certainly a better for the people who are working somewhere they actually care about for more than minimum wage with performance potentially tied to income.

Except that looking at the two linked here (Seward and the pizza place) both are struggling - raising prices, cutting hours, and both are essentially begging the community to fund them so they continue to exist.

There are plenty of non worker owned restaurants doing the same in today’s economy, of course.

Non-chain restaurants are kind of weird businesses, really. Owner owned or worker owned they’re rarely big money spinners and often owe a lot to the community around them to keep them viable.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#248

Post by the_af »

mitchbob wrote: post #237
the_af wrote: post #217

The pizza restaurant (gourmet pizza, not crap) around the corner where I live is workers owned. The previous owner went bankrupt and left his employees hanging out to dry, so they took ownership of the place. Not sure about the legal situation (e.g. whether they bought the restaurant from the owner or what) but it's been workers owned for the past few years and doing well, judging by how full it always is. I eat and…

Zachary's? https://zacharys.com/

I live in South America, so no :)

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#249

Post by CMCDragonkai »

I'd argue the traditional worker owned business is the family business. From there extended family - tribe - confederation... Etc.

If anybody is gunho about a worker owned business, just go and start one. It's a free market and we can let the empirical results show us what is possible.

Re: Can a worker-owned restaurant work?

#250

Post by roughly »

chaos_emergent wrote: post #221
roughly wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheeseboard in Berkeley has been a successful co-op since 1971: https://cheeseboardcollective.coop/ I always enjoy these kinds of articles - "Could this radical new way of doing things ever succeed?" where the "radical new way" has a history going back to before the Reagan revolution. We're a really kind of unimaginative people when it comes to talking about how one arranges things in society.

Have you read David Graeber's "The Dawn of Everything"? It touches on similar themes to: > We're a really kind of unimaginative people when it comes to talking about how one arranges things in society by asking "how did we get that way?"

Yes! Brilliant book. More folks should read it.

I also really enjoyed “Against the Grain” and “Seeing Like a State” by James C Scott - both really dig into social narratives and the ways we talk about history and society.

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