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Jon Taffer is a guy who’s not afraid to get in the weeds — and in the mouse droppings — to save bars and restaurants on the verge of collapse. And he’s not afraid to raise his voice while doing it.
Taffer is the executive producer and star of Paramount Network’s Bar Rescue, now in its ninth season with announced plans for a tenth. He’s also set to host radio shows on TuneIn, he just launched Taffer’s Browned Butter Bourbon and continues to run his Taffer’s Tavern franchise.
The man is busy, to put it mildly. But luckily, he found time to swing by the studio and join us for an episode of How Success Happens. Taffer chatted about his career journey, shared his advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, and gave us the mental picture of a truly horrifying bar kitchen that may make you never want to eat anything ever again.
Listen to the entire episode here and check out some highlights below.
Dan Bova: What was Jon Taffer like as a kid?
Jon Taffer: I was a pretty aggressive kid. I had a lot of friends in school. We were in a small group. And when the group went to summer camp, I was one of the leaders. I was the “Don of Trouble,” if you will. I was very mischievous, but nobody did anything wrong without clearing it with me first. I always had the kind of personality that took control of the room. It just always came naturally to me.
And you were a drummer, which seems to go hand in hand with that — everyone’s got to literally march to your beat.
Well, yes. And life is a beat. And restaurants are a beat. Look at a fine steakhouse — the waiter walks slowly, the lights are dim. Look at an inexpensive restaurant — the waiter walks fast, the lights are bright. If the waiter walks fast in the steakhouse, that steak isn’t worth $80 anymore. So the pace of life is very, very important.
Are there any bars you’ve rescued or attempted to rescue that haunt you to this day?
Yeah, there’s actually a bunch of ’em there. Often I have to pour garlic powder on the tip of my tongue and breathe through my mouth because the kitchen stench is so horrible I can’t even breathe in it. We’ve opened refrigerated doors and found dead raccoons in them. We’ve been in kitchens and as I’m standing next to the chef, rats are running into our feet. I found used prophylactics behind bars. The things that we’ve discovered are unbelievable. But, you know, irresponsibility breeds that kind of thing. And that’s what really gets me. I don’t mind if you make some mistakes and lose money. But to be irresponsible and get people sick and screw your employees and let your family down? That’s when I really get angry. I always say that every failing business has a failing owner.
Has anyone thrown a punch during a taping?
Nobody’s ever thrown a punch at me, but we’ve had slight pushing altercations once or twice. But most people realize I’m fighting for them, not with them.
Besides the disgusting stuff you mentioned, what are some of the biggest struggles for bar and restaurant owners?
People are constantly asking me for advice on what to do when costs are so high. People don’t realize that in the restaurant business, we run about a 30% food cost. So if my hamburger goes up $3, I have to raise it by $9. And the consumer might not be able to accept that $9, so I can only raise it maybe $3. So I just lost. And believe it or not, Ozempic is affecting the industry. People are coming in and ordering appetizers, not entrees. And cannabis has affected the spirits industry. It’s not a great year for spirits.
Have your business smarts naturally developed over the years or did you have a mentor who was instrumental to you?
Yeah, my grandfather. My grandfather actually gets credit for inventing direct mail. He grew up in Brooklyn, and he found a hand printing press in the garbage. So he started printing flyers and sticking them in newspapers when he was 14. And then it turned into a storefront operation, and then he was bought by a major ad agency and he became the inventor of direct marketing and direct mail marketing.
How did you become a TV star?
I was a hotel manager giving a speech at a convention in Vegas and somebody said, “You should be on TV.” So I went home and wrote something up called “On the Rocks.” It was about three pages. I had worked with Paramount Consumer Marketing in licensing for some of their restaurant brands, so I called my friends at Paramount and said, “Listen, do me a favor, can you put a couple of TV people in a room for me to pitch?” So it gets set up, and the head of TV was actually in a room. I tell him my idea and he looks at me and says, “Jon, you will never freaking be on television. You’re too old. You’re not good-looking enough. It’ll never happen.” So I drive out of the Paramount gates and I think to myself, “I’m the only person who can say no to me.” So I created my own sizzle reel. And sent that out to four production companies, and I got four offers. In less than a year, the show launched on Spike TV. At the premiere night, I sent the head of Paramount Television, who was now a friend of mine, a coffin-shaped box filled with black roses.
Any lessons you learned from things that didn’t go your way?
Oh yeah. In my first business venture, my partner ripped me off for all my money. I learned a lot from that as far as paperwork and contracts and all those kinds of things. Handshakes are not as valuable as you think they are.
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Do you have any habits that you think have helped your success?
There’s a real consciousness of a habit that I’ve developed over the years that has been very successful for me. We all work in our businesses, but we don’t work on them. And there’s a real difference. So I isolate time every month to work on my business. I spend a good amount of time alone. I think about things, I strategize about things. I don’t rush decisions. And by blocking time by myself, I can really think things through, have clarity in how I direct my team and what I do. I’m not shotgunning. I’m not changing my mind. When I was young and stupid, I was flustered. I made quicker decisions and I was being more reactive. Reactive is fine sometimes, but when I learned to get ahead of it and anticipate and be a little more strategic and a little less emotional about what I do, that was a big game changer.
What’s your No. 1 piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
The greatest businesses come when you match passion with opportunity. So I always tell everybody to start with their passion. What is your passion? And I don’t mean so specific as weaving sweaters. I mean, do you like working with people? Do you like working with technology? Do you like selling? Do you want to educate? Do you wanna grow people? Where does your joy come from? If you can find that answer, that’ll set you on a path of passion. And the most successful people I’ve ever met are the most passionate people I’ve ever met.
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About How Success Happens
Each episode of How Success Happens shares the inspiring, entertaining, and unexpected journeys that influential leaders in business, the arts, and sports traveled on their way to becoming household names. It’s a reminder that behind every big-time career, there is a person who persisted in the face of self-doubt, failure, and anything else that got thrown in their way.
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