Ben Madilynn
Ina Garten’s upcoming memoir, Be Ready When The Luck Happens, has been making headlines even before its October 1 release — and for many good reasons. (She is Ina, after all.)
But for fledgling food entrepreneurs, the new book is a goldmine of sound advice. In between the revelations about the challenging relationship she had with her family and the temporary separation from her husband Jeffrey (thankfully, they managed to patch things up), Garten offers some solid tips for anybody who wants to start and grow a business — just as she did in 1978 when she bought a gourmet food shop in Westhampton, N.Y., which she randomly spotted in a classified ad in the New York Times.
Her Barefoot Contessa empire — which has included the store (sold off in 1996), cake mixes, frozen dinners, 13 cookbooks, and television shows — has clearly been massively successful, and Garten has evidently learned a few things along the way. Here, we zero in on the ideas that could help people navigate the business world as deftly as she has — whether in food or even another field.
It’s never a straight line
In the book, Garten tells a hilarious story of hiking in the Balch Hills Natural Area near Hanover, N.H., when Jeffrey was attending Darmouth. She got too winded trying to hike straight up. So, she started to zig-zag across the path, leaving Jeffrey in stitches watching her, but learning a valuable lesson: It’s never straight up and over a hill. You have to come up with your own way of dealing with challenges.
Use boredom to keep you motivated
Garten writes that she has a low threshold for boredom — a major reason why she left her job in Washington, where she felt she was only one cog in a big machine. Boredom, she says, has led her to take crazy risks to get out of a miserable state. That includes learning to fly a plane and buying her store.
It’s important to be a fair boss
If she ran into a problem with an employee, Garten says she’d first sit down with the staffer and privately to see if there was a solution. If not, she explained in detail why the person was being fired, and informed her staff of the reasons, too. She did that for two purposes: one, to show she wasn’t being arbitrary and second, to make sure other employees knew the behavior wasn’t okay. Each time, Garten writes, she found that staff members agreed with her move.
Practice consideration for customers
Garten wanted the Barefoot Contessa to be a place full of fun, energy, and good times — where people would actually enjoy coming to work. They never asked shoppers, “Is that all?” Instead, they asked them whether there was anything else they could get for them. If a customer wasn’t satisfied, there was a liberal return policy. First, the store gave a refund, no questions asked. Then, they asked what the shopper didn’t like about it, and picked out something that would make them happier. Customers were stunned – and became customers for life, Garten writes.
Charging too little won’t always benefit you or the customer
Garten has long been known for her delicious brownies, as I can attest. And back in the 1990s, the prices of ingredients had gone up, and Garten was faced with raising the price to $2.75. Although that seems like a bargain in a era of $6 brownies, she wasn’t sure if customers would pay that much. There was only one way to find out: she put out a tray, and they were sold in five minutes. That first weekend, she sold 1,600 brownies and learned that customers would pay for a product made with the best ingredients.
You should learn how to negotiate
Garten says she learned two things from her father. First, find out what the other guy wants. Then figure out how to give it to them within the parameters of what you need in a deal, so that everybody feels good about it. Second, leave something on the table. Don’t negotiate down to the last dollar or detail. Deals should feel good, otherwise, why do business with someone?
Forget about creating a brand – live it instead
Garten isn’t about building a brand, even though she has one of the most successful ones in the food world. She says it’s more important to do what’s true for you every day, and cumulatively, that will all add up to your brand. She says it’s a big deal to be accountable to your standards and live up to them every day. But, that’s the only way she works.
