Finding Success in Simplicity: Lessons from "The Bear" for Your Business

Ever wondered how your Netflix binge could transform your business? That's exactly what happens when I dive into shows like "The Bear" on Hulu. Beyond the drama and character development, I'm analyzing the business models, operational decisions, and success factors that can translate directly to entrepreneurship.

The power of simplicity emerges as the central theme of this exploration. Just like the sub shop in "The Bear" that thrives on streamlined operations, consistent quality, and replicable processes, your business can find greater profitability and scalability by identifying your core strengths and systematizing them. This isn't about cutting corners—it's about creating clarity and consistency that allows you to deliver excellence repeatedly.

My own journey began with a simple question: "What would happen if I wanted to sell this business?" That question transformed how I approached my food blog, pushing me to develop systems that someone else could easily step into and operate. This same principle applies universally, whether you're running a restaurant, consulting firm, or online business. By viewing the world through this lens—constantly asking what works for others and why—you'll discover opportunities for growth that others miss. The most valuable businesses aren't built on the founder's constant presence; they're built on replicable systems, diversified income streams, and clear processes that create value independent of any single person.

What systems do you have that could be replicated? How could simplifying certain aspects of your business actually increase your profitability and scalability? Start viewing every interaction, entertainment, and observation as a potential source of business wisdom, and you might be surprised at the insights waiting to transform your entrepreneurial journey.

Chapters

• 0:00 Finding Business Lessons Everywhere
• 0:50 The Bear: Restaurant Business Insights
• 2:31 Keep It Simple and Replicable
• 3:50 Creating Systems for Business Success

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

No matter what I am listening to, reading or watching, I'm always trying to see how it can actually impact my business, the way that I look at things. I often will do things totally outside of my business, like teach a swim lesson to toddlers, so that I can get my creative juices going and not always be within my business, constantly trying to find little things. And the reason I'm telling you this is because I love to watch shows Always, have always will. My dad used to tease me and say that I would get tunnel vision when I was watching Friends as a kid, and now it's still the same way. I love my shows. I go into their worlds and just eat it all up, but at the same time, I'm looking at the worlds that they're bringing us into with these shows and applying it to my own business. I did it with Ozarks, which I know is really creepy and crazy, but still kind of looked at it as like what business decisions were they making and why were they making them? Um, but I'm also right now doing it with the bear, and if you haven't watched the bear, it's on Hulu and it is about a chef that has started a created from a family business. That was kind of just a hot mess of of a disaster that was a sub shop in Chicago. Now he's trying to create a Michelin restaurant and the episode that I'm at right now. It's really interesting because they are looking at the numbers and how they're going to make it profitable based on the amount of money they put into it and based on the money that's coming in, what they're spending all their money on as far as the ingredients for the restaurant, and they also have kept the side sub shop that they had. But what they've managed to do is they've made it super simple. So the guy that's running the sub shop portion of it reached out to find a mentor because he wanted to create more opportunity and think bigger and he felt like he was thinking too small. And it is so interesting to me right now Because the mentor has been asking him all these questions about how are you so profitable? What expenses do you have? And of course, this is the restaurant business, but I'm still looking at it. It's like what is it about this business? I can take from this to apply to other businesses.

Speaker 1: 2:27

And he said something that stuck with me and it was keeping it simple. That's what has worked for years and years for the sub shops. They kept it simple, they didn't try to do overly extravagant things. They didn't have fancy bags, they didn't even have the trays that they were giving people the subs on. They're wrapping them up, they're handing them out and calling it a day, and they have minimal workers that are creating these subs and they have specific ingredients that are going into it and they only have a certain number. And what really struck me about the fact that they are keeping it simple is that it's a process. It's a process that can be replicated over and over and over again, and the very interesting part to me right now is in the last episode he turned.

Speaker 1: 3:13

This mentor, did and said franchise it.

Speaker 1: 3:16

You have a recipe for success. You could start this in one, two, three, four and franchise it into two different shops. So this is what I want you to start to think about is when you are looking at the world around you, when you're reading something, when you're watching something, when you're talking to other people about what it is that they do, I will often look at it and see what is it about, what they're doing that is working for them? That I could apply to my business and to my people's businesses. So I want you to start looking at the world that way. What is it about that? That would make it easier? The people that you meet that are successful, no matter what industry they're in. I want you to start to ask them those questions what has worked well for them? Why do they feel that they've succeeded in their business or in their job of what they do overall?

Speaker 1: 4:10

So, thinking about this from a standpoint of what can I replicate? What kind of systems do I have in place that can be replicated? One of the things that was said to me very early on with my food blog that I had was what would happen if you wanted to sell this, and that got me creating systems, because if, in order to sell something, you have to have systems in place that someone is buying the whole business, they're not stepping into gigantic chaos. So the more and more that you can replicate your systems, have systems in place for what you are doing, be able to have diversified income with your products and services, the more likely you are to be able to sell it, to replicate it, to continue to grow and scale your business.