We
all know that The
World is Flat because of the great book by Thomas Firedman creating an
environment where disruption can come from anywhere. Harvard’s Michael Porter
recently stated that “Industry boundaries are expanding, and they can expand even more. We’re going to see a combination of barriers
to entry going up and the opportunity for disruption going up simultaneously.”
One such case just might be the Padang Restaurant. In the United States and many places around
the world consumers looking for food that is affordable, Ready-2-Eat and great
tasking think of McDonalds.
However in Asia some people think that food should be
cheap, delicious and is served in big a portion. That is not an easy
combination, but it is not impossible. Indonesians, for example, will
immediately associate those adjectives with “Nasi Padang” (nickname
for food from Padang Restaurant or Restoran Padang).
Many
in Indonesia describe ‘Nasi’ Padang as
both cheap and delicious and that just might be what it takes to expand a
successful global restaurant footprint today and Padang restaurant business
model just might have the new restaurant success model. Padang restaurants appeal to people
from various backgrounds. You may find some of their popular menu familiar, with
items the ilk of ayam pop and rendang.
Padang
restaurant can be found easily all across Indonesia, and they have been
expanding abroad although they don’t necessarily come from one restaurant chain
thus the concept trumps anyone brand today.
Nevertheless, they share similar business model. An ex-employee at a
Padang Restaurant, Sutan Pamenan, and citizen journalist Gus Kajung shared their knowledge on Resto
Padang’s management here is what they identify as success clues:
“Financial
transparency and profit sharing makes Padang restaurant unique. With that
system, investors and/or owners regard their employees as partners. After all,
employees are paid based on the restaurant’s profit. Each employee gathers
points, which will be accumulated and exchanged with money every 100 days.
Highest point is given to the chefs, as they are the decision makers.
Generally,
the team consists of capital owners, chefs and assistant chefs (in charge of
cooking and planning the grocery shopping), toke (grocery shopping and
making financial reports), tukang sanduak (plating food), bahagian
tengah (delivering food to customers and sending dirty dishes to the
kitchen), dishwashers and cashiers.
Every
night, the team counts their income. Based on that day’s income, the chefs will
decide what and how much ingredients they will buy the following day.
Then,
every 100 days or 3 months, they will count how much net income they can get.
Depends on negotiation, investors usually receive 30 percent. The rest is
divided based on ‘mato’ or percentage – 25 percent is given to
chefs, 20 percent for toke, 15 percent for tukang sanduak, 15
percent for bahagian tengah, 15 percent for dishwashers and 10 percent
for cashiers.
On
the same day, they will also evaluate the performance of every team member.
Everyone is free to speak up their mind. Then, the decision to fire a bad
employee is made together, unlike the usual case where the investors and
executive board are the decision makers.
The
system creates a sense of belonging for each employee, driving them to work
even harder for the sake of the restaurant. Besides, their wages are decided by
the restaurant’s profit. Thanks to highly motivated workers, Padang restaurants
is famous for giving quick service.
This
system has indeed been applied since a long time ago, before Western
restaurants make their way into Indonesia. Surprisingly, Padang
restaurants’ management system is somewhat similar with famous restaurants’
system, such as McDonald’s. McDonald’s has a profit sharing and savings
plans that lets employees further build ownership and reinvest in the
company.
While
McDonald’s sell fast food, Padang restaurants’ products are slow food that are
all ready-to-be-served. They are both affordable and somewhat unhealthy –
Padang restaurants’ food are cooked with coconut milk thus making it quite high in
cholesterol.
In
a way, similar to McD, Padang restaurant is a cultural icon. Padang restaurant
represents cheap, delicious-but-not-so-healthy big portioned food. It certainly
go up head-to-head with McDonald’s, which is the icon of USA, of
delicious-but-unhealthy junk food and hang out place, with their 24/7 services
and free wifi.
Padang
restaurants have a competitive edge on the menu offering as well. One of the
usual menu items in Padang restaurants, rendang, has been nominated as
world’s most delicious food and is being used as burger’s patty – even by
famous brands such as McD and Burger King.
Combined
with its managerial system, it can certainly compete globally. There are even
Padang restaurants which are successful in various countries such as Singapore, USA and China. With the right support system, Padang
restaurants can certainly shine on the global stage.
Huge
array of food served in typical Padang restaurants (Photo credit: GIV/TS),
Is your business ready
to come to the United States? If so www.FoodserivceSolutions.us can help. Foodservice
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