Well, I finally did it. I decided to close my restaurant after a year of hard work, a lot of struggles, and even more soul searching. Over a hundred thousand dollars invested in trying to “turn around” a failed upscale eatery. And as I unwind the affairs of the restaurant, I must confess, it is a very bitter-sweet experience for me. I had to lay off nearly 20 good employees, walk away from a large capital investment, and more importantly, admit to myself that I am very capable of making bad decisions.

So as I finally finish the urgent details of closing, I’m finally able to sit and reflect on the last year of being a restaurateur. What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What was foreseeable (even if I missed it) and what was not? What should I have done differently? And most important — what did I learn from the experience? I know we’ve all heard the stories of people like Henry Ford that failed five times before his huge success, but somehow when you’re sitting in the ashes of recent failure, those stories don’t seem all that encouraging. Sure it’s nice to know that I’m in good company, but I need a little time. It’s pride, no doubt.

So, over the next few weeks I’m going to post a series of reflections on the experience. Hopefully readers will find the posts helpful, and perhaps the exercise will allow me to “work through it” all. Maybe we can all learn from this together. More to come…