Handle the pots and pans to perfection is not enough to be a restaurateur. For the incubator the Frigate, it is also necessary to be an entrepreneur. The start-up Tiller Systems, editor software cash register on iPad, is advantage of the following observation for the launch of its incubator : two restaurants on three close after only 3 years of activity.
“There must be a dozen caps to open his restaurant : cook, server, communicator, entrepreneur… a Lot of aspiring restaurateurs do not have this complementarity,” says Jennifer Moukouma, head of The Frigate. In today’s hyper-competitive of the kitchen, it is necessary to consider its project as a business full to succeed.”
The incubator’s objective is to accompany 25 conservators per year, for a 3-month program. Each candidate must pay 300 euros per month per project for his job.
“All of them are Parisians and from the world of business”
The first promotion, consisting of 5 candidates, will begin his training as soon as the inauguration this Monday. “All of them are Parisians and from the world of the company, details of Jennifer Moukouma. There are no profile purely culinary. Some are very young, and come out of business schools, others are in transition after having worked in finance or the council.” Among them, Emilie Neukirch, 31 years old, and his brother Augustin, 26 years. “I have been a training consultant for two years at Accenture, before working for a smaller firm. There is a little less than a year, I quit my job to do a conversion,” says the passionate about cooking. With his brother, came from the marketing, they aim to open “a canteen with the family dishes and simple”. The siblings did not follow training kitchen. They have applied to the Frigate “having in mind that the failure rate is high. It is therefore important for us to be well surrounded to move forward,” continues Emilie Neukirch.
Towards a standardisation of the restaurants ?
The menu of the training : development of the concept and of the map before moving to the administrative and financial – as the research of the local and the funds. Supervised by the chefs, the cooks will be able to “test their dishes with a real audience,” says the manager. Within its 300 m2, the Frigate has a semi-professional kitchen fitted to the premises of Tillers Sytems, in the Xe arrondissement of Paris. Created with the financial and operational support of Transgourmet, the incubator has not wished to communicate on its funding.
The second component of the training is dedicated to the definition of a digital strategy and communication for the launch of the restaurant. “The sector is not very digitised and there is a real need for education,” says Jennifer Moukouma. A module will therefore be devoted to social networks, including Facebook and Instagram, and developing a “buzz” for the Day of the opening. Online courses, available on the website of the incubator, even give very specific tips for the decoration of the restaurant specifying the materials to fashion : brass, stainless steel… and Left to duplicate the same projects ?
“Today, we realize that the new profiles of restaurant owners are often people out of business schools, admits the head of the Frigate. Actually, this may tend to a standardization of concepts, similar to the Big Mamma”, string parisian of Italian restaurants.
While the goal is to open his restaurant at 3 to 6 months after the hatching, “the selection is carried out when the project is already ripe. So our goal is not to influence the project. The incubator will ensure that the concept is viable, to make it grow and become a chain or a network of franchisees.”
