John Kunkel, founder and CEO of 50 Eggs Restaurant Group, said he mortgaged the house, ran up the credit cards, and tapped the Bank of Friends and Family to get his entrepreneurial business off the ground in the early 2000s.
What were those early years like? "A whole lot of research, a whole lot of knocking on doors, a whole lot of no's, " he said in an earlier interview. But "you do whatever it takes."
Now, in one of the toughest industries out there, John has 14 Lime Fresh Mexican Grills and 14 more on the immediate runway. Last fall he opened his first upscale eatery -- always his endgame, he says -- called Yardbird Southern Table & Bar -- and has another one, Swine Southern Table & Bar, in the plans for the Gables. (This photo of John Kunkel at Yardbird was taken by Emily Michot/Miami Herald)
Leadership "means being an innovator and possessing a unique vision while motivating others to follow that vision," he remarked to Cindy Goodman in a story last year.
Today, Jenny Staletovich looked at his latest venture in a Business Monday story this week. "What makes us most happy is changing the dining scene in Miami," he told her. Read the story here.
Powered by passion, John Kunkel is one of South Florida's leading restaurant entrepreneurs. Indeed his Miami-based restaurant group is the largest in South Florida employing 450, and he was named to the Miami Herald's 20-under-40 list of emerging leaders in 2010. So I asked him a few questions about his entrepreneurial journey.
Q. What is the best business/entrepreneurship advice you ever received?
A. Never take no for an answer and never give up.
Q. What has been your biggest entrepreneurial challenge of the last year or two?
A. As we have been expanding rapidly, finding exceptional team members to run our restaurants continues to be a challenge. We only hire the best and recruiting is a interminable process which consists of not only searching for candidates that come to us from the outside but also identifying the candidates that already exist within our organization.
[At Yardbird, John has employed his Lime service model. Everyone has the opportunity to move up and has a voice, he told Jenny. For example the dishwashers have their own team with weekly meetings.]
Q. From where you sit, do you see the local economy on the upswing or not?
A. Yes, while real estate continues to be depressed I have seen signs of improvement. As a small business owner, I am always optimistic
Q. What one piece of advice do you have for entrepreneurs just getting started -- or what do you know now you wished you knew then?
A. Do your homework! It is more important than ever to have a strong business plan to help execute your dreams.