In my extensive experience, I can honestly say that Sculpture Hospitality's inventory solutions are world class and, by far, the most comprehensive in the industry.
— Jon Taffer
Failure is an awful thing, and when I look at the common denominator of failure, it seems to always be the same thing: excuses.
I have no personal or professional regrets. I really don't.
People see themselves on camera. They're ashamed of the things that they do, so they have a choice: Either they accept responsibility for it, or they blame the show for it. It's a human reaction.
Pushing for excellence is a fight. You have to fight to hire the right employees, fight to get the supplies you need, to move line items around. Being a great manager means pushing to get those few extra inches every day. It's almost like a football game - the team that wins sometimes wins by just inches.
I've made stupid investments. I've made stupid decisions as an employee. I've made foolish decisions as a manager. I've gotten fired. I've lost businesses. I went through all of those things.
When I was running the Troubadour, there was this transition from the classic singer/songwriter Jackson Browne types to bands like Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, and Fear. Those are just some that come to mind. Oh, and Adam Ant! The Fear fans wanted to 'crush' the Ants. These guys hated each other.
Leadership cannot be taught. Either you're a leader by the time you're 12 years old, or you never will be.
Excuses destroy success every time.
I've always said that my greatest crises are my greatest opportunities to prove my own character to myself.
Putting somebody else in crisis mode and causing them to make quicker decisions, urgent decisions, rather than prolonged, more logical decisions can be very advantageous. So, to be successful in business, you have to understand the power of confrontation and how to use it correctly.
The wrong personality with the greatest resume in a business will not grow that business.
The infusion of technology and social marketing to bar spaces is a big opportunity.
There has been a black hole in the bar business in Las Vegas, particularly on the Strip in tourist areas.
What I love about Vegas is that we have the mountains and the Strip. There is always something to do.
I really was going to run for Congress.
When I went to college, I really became interested in cultural anthropology. Our behavior isn't that different from other primate species'.
Failure is an extremely personal thing, and so is success. The problem with people is they don't own their failure, and if you don't own your failures, you're never going to own your successes.
I believe that every person's failure is their fault, every single time.
I'm a really happy guy. I have a great career, a wonderful wife and family.
When I meet with people who are ineffective managers with failing businesses, I can't change what they do - I have to change the way they think.
Keeping a bar clean is basic in this business. Having a staff that speaks adequate English is basic.
A plate of food hits the table, lands right in front of you. One of two things happens. Either you sit up and look at it and react to it, or nothing happens. If nothing happens then that restaurant is stuck in mediocrity forever.
When I'm angry on TV, I'm actually not. I'm manipulating you as an owner.
If I'm your boss, and I truly want you to be successful... I'm inherently going to teach you. I'm inherently going to correct your mistakes. I'm inherently going to spend time with you. I'm inherently going to lead you.
The word 'mixology' adds $3 to the price of any drink.
It's easy to be good when things are great; it's tough to be good when they're not.
I don't want to hire people who have less of a commitment than I do.
I'm the type of employer who will hire based on personality, based on potential. If you put the resume before the personality, you're going to fail.
Rarely does a congressman stand up and defend a liquor company. Rarely does a congressman stand up and defend a bar.
Don't open a bar if you think all you need to be is social and greet the customers. You have to run a business.
I have a playroom with my drum set, a guitar, and amplifier at home.
Sometimes people go into my business because they like to drink, which - that's insane.
The greatest gift of leadership is a boss who wants you to be successful.
I think success is a relative term. If you're a caveman, success is capturing an elephant. Success is achieving better than the norm. Success is being exceptional. It's exceptional reputation, exceptional income, and exceptional respect.
A bar is a factory, a marketing organization, and a service organization all in one.
I'm a businessman, not a bartender.
If you can't build a relationship with your customers, you're in big trouble. If you can remember the numbers from the reports and spreadsheets you spent hours poring over in your office, but you can't picture the faces of your customers - you're in big trouble.
I think the greatest mistakes have been my greatest lessons.
The Knack were a very, very powerful band, and you got to understand, when they came in, all the punk stuff was still going on. There was an amazing conflict within the scenes.
Leadership is a trait; it's not a skill.
In the worst of our recession, bars were making money. Every bar can make money. If they're failing, it's not because of the president or Congress or Ukraine. It's because of them. And if you own failure, then you'll own success.
I could take a cemetery and make all the tombstones beer companies. There's a lot of craft beers that came and went. A lot of them.
Make no mistake: confrontation is unavoidable in business.
The right personality with a weak resume can be filled in. That's the employee who will become great.
You ever see a bar with 200 beautiful women go broke? But I've seen a lot of bars with great DJs go broke.
In the bar and restaurant industry, you're always one idea away from your next quarter-million.
My company was based in Palm Beach, Florida, but when 'Bar Rescue' took off, I knew I had to move west. It was a choice between L.A. and Vegas. I have a lot of friends in Vegas, and it became my choice. I'm so glad because I love it here. There's a real sense of community. It's a big town that feels like a small town. Everybody knows everybody.
I can't believe the sense of community here, the amount of pride the people who run this city have in Las Vegas. They are wonderful.
Honestly, if I could be anything, I'd love to be a small-business authority type of person.
