Doug Mathieux, owner of Artesano, shares his top tips for staffing and customer service. The worker shortage has been a struggle for everyone, but Doug has a unique strategy for combatting it—using double shifts to help his employees and in turn, reduce turnover.
On the customer side of the business, Doug prioritizes being sincere and hearing the customer out. Doug encourages aspiring restaurateurs to prioritize building your team, to set your business up for success.
[00:00] Show intro
[00:32] Welcome to Doug Mathieux
[00:41] What brought Doug into the restaurant industry
[01:50] Creating a kid-friendly restaurant
[04:23] Figuring out when crazy ideas will work
[07:17] How Artisano came to be and running two restaurants at the same time
[09:56] Finding a balance between familiarity and uniqueness
[11:38] Biggest learnings from the beginning to now
[14:09] Combatting worker shortages
[19:57] Where Doug's experimental thinking comes from
[25:22] The guardrails needed for experimentation
[29:14] Customer side of business
[33:42] Advice for someone who wants to open a restaurant
[36:10] Outro
