Jon Taffer Quotes

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Jon Taffer

Profession : Businessman

Birth : November 7, 1954

One of my first bartending gigs was on Santa Monica Boulevard at Doug Weston's Troubadour, a very famous live music venue.

Jon Taffer

When you're finished, bars are not inherently profitable. You got to work at them to make them profitable.

Jon Taffer

People connect to a good bar very personally.

Jon Taffer

If you have to signal a bartender to get a drink, then they're not looking at you, which is their problem. They're not doing their job. So don't feel rude when you signal a bartender. They're the ones who caused you to signal them. Go for it.

Jon Taffer

Don't eat the bar nuts.

Jon Taffer

Never eat anything out of a bowl in a bar... If it isn't in a package, don't eat it.

Jon Taffer

Great negotiations happen when people are relaxed, so a relaxing environment is important. A high-energy environment tenses people up. It closes them up. You're not as likely to get that concession.

Jon Taffer

I opened my first bar that I owned in 1989. The first one I ever owned was in downtown St. Louis.

Jon Taffer

I do a lot of corporate consulting work. I've been doing it a long time.

Jon Taffer

I went to college for political science and got a bartending job.

Jon Taffer

The 'hottest bar in town,' to me, means high energy.

Jon Taffer

If your main reason for opening a bar is to have somewhere for you and your friends to hang out, then build a bar in your basement, and stay out of the industry.

Jon Taffer

People don't go to bars they think are uncool.

Jon Taffer

Society is causing us to talk less and interact more digitally. So, I'd be remiss if I didn't believe that businesses will have to follow that same path.

Jon Taffer

The fact of the matter is that the most important responsibility a bar owner has is public safety and the safety of the people in it.

Jon Taffer

You have to connect with your market and your employees. First, understand that what your market says is fact and what you say is opinion. Then, take the time to create a good connection with your employees. Without those two key connections, your business will be stuck in mediocrity forever.

Jon Taffer

I was 12 years old and in summer camp. I started a company called Aardvark Industries, which provided basic services to camp counselors.

Jon Taffer

I guess I've just always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

Jon Taffer

You give me someone with the right personality, and I'll give you a bar manager in three weeks. You give me someone who has been a lousy bar manager for 30 years, and in three weeks, you'll still have a lousy bar manager.

Jon Taffer

Any business, no matter what it is, lives or dies by the customer reaction it creates.

Jon Taffer