I took an unconventional route on my way to running a restaurant, and eventually a franchise with 15 locations nationwide, and counting.
First came the fishing lodge. I got into the fishing business because prior to that, I traveled all over the country teaching people how to sell. I got tired of the travel and decided I wanted to get into the fishing business, of all things, because I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors. Everyone asked me, “Why the fishing business?” They thought I’d lost my mind. I said, “Well, because it is customer-oriented. You’re giving a service.” So I started. I figured out how to fish, and then I hired people that knew how to fish better than me. Then I started giving great customer service because the one thing I’ve always known is it’s not always the product that you’re selling, it’s the service that you’re giving with the product that makes you successful.
So I took a little fishing company and did 250 trips in my first year. The following year, we did 250 trips in the month of May. At its peak, we were doing 800 to 1,000 trips a year. We just kept getting bigger and bigger.
But then two things happened almost simultaneously. First, my late wife, Belinda, got breast cancer. We thought we had it cured, but then it came back. At the same time, Hurricane Katrina hit us. Then Hurricane Rita hit us. The the big oil spill hit us. And Belinda said, “I’ve had enough. South Louisiana has worn me out,” and we knew there was an ending coming. She said, “I want to live in Colorado. I want to live up in the mountains so I’ll be closer to God.” So I sold the fishing lodge and we moved to Colorado.
After a few days there, when we were first trying to figure out where to live, we were trying to find some home food, some Louisiana Cajun food. She turned to me and said, “You know, it’s a shame that a couple of lost Cajuns can’t find home food.” A light went off. I said, “That’s a perfect name for a restaurant.” When she pointed out that I had never even been in the restaurant business, I told her, “But I know how to cook good Cajun food and I know how to give great customer service.”
So we started looking not only for a place to live, but a little place for me to have some gumbo, fried fish, fried shrimp, red beans, and rice–Cajun home food. I found a tiny 850-square-foot building in Frisco, Colorado, right in the middle of all the major ski resorts: Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain. Then I started building the restaurant, The Lost Cajun.
With no experience, I faced a number of challenges. Number one, I had no idea what equipment I would need to operate a restaurant. I hired a local consultant and the first day we walked into the building, they asked where I was going to put my hood vent system. I said, “What are you talking about, hood vents? There’s a door right there. I’m going to put a big fan like I had at the fishing lodge.” They started laughing at me. “Well, I can get a bigger fan,” I said. Then it was explained to me, that I’d have to spend $20,000 on a hood vent system. I literally had no idea. My little $50,000 project jumped by 20 grand. Then they told me I’d have to get on the Ansul system. I said, “Listen, I don’t know Mr. Ansul, but I’d be more than happy to meet with him so that I can understand his system.” They started laughing again. I literally did not know what the Ansul fire suppression system was, that’s how green I was.
