Entrepreneurs need to be resourceful to keep going despite the difficulty of finding employees. A couple of restaurateurs did just that, offering 49% of their company’s shares to two young, motivated employees.
“We lost two employees in the spring and I considered closing the restaurant. I was tired of finding people,” says Julie Arel, co-owner of La Muse restaurant.
Instead of closing the 200-seat facility in downtown Drummondville, she instead embarked on another plan: to make two of her oldest employees co-owners.
“We offered them a good price and endorsed them for the loan that we negotiated ourselves,” says Julie’s kind husband and pal Daniel Paulin.
The couple offered 49% stakes to Janie Vincent, 27, a waitress at La Muse for nine years, and Olivier Michon, 25, a chef for four years.
“I jumped at it,” says the young woman, who comes from an entrepreneurial family. After a stint at a box related to her major, entrepreneurship and business development, she had returned to work at the restaurant because she was bored at the other place.
She is now the co-owner of a successful restaurant, and not only halfway.
New dynamic
His colleague Koch, he was not asked either.
“I was the first to say yes, which brings me closer to my dream of becoming a millionaire,” says Olivier, who has been working in the catering industry since he was 14 without a high school diploma in his pocket.
Julie Arel and Daniel Paulin wanted to breathe new life into their business and they were right.
“We’ve doubled our energy since we sold them 49% of the shares,” says Julie. Because “you have to be young in gastronomy,” she says, and Janie and Olivier “keep the rhythm of the team going, they have a beer with them at the end of the day”.
Young people attract young people, adds the talkative entrepreneur, and “the dynamic in the restaurant has changed since they’ve become proprietors with us”.
“Everyone is more motivated,” adds Olivier, who Julie speaks of as if he were her own son. “He’s the best on the plate, he turns out 200 to 250 plates every night,” she says proudly.
Before offering the two young people the opportunity of a lifetime, Julie made sure “they know how to row”. “When you get on my boat, I want to be sure that we’re moving forward,” she says.
And to move forward, they move forward. La Muse is the only restaurant in downtown Drummondville that’s open on Sundays because everyone else is short of staff.
“We turn down at least 60 people every Sunday, the restaurant fills up in five minutes, that’s stupid,” says Daniel.
In short, business couldn’t be better. And the motivation has returned to the two first owners. Like what, when you want, you can.
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