BUSINESS TIPS:
PASSION,
ENDURANCE and
GOOD LAWYERS
LUKE: What’s your practical advice for how to run
a business?
GINA: Have passion about what you want to do.
Work hard. Believe. You have to keep that zest and
keep nailing it.
PAT: One of the keys that I have told people who
are even thinking about going into business is
to first do something you truly love. The biggest
misconception about business is that it will get
easier. You adjust, but you’ve got to be willing to do
whatever it takes to grow your business. There is
no “It’s 5:00, I’m off work.” My cell phone stays on
24/7, and when I sleep, it’s beside my bed because
I could get a call at 3 a.m. Being an entrepreneur is
not for everybody—and that’s OK.
GINA: I came into the business two years ago. I
never had any interest in being an entrepreneur or
even thought about owning a company, but I came
from a sales background. It’s also important that
you have people around you that have different
talents to grow your business. The hardest part for
both of us is just to delegate because we both are
very hands-on people. We do everything!
PAT: I opened my first restaurant when I was
23. I had $20,000, which wasn’t nearly enough.
The restaurant was probably about 2,000 square
feet. Opening day, we had a reach-in cooler and a
barbeque pit. That was it. We didn’t have a stove,
we didn’t have a venting hood, and we couldn’t fry
anything or cook anything on the gas because we
didn’t have a fire-suppressant system. We didn’t
have any money. My grandmother put our house
up for collateral for us to grow our business and
she was 92 years of age. In two years, we had saved
$35,000 to $40,000. We took that and we made a
down payment on this building. You’ve got to be
willing to sacrifice and re-invest. In any business,
you need a good attorney. I have an excellent
JULY/AUGUST 2008
