I am a huge fan of BBC America for 2 main reasons. Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and the Dragons’ Den. Though I really can’t stomach most reality television, these are my exceptions. Dragons’ Den pits 5 millionaire investors willing to invest their own money in hopeful entrepreneurs’ products and ideas. These idea’s are anything from automatic rocking baby strollers to spicy jerk chicken marinade recipe’s. Gordon Ramsey is basically all 5 of those dragons rolled into one loud, foul mouthed, restaurateur that does nothing but make your restaurant successful.

I have been watching these shows for all of about 6 months now and I have come to realize what Chef Ramsay and the Dragons’ are looking for. Wait for it…it’s the basics. Of course it is a lot more than that but when both show get really interesting is when the “victims” don’t do the basics.

The Dragons and Chef Ramsay seem like such bad asses in every show because of their persistence in understanding the important stuff. The thing that they both do is just ask pertinent and important questions, often crossing the line and demoralizing their subjects. Even from the safety of my own couch I fear I’m going to get called on to answer a question about Xgineer. They are really not as bad ass as you might expect, they just expect you to know the stuff you’re supposed to know. When you don’t, all hell breaks loose. Here are some of the learning’s I have taken from both shows.

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmare’s

Failure Characteristics:

• Ego of the chef or business owner (far and away the biggest issue)
• Entitlement
• Lack of knowledge in their business, market, or industry
• Inability and unwillingness to change
• Alienation of your staff
• Lack of understanding their customer
• and I’m going to put ego again (watch the show, you’ll understand why)

Breakthroughs:

• Ego is crushed and rebuilt – usually by an uncensored tirade by Chef Ramsay which either leads to fury or tears from the guy or gal in charge
• Care and understanding of their staff and customers – that is only first step, the next part is embracing it and genuinely wanting to listen and make the necessary changes.
• Acknowledgment of their reputation and ability actually make change – some chefs and owners are so caught up in their own little egotistical world that they only hear what they want and put themselves in a position where negative feedback won’t reach them.
• CASH MONEY – Chef Ramsay shows them a way to a profitable day- No matter how much they fight him and tell him he’s wrong, they cannot argue with him while they are counting the money.

The Dragons Den

No investment interest:

• Ego – its amazing how much this factor gets in the way of a good idea
• Lack of research on the market or product
• Not knowing your company’s key metrics
• Inability to pitch your idea effectively
• “Know-it-alls”
• People that don’t want to listen
• People that can’t take criticism

Investment interest:

• Charisma
• Optimism
• Enthusiasm
• Knowledge of product and market
• Knowledge and understanding of their company’s key metrics
• Good plan once they have the investment (building the brand or increasing production vs paying off debt because you already blew the 25k your parents gave you)
• Ability to listen
• Humble

My main takeaway with the Dragons is that they really invest in the person. It doesn’t happen very often but when they do invest you’ll often hear them say, “I want to work with that guy or gal.” “Regardless of what they are selling I know they will be successful and I want a piece of that.” It’s demonstrated by the entrepreneur impressing the Dragon’s with their knowledge and understanding of the basics. That’s when its fun to watch the Dragons fight over a great investment.

I really do get a lot from both these shows and try to keep these lessons in mind when running my own company. Whether it’s education or entertainment, I recommend you check these show’s out. Thoughts and comments encouraged

On the web or:

Dragons Den: Thursday’s @ 9:00 pm pst

Ramsays Kitchen Nightmare’s: Wednesday’s @ 8:00 pm pst

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