Tweet
Bagel firm founder tells what Noah would do
Ilana DeBare, Special to The Chronicle
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Noah Alper started Noah's Bagels with a single store on College Avenue in Berkeley and built it into a chain of 38 stores before selling it to Einstein Bagel Bros. for $100 million in 1995.
Alper went on to help launch the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in 2001, and Ristorante Raphael, a kosher Italian restaurant in Berkeley that closed in 2007.
His new book - "Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today's Entrepreneurs" - offers business advice from a Jewish ethical perspective and, along the way, tells the story of Alper's successes and failures.
Q: Exactly what is a mensch?
A: A mensch is a decent, upstanding individual. The original in German and Yiddish means a human being, or a man. But in Jewish terms, it's someone who demonstrates not only what a man is, but what a man should be.
Q: And a business mensch?
A: Someone who's not only successful in business, but doing business the way it should be done - dealing ethically. I don't see the two as inconsistent.
Q: Before you started Noah's, you had an unsuccessful business selling items made in Israel to evangelical Christians. Sometimes failures are more instructive than successes. What went wrong with Gifts From the Holy Land?
A: What went right would be a much shorter answer! What went wrong was that I mixed up a mission with a business. I looked at things as I wanted them to turn out, and not in a cold objective fashion.
Q: What didn't you see?
A: I didn't understand my market. I didn't make the investment in the research I needed. Out of that came the mistake of trying to be the retail face of the business myself, rather than partnering with someone who was in that community and had the brand identity to reach the consumer.
I produced a catalog that was too expensive for that market. I managed to get everybody offended! Certain groups don't like crucifixes, and others don't like holy water .... To me it was a monolithic market - fundamentalist Christians. That was a huge mistake.
Q: How about Ristorante Raphael? It never broke even. What was the problem there?
A: I'd say the location. I went into downtown Berkeley because I felt that competition for a quality restaurant was somewhat limited and we would be one of the stars. And when we first went in, the neighborhood was on the upswing. By the end of four years, it had gone the other way. We lost the movie theater next to us, which was the last straw.
Q: Your best-known success was Noah's. What did you do right?
A: The right product at the right time. San Francisco had every manner of great ethnic cuisine, but there wasn't a world-class bagel here. When we opened it was like we were an oasis in the desert, with people coming from all over the whole Bay Area.
Bagels were starting to become an American mainstream item like pizza, and we rode that wave. It seems ridiculous now, but carbo loading was a big deal in those days. It took people 6 1/2 years to realize if you carbo load and you're not running marathons, you get fat. At that point, we sold the business.
We had an excellent management team with great people. We treated people with respect, so our turnover rate was half of the industry standard. And my brother and I knew what we didn't know and sought out the expertise to fill those gaps.
All of those pieces were the building blocks. But what put us over the top was our community service and community outreach. Just before we sold the business, we did some loyalty studies, and our name recognition was just a bit below McDonald's in the Bay Area. That was because we reached deeply into the communities we served and made sure our programs gave back.
Q: You write about how important it was that the stores be authentically New York, and authentically Jewish. What did you have to do to make that happen?
A: It involved not being afraid to be unapologetically Jewish. It sounds simplistic, but we acted as if we were operating the store in a Jewish neighborhood - we had Hanukkah candles at the appropriate time of year, challahs on Friday, charity boxes in every store.
We also operated a strictly kosher establishment. We were the largest kosher retailer in the Untied States when we sold the business. That was an added level of complexity. But it not only captured a very loyal kosher community, it also added to the authenticity.
Q: One piece of advice you give in the book is to remember the Sabbath. What does that mean for non-Jewish businesspeople?
A: What I'm saying is that you need to take time away from the business. It's Sabbath in the most broadly construed perspective. Especially in today's day and age, with our electronic leashes, it means unleashing ourselves for periods of time. It's not only vital for health but extremely important for business success, because without reflection time, you won't do as good a job. It can be anything from a power walk to frequent vacations.
Q: It's so hard for small-business owners to get away at all. What did you do to keep the Sabbath when you were running Noah's?
A: I wasn't strictly observant then, but I made a vow that since this was going to be a kosher business, I was not going to work on Shabbat. So I empowered the manager from day one and told him, "Don't call me unless the place is burning down. And even then, don't call me because I won't pick up the phone." It involved a lot of trust.
Q: You tried to set such an authentic Jewish culture, but today, Noah's is no longer kosher. They stay open on Passover, when Jewish tradition prohibits eating or possessing bread. They even sell bacon! How do you feel about that?
A: It's like selling your house, and then telling the buyers: "Those red curtains are really ugly, can you get them out of here?" Well, you know what? It's their house. If they want red curtains, it's up to them.
A lot of people ask me about this, and I think, "What's wrong with me? I should be very upset!" But look, they went from 38 stores to 77 stores and they're still around 13 years after the business was sold. They've got to be doing something right as a business. It's not our way of doing things, but at the end of the day it's a business.
(Alper will be speaking at the Albany Community Center on Jan. 10, Congregation Beth El in Berkeley on Jan. 11, and the Osher Jewish Community Center in San Rafael on Jan. 14. For more information on his appearances or his book, see www.business mensch.net.)
The Seven Commandments of Noah
In his new book "Business Mensch," Noah Alper uses Jewish tradition to explain the lessons he learned in 38 years of entrepreneurship:
1. Have a little chutzpah.
Accomplishing great tasks requires risk-taking.
2. Discover yourself.
Bring your own gifts and passions into your work.
3. Go forth like Abraham.
Be ready to take action.
4. It takes a shtetl (village).
Know when to seek help from partners, advisers or
employees.
5. The power of a mensch.
Treating people right pays off in the long run.
6. Come back stronger.
Nearly all new businesses fail; the trick is learning from failures and using them as a springboard to rebuild.
7. Remember the Sabbath.
Step away from work for a revitalized perspective.
Source: Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today's Entrepreneur (Wolfeboro Press)
E-mail comments to business@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...BUON1B0KNP.DTL
This article appeared on page F - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Ilana DeBare, Special to The Chronicle
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Noah Alper started Noah's Bagels with a single store on College Avenue in Berkeley and built it into a chain of 38 stores before selling it to Einstein Bagel Bros. for $100 million in 1995.
Alper went on to help launch the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in 2001, and Ristorante Raphael, a kosher Italian restaurant in Berkeley that closed in 2007.
His new book - "Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today's Entrepreneurs" - offers business advice from a Jewish ethical perspective and, along the way, tells the story of Alper's successes and failures.
Q: Exactly what is a mensch?
A: A mensch is a decent, upstanding individual. The original in German and Yiddish means a human being, or a man. But in Jewish terms, it's someone who demonstrates not only what a man is, but what a man should be.
Q: And a business mensch?
A: Someone who's not only successful in business, but doing business the way it should be done - dealing ethically. I don't see the two as inconsistent.
Q: Before you started Noah's, you had an unsuccessful business selling items made in Israel to evangelical Christians. Sometimes failures are more instructive than successes. What went wrong with Gifts From the Holy Land?
A: What went right would be a much shorter answer! What went wrong was that I mixed up a mission with a business. I looked at things as I wanted them to turn out, and not in a cold objective fashion.
Q: What didn't you see?
A: I didn't understand my market. I didn't make the investment in the research I needed. Out of that came the mistake of trying to be the retail face of the business myself, rather than partnering with someone who was in that community and had the brand identity to reach the consumer.
I produced a catalog that was too expensive for that market. I managed to get everybody offended! Certain groups don't like crucifixes, and others don't like holy water .... To me it was a monolithic market - fundamentalist Christians. That was a huge mistake.
Q: How about Ristorante Raphael? It never broke even. What was the problem there?
A: I'd say the location. I went into downtown Berkeley because I felt that competition for a quality restaurant was somewhat limited and we would be one of the stars. And when we first went in, the neighborhood was on the upswing. By the end of four years, it had gone the other way. We lost the movie theater next to us, which was the last straw.
Q: Your best-known success was Noah's. What did you do right?
A: The right product at the right time. San Francisco had every manner of great ethnic cuisine, but there wasn't a world-class bagel here. When we opened it was like we were an oasis in the desert, with people coming from all over the whole Bay Area.
Bagels were starting to become an American mainstream item like pizza, and we rode that wave. It seems ridiculous now, but carbo loading was a big deal in those days. It took people 6 1/2 years to realize if you carbo load and you're not running marathons, you get fat. At that point, we sold the business.
We had an excellent management team with great people. We treated people with respect, so our turnover rate was half of the industry standard. And my brother and I knew what we didn't know and sought out the expertise to fill those gaps.
All of those pieces were the building blocks. But what put us over the top was our community service and community outreach. Just before we sold the business, we did some loyalty studies, and our name recognition was just a bit below McDonald's in the Bay Area. That was because we reached deeply into the communities we served and made sure our programs gave back.
Q: You write about how important it was that the stores be authentically New York, and authentically Jewish. What did you have to do to make that happen?
A: It involved not being afraid to be unapologetically Jewish. It sounds simplistic, but we acted as if we were operating the store in a Jewish neighborhood - we had Hanukkah candles at the appropriate time of year, challahs on Friday, charity boxes in every store.
We also operated a strictly kosher establishment. We were the largest kosher retailer in the Untied States when we sold the business. That was an added level of complexity. But it not only captured a very loyal kosher community, it also added to the authenticity.
Q: One piece of advice you give in the book is to remember the Sabbath. What does that mean for non-Jewish businesspeople?
A: What I'm saying is that you need to take time away from the business. It's Sabbath in the most broadly construed perspective. Especially in today's day and age, with our electronic leashes, it means unleashing ourselves for periods of time. It's not only vital for health but extremely important for business success, because without reflection time, you won't do as good a job. It can be anything from a power walk to frequent vacations.
Q: It's so hard for small-business owners to get away at all. What did you do to keep the Sabbath when you were running Noah's?
A: I wasn't strictly observant then, but I made a vow that since this was going to be a kosher business, I was not going to work on Shabbat. So I empowered the manager from day one and told him, "Don't call me unless the place is burning down. And even then, don't call me because I won't pick up the phone." It involved a lot of trust.
Q: You tried to set such an authentic Jewish culture, but today, Noah's is no longer kosher. They stay open on Passover, when Jewish tradition prohibits eating or possessing bread. They even sell bacon! How do you feel about that?
A: It's like selling your house, and then telling the buyers: "Those red curtains are really ugly, can you get them out of here?" Well, you know what? It's their house. If they want red curtains, it's up to them.
A lot of people ask me about this, and I think, "What's wrong with me? I should be very upset!" But look, they went from 38 stores to 77 stores and they're still around 13 years after the business was sold. They've got to be doing something right as a business. It's not our way of doing things, but at the end of the day it's a business.
(Alper will be speaking at the Albany Community Center on Jan. 10, Congregation Beth El in Berkeley on Jan. 11, and the Osher Jewish Community Center in San Rafael on Jan. 14. For more information on his appearances or his book, see www.business mensch.net.)
The Seven Commandments of Noah
In his new book "Business Mensch," Noah Alper uses Jewish tradition to explain the lessons he learned in 38 years of entrepreneurship:
1. Have a little chutzpah.
Accomplishing great tasks requires risk-taking.
2. Discover yourself.
Bring your own gifts and passions into your work.
3. Go forth like Abraham.
Be ready to take action.
4. It takes a shtetl (village).
Know when to seek help from partners, advisers or
employees.
5. The power of a mensch.
Treating people right pays off in the long run.
6. Come back stronger.
Nearly all new businesses fail; the trick is learning from failures and using them as a springboard to rebuild.
7. Remember the Sabbath.
Step away from work for a revitalized perspective.
Source: Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today's Entrepreneur (Wolfeboro Press)
E-mail comments to business@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...BUON1B0KNP.DTL
This article appeared on page F - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle