Chris Bredesen shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Chris , so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is a normal day like for you right now?
The day starts with a energy filled 4 year old boy waking my wife and I up around 7am. Every. Single. Day.
He then helps us wake up our 1 year old girl and we begin the process.
After the kids are taken care of I normally begin my day by handling issues that occurred from the night before at all the restaurants. Items such as repairs needed, general management requests and checking on sales numbers.
I like to physically try to get to each restaurant at least 1-2 times a week to check in on cleanliness, staff and overall feel of the spot.
Once around noon hits, its normally answering a couple hundred emails while working with our management team members to make sure they have the tools necessary to give the customer a perfect dining experience.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I started my brand (CB Services Management) over 15 years ago as a management company that runs 8 full service restaurants, property management and real estate ownership.
Our goal is to keep expanding and grow our team to allow team members and their families to continue to prosper!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
My father.
He taught me the work / life balance … But more importantly taught me how to be an entrepreneur.
I watched him as he grew his businesses one unit at a time and the importance of investing wisely and working hard to make sure your businesses have the best chance of success.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Absolutely.
We opened up a quick serve restaurant in a location that we thought would be very successful, but it was not.
The sales were extremely weak and we had to cut costs as much as possible where I would work in the kitchen for some shifts to save on labor.
Ultimately the location had to close and a net loss of $750,000.
It was an extremely tough pill to swallow, but with this failure came knowledge and future locations have been successful.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Family, Friends and having fun.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop doing the “small stuff”.
Focusing on the small details of the restaurants is what makes them successful, but it also takes up a lot of my time. If my time here was limited I would probably put a bit less focus on the small details to have more time for friends and family …
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cbservicesmanagement.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebredesen/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-bredesen-7226771
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.bredesen.54
