Unglamorous Reality For Aspiring Apprentices

1 April 2005

THE recent hand-wringing over the dearth of apprentice chefs is hardly news to other professions such as hairdressing, which have been suffering a similar long-standing crisis. Maybe there are even some parallels between these "glamour" jobs that create unrealistic expectations for aspirants.

Hairdressing is a perfect example of an industry that fostered a series of high-profile "stars" and a wave of new entrants who thought success would come easily.

For many who stuck out the apprenticeship, the goal was to start their own business and make their fortune rather than suffer the ignominy of working for another more experienced practitioner.

Hence the plethora of tiny, unprofitable, hairdressing salons, barely making the rent, with proprietors complaining bitterly about their inability to recruit staff.

In fact, in the very first Business Network profile on this page, veteran businesswoman Alyson Schoer, of successful Sydney salon Blondes Brunettes Redheads, highlighted the issue of staffing shortages and too many unprofitable competitors.

Other industries suffering from the same syndrome include gardening and landscaping. Could the advent of all those reality TV shows have anything to do with the desire of every qualified apprentice to suddenly think of himself as the next Jamie Durie?

As Alan Hoy of Citron Gardens nursery said in these pages last year: "Guys work here for a while to learn the business and then go and buy their own van and go it alone - of course they try and steal all your customers."

Far be it from me to blame these heavily hyped rock star chefs/hairdressers/gardeners for exacerbating the problem. Especially as I have often been critical about the lack of role models for small business.

However, maybe too much attention is paid to the fruits of success rather than to the sheer hard work it takes to achieve it.

It took Jamie Oliver's later TV series Jamie's Kitchen, in which he tried to train a group of young unemployed people, to bring home to aspirants that fame and fortune don't come easily and most would never make the grade.

Neil Perry, a Sydney chef and owner of the Rockpool Restaurant at The Rocks, learnt a hard lesson when his early success threatened to bring down the whole empire. He was forced to consolidate his interests and regroup. It's a lesson that might be resonating with another seemingly overly stretched chef, Luke Mangan.

The fact is, as Schoer so eloquently pointed out last year, artistic people are not necessarily good business people. You might earn rave reviews for your meals, or blow-waves or landscape design, but once you start believing your own publicity, it can all end in tears.

How many times have you wandered past a string of near-empty restaurants and cafes night after night and wondered how on earth they manage to survive?

The answer is, many don't, and they leave other small-business creditors in their wake. Obviously a shortage of apprentices is only part of the problem.

Still, that's the downside of free enterprise. The upside makes up for it all.


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