From the bustling, stressful moments of serving tables as a part-time waiter/waitress to sipping a cup of coffee in my own entrepreneurial establishment, the journey has been a wild and unpredictable ride. One could say that the tools of social media and the canvas of my experience as a restaurant associate have played quintessential roles in shaping my business journey to where I am now. Let me take you through my incredibly insightful story about starting from the very basics and then making a mark on the e-commerce platform.
During my early university days, I worked part-time as a waiter. I was an English Literature student thrust into the fast-paced, constantly on-the-move environment of the service industry. The entire process of juggling orders, ensuring customer satisfaction, handling feedback, and dealing with the dynamics of my restaurant associates was equally taxing and exhilarating.
This experience also presented an opportunity for learning, allowing me to appreciate the nuances of entrepreneurship — the operations, customer service, and the importance of a close-knit team that works together smoothly.
Interestingly, much of my foundational learning about entrepreneurship was built during my stint as a restaurant associate. I recognized the value of building and maintaining customer relationships. It was here I learned about essential aspects of running a business, including dealing with inventory management or resolving customer complaints tactfully and effectively.
After years of study and part-time waitering, I ventured into an arena that had always fascinated me — e-commerce. The world of online shopping had it’s allure; the convenience it offered to customers, the global reach, and the potential it had for a successful business.
While starting my excursion into the entrepreneurial vision I had, I soon realized that my past experiences, particularly as an ex-part-time waiter and restaurant associate, had remarkably shaped my understanding of this new journey. Everything from dealing with difficult customers to ensuring top-notch service delivery was something I had already been doing and was now applying to my e-commerce business model.
However, the game-changer in this journey was the incorporation of social media. If my restaurant experience gave me the foundation of entrepreneurship, social media acted as the amplifier. It provided a platform where I could reach millions of consumers, share my products, and get real-time feedback, offering immediate advantages over a traditional brick-and-mortar business.
In an era where everything is just ‘one click away,’ restaurants, too, had shifted their marketing dynamics to social media platforms. When I was a part-time waiter, sharing day-to-day activities, specials of the day, or behind-the-scenes glimpses on social media was very much a part of our strategy to keep the customers engaged and coming back for more. The efficacy of this strategy was made protuberantly clear when many of our regular, even first-time customers, endorsed us on their social media platforms, expanding our reach beyond our geographical location.
Today, in my e-commerce business, I leverage social marketing tools not just to showcase what I am selling, but also to create a community around my brand, promote trust, and assure my customers of my business’s authenticity. The art of story-telling, which I first experienced in the restaurant business while sharing stories of our humble beginnings, chef’s unique recipes, or our restaurant’s decor language with customers or on social media, is now an integral part of my current enterprise.
To all my fellow restaurateurs or part-time waiter/waitress stepping into the bigger world of entrepreneurship, remember to optimize your experiences, befriend social media, and leverage these platforms to transcend your geographical boundaries. Share your story, your journey, your merchandise, and watch how going digital can give you exponential returns. With a patient, consistent, and passionate approach, there’s no limit to what you can achieve in the e-commerce world.
In a nutshell, my journey from a part-time waiter to an entrepreneur, intricately woven with social media threads and rich experiences as a restaurant associate, has been truly transformative. It demonstrates how past roles, often overlooked, can play a pivotal role in shaping our entrepreneurial journey and contribute to achieving success in the ever-evolving e-commerce sphere.