Danny Meyer: Enlightened Hospitality

New York Restaurateur Danny Meyer believes that business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. In his new book Setting the Table, he emphasizes putting the power of hospitality to work in a new and counterintuitive way: The first and most important application of hospitality is to the people who work for you, and then, in descending order of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers, and the investors. This way of prioritizing stands the more traditional business models on their heads, but Danny considers it the foundation of every success that he and his restaurants have achieved.

He told the New York Times in a recent interview, “Show me three world-class art museums with equally good art and one of them will always have friendlier guards than the other two. That’s the one I’m the most likely to return to."

The Meyer Model

Hospitality is key: Virtually nothing else is as important as how one is made to feel in any business transaction.

Strive for shared ownership: When guests talk about a restaurant as if it's theirs, they can't wait to share it with friends.

Invest in your community: A business that understands the power of creating wealth for the community stands a much higher chance of creating wealth for its own investors.

Know thyself: Before you go to market, know what you are selling and to whom. Be the best you can be within a reasonably tight product focus.

Be generous: It's almost always worth bearing a higher short-term cost if you want to win in the long run.