By Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA Inland Board Member
If you had told me before opening my hospitality business that one day I would be emotionally affected by the temperature of a cappuccino, I would have laughed. Loudly. Possibly over a perfectly acceptable cappuccino.
Fast forward to today, and I can confirm that nothing humbles you quite like a stranger calmly explaining that your coffee has “notes of disappointment” and your scrambled eggs have “personality issues.”
Here are a few lessons I’ve learned the hard way, usually at full volume during a weekend rush.
1. Don’t take things personally
This is easy advice. It is also completely impossible.
Someone will, at some point, inform you that you serve the worst meal not only in South Africa, but globally. You will briefly wonder if your chef has been secretly sabotaging you out of spite. You will then smile politely and say, “Thank you for the feedback,” while internally drafting your retirement speech.
The trick? Compartmentalise. Not every complaint is a personal attack. Some are just wildly enthusiastic opinions delivered by people who had a bad morning.
2. Take your ‘happy pills’ daily
By happy pills, I mean whatever keeps you sane.
For me, it’s that first quiet moment before opening, or a cold Coke and three chocolates. Or watching guests laugh like they don’t have emails waiting for them. You must find those moments, because the rest of the day may involve three broken fridges, a missing booking, and a waiter who has just informed you that Table 7 is “complicated.”
Happiness becomes less of a luxury and more of a survival strategy.
3. Remember why you’re doing it
On the tough days, and there will be many, it helps to remember that this business isn’t just about food, drinks, or even hospitality.
It’s about making your guests happy. It’s about the team whose livelihoods depend on the doors opening every day. It’s about parents being able to send their kids to school, and even university, because of the opportunities created here. That perspective doesn’t fix everything, but it grounds you in something far bigger than a bad review.
4. Cameras. Everywhere.
When I first heard this advice, I thought it sounded a bit excessive. It is not.
You will want cameras in places you didn’t even know existed. Because at some point, someone will swear blind that they “definitely brought that bottle of wine” or that a table was “absolutely booked,” or that a chair “just collapsed on its own.”
Cameras don’t just protect your business; they protect your sanity.
And occasionally, they provide excellent entertainment.
5. Do everything yourself (at least once)
Before you delegate, you must suffer.
There, I’ve said it.
Work in the kitchen. Carry the trays. Take the bookings. Clean the floors. Handle the complaints. Burn the toast. Fix the printer. Then fix it again. Only when you’ve done every job, and badly at first, do you truly understand what it takes to run a hospitality business.
It also earns you something priceless: respect from your team. They know you’ve been in the trenches. Possibly still are.
6. Things will go wrong. Spectacularly. Regularly.
You will have days where everything works like magic. And then you will have days where the card machine stops working, the power trips, the chef calls in sick, and a table of 20 arrives unannounced to celebrate something very important.
On those days, you learn the most valuable lesson of all:
Stay calm and be extra friendly. Adapt. And if all else fails, smile confidently and walk quickly.
And then… something happens you never quite expected
Somewhere along the way, between the chaos, the complaints, the laughter, and the long days, you realise something far more important is happening.
You start to notice the birthdays. The anniversaries. The engagements. The long-overdue family reunions. The quiet tables where something meaningful is being said, and the loud ones where everything is being celebrated.
You realise that people don’t just come for the food.
They come for how you make them feel and leave happier than when they arrived.
And when you get it right, when you exceed expectations, when you make someone feel truly special, you see it instantly. In the smiles. In the laughter. In the way they linger just a little longer before leaving.
And if you think about it, what more can there be in life?
And then there’s something even deeper. You look at your team (the same people who once started as casual workers, unsure and inexperienced, simply trying to get by) now standing tall and proud: confident, professional, and self-assured.
Some have bought their first cars. Others have their first homes. Some are sending their children to schools and universities that their parents could never have dreamed of.
And you realise you didn’t just build a business. You helped build lives.
And in a world that often measures success in numbers, margins, and reviews, that might just be the most rewarding return of all.
