t seems most people never go into the business they started out in and Denise Meehan, founder of Lick's burgers, is no exception. She began in the hospitality industry at a very young age. Her parent's owned a hotel in Northern Ontario and most of what she has learned over the years she attributes to working for them.
Meehan says that she didn't have the same apprehension most people would about going into the hospitality or restaurant business because she was brought up in that environment. Meehan launched Lick's in 1980 with only a $5,000 loan and a clear vision of where she wanted to take her company.
"There are very few people that share my standards for service and quality in this industry. Too often, vast sums of money are spent on decor and advertising while neglecting staff development and customer concern," says Meehan. Since 1984, the business has expanded to 24 stores, with over 1500 employees and plans to open more stores.
HILARY Magazine sat down with Meehan to find out what keeps her company ticking.
HILARY Magazine: Can you tell us a little about your restaurants?
Meehan: We specialize in gourmet burgers of all descriptions. We have a gourmet meat burger, a gourmet nature burger, which is a vegetarian product/soy burger. We also have turkey, chicken and so on.
HILARY Magazine: How have you expanded your company, perhaps beyond Canada?
Meehan: Well, our Nature Burgers and children's Nature Burgers product are now available in the United States at all AMP stores and Farmer Jack stores.
HILARY Magazine: What is your favorite Licks product?
Meehan: Well, we do all our products really well and I wouldn't sell a customer something I wouldn't enjoy myself. But we are known for our burgers. So I'd have to say our Home Burger, which is a homemade meat burger made from pasteurized beef, so there's no fear of e-coli, and all the cattle we use are under three years of age, so no mad cow or any of that. It's a quality meat product and also our nature burger is unparalleled. It's absolutely delicious. I don't serve food that isn't good. I want people salivating. I really enjoy when people enjoy my food. I want people to leave full.
HILARY Magazine: What kind of recognition have you received for your product?
Meehan: We're endorsed as the best nature burger in America by the PETA Foundation, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, and they just sent us an award, which was really nice. We've been written up many, many times on the quality of our product.
HILARY Magazine: Can you tell us about your own personal corporate recognition?
Meehan: Well, personally, I've been inaugurated into the sales hall of fame here in Canada. Among my peers, I was given an honorary Ph.D. in Education. I was awarded Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 1995, a Quality Plus Award for the quality of the food I give in a fast food style restaurant. Every year, we get countless Best Burger awards, whether it's best meat burger and best nature burger and so on. And just about every year we get a Reader's Choice award for our product.
HILARY Magazine: What does your job entail day in and day out?
Meehan: Well, now because I'm a franchisor and I also retail my product…I wear many hats. I run my corporate stores and I'm a restaurateur in the sense that I'm an operator of multiple unit restaurants. I also retail the product and by retailing the product, I have to innovate the packaging and have the sales for it and all the rest of it. So it's sort of a different type of business.
HILARY Magazine: What would you say to someone who wants to get into this profession?
Meehan: First of all they'd have to ask themselves why they'd want to get into it if they've never been in it before. It's not an easy business to succeed at. So[if somebody wants to get into it they really need to do some soul searching as to why. A lot of people get into it for the wrong reasons. Everyone's pipe dream is to own a restaurant, where they can invite their friends and have this whole social entourage, and that's really not what it is. It is that, sure you do meet a lot of people. It's hospitable in that your friends do come to your restaurant, but you're too busy to sit with them.
It's a lot of hard work and many people don't realize that. They go into restaurants and say oh how difficult can this be. You need to make sure the cook knows what he needs to do, that the inventory is properly stocked, you have to make sure that the place is well maintained, it's clean, that your staff is on time, that they can handle a rush period, and the list goes on and on. As a restaurateur you have to really be very multi-talented because you're manufacturing, you're retailing and you're doing a service business. You're doing three businesses in one.
HILARY Magazine: What has been your secret to success so far?
Meehan: Well, I have an inherent love of people. I love people and I love being with people and I think if you're going to be in hospitality that's definitely essential because it makes up for all the hard work and long hours. Because you're working when everyone else is enjoying themselves, you really have to love to serve people in order to be successful at this. So it's not just I can cook a meal, or I can organize this one restaurant, if you go to multi-units then you have to put together a whole multi-organizational structure and you have to like that, you have to enjoy organizational systems and implementing those systems and getting other people to buy into it and endorse it. It becomes a different kind of occupation.
HILARY Magazine: What keeps you motivated, through all the daily struggles of operating a business?
Meehan: Well, I'm passionate about it. I love what I do. I love going into work everyday and know that I'm going to do many different things. I love the diversification of my work. To do what I do, I have to be involved in marketing, administration, bookkeeping, human resources, psychology, maintenance, design, location identification, etc. It's so diversified that it stimulates my intellect. So you have to be a person who enjoys multi-tasking. My mind enjoys moving from one task to another because they're different. That I find very stimulating.
HILARY Magazine: What advice would you give people about achieving their own success?
Meehan: My advice is everyone's successful advice. It's all the same. If you dream the dream and have the courage to go after it. It takes a lot of hard work and you really have to believe in yourself and your ability to make it happen. A lot of people who are successful imagine themselves successful. You need to visualize yourself as a successful individual always. A lot of people don't. They undermine and question their ability too much. They usually do that because they're afraid. They're afraid of success and they're afraid of failure.
You have to be able to overcome your fear to pursue your dream and to recognize that in pursuing that dream you're going to discover a tremendous amount about yourself. It's not going to be easy. There are going to be many, many obstacles, but you have to view those obstacles as stepping stones. If you can get beyond them you'll learn so much more about everything, yourself, your art or your business or whatever it is that you choose to do. The most important thing is to make sure you pursue something you love doing. If you don't love doing it, you won't be successful at it.
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