Lloyd Rooney – Dyslexia, Determination, and 135 Employees: THE JETSON GROUP Story

Summary

Podcast Summary: Lloyd Rooney – Dyslexia, Determination, and 135 Employees: THE JETSON GROUP Story

How I Built My Small Business is a podcast dedicated to uncovering the real-life journeys of entrepreneurs who balance business growth with meaningful lives. In the episode titled "Lloyd Rooney – Dyslexia, Determination, and 135 Employees: THE JETSON GROUP Story", host Anne McGinty delves deep into the inspiring story of Lloyd Rooney, co-founder of the Jetson Group, a collection of thriving restaurants in New Zealand. This detailed summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and lessons shared during the conversation.

Introduction to Lloyd Rooney

The episode opens with Ann introducing Lloyd Rooney, highlighting his unconventional path from leaving traditional schooling at age 12 due to dyslexia to becoming a successful restaurateur in New Zealand. Lloyd co-founded the Jetson Group, which includes notable establishments like COVID Cafe in Waipu, One, Q, U, A, Y, Number 8, Loco, and The Quay.

Notable Quote:

"It's my first podcast, so let's go for it." – Lloyd Rooney [02:27]

Early Life and Education

Lloyd shares his challenging upbringing in a large, multicultural family marked by financial struggles and dyslexia. His mother pulled him out of school at age 12, teaching him at home, which instilled in him the invaluable skill of self-directed learning.

Notable Quote:

"The ability to learn for myself was a massive gift that Mum gave me." – Lloyd Rooney [02:56]

Transition from Law to Hospitality

Despite his legal education, Lloyd discovered a passion for hospitality. He found law unfulfilling, leading him to work as a waiter and eventually manage the Engineer Pub in Primrose Hill, London. Here, he learned the importance of autonomy in management, a principle he later applied across his own businesses.

Notable Quote:

"Having that legal background has been a tremendous help to me every single day with running a business." – Lloyd Rooney [04:17]

Building the Jetson Group

Lloyd's entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found the Jetson Group, which thrives on creativity, strategy, and community engagement. He emphasizes the significance of empowering staff with autonomy while providing a strong framework to ensure consistency and quality.

Key Points:

• Autonomy: Inspired by his experience at the Engineer Pub, Lloyd empowers his team to take ownership of their roles.
• Framework: Clear guidelines and goals are established to support the autonomy granted to employees.
• Team Selection: Lloyd prioritizes hiring individuals who exhibit the right energy and presence, essential for delivering exceptional customer service.

Notable Quote:

"Empowerment isn't hands-off, it's a well-framed freedom." – Summary Based on Lloyd’s Discussion

Managing Seasonality and Staffing

One of the standout features of the COVID Cafe is its seasonal fluctuation, expanding from 16 to 45 employees during peak summer months. Lloyd discusses strategies to manage these ebbs and flows effectively, ensuring the business remains profitable year-round.

Key Points:

• Seasonal Staffing: Recruiting and training a robust team during busy months while maintaining a strong core team during off-peak periods.
• Consistency: Maintaining consistent opening hours and service quality to retain customer loyalty beyond the initial "honeymoon" period.
• Revenue Management: Balancing wage bills with operational needs to navigate significant revenue fluctuations.

Notable Quote:

"We do such a great job during our honeymoon period that local customers keep coming back." – Lloyd Rooney [18:21]

Leadership and Team Management

Lloyd attributes much of his success to his leadership style, which focuses on empathy, trust, and daily engagement with his staff. He believes in fostering a happy and motivated team, recognizing that satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers.

Key Points:

• Empathy: Drawing from his experiences at Camp America and working with the Salvation Army, Lloyd emphasizes understanding and supporting his team.
• Trust: Maintaining trust within the team while implementing systems to monitor performance subtly.
• Support Systems: Ensuring managers are empowered and supported, enabling them to handle conflicts and support their teams effectively.

Notable Quote:

"A happy staff is what really makes a happy customer." – Lloyd Rooney [40:23]

Challenges and Failures

Lloyd discusses the inevitable challenges of expansion, including instances where new ventures did not resonate as expected. He candidly shares lessons learned from these experiences, highlighting the importance of knowing when to pivot or abandon a venture that isn't working.

Key Points:

• Unpredictable Outcomes: Even with similar models, some locations may not succeed due to unidentifiable factors.
• Decision-Making: Learning to recognize when a business isn't performing and making the difficult decision to pull the plug early to minimize losses.
• Adaptability: Being open to changing strategies based on performance and feedback.

Notable Quote:

"Sometimes when a business isn't performing, it's not going to work. Don't let pride get in the way of making the right financial business decisions." – Lloyd Rooney [28:39]

Success Factors

Several elements contribute to the Jetson Group's success, including strategic location choices, tailored interior designs, and consistent product quality. Lloyd emphasizes the importance of creating an environment that aligns with the customers' expectations and enhances their dining experience.

Key Points:

• Location: Prime spots like the beachside COVID Cafe attract diverse customer bases.
• Interior Design: Lloyd's background in interior design ensures that each restaurant's ambiance complements its setting and target audience.
• Customer Experience: Focusing on delivering exceptional food, service, and atmosphere consistently to build a loyal customer base.

Notable Quote:

"It's the full experience—the food, service, atmosphere, the way they're greeted and the way they're sent off." – Lloyd Rooney [32:56]

Future Goals and Vision

Looking ahead, Lloyd envisions further expansion of the Jetson Group, though he remains content with the current number of restaurants. His primary focus is on maintaining quality, providing excellent employee benefits, and ensuring job satisfaction within his team.

Key Points:

• Sustainable Growth: Prioritizing maintaining successful current locations over rapid expansion.
• Employee Well-being: Ensuring staff receive competitive wages and job security.
• Long-Term Vision: Open to future opportunities for expansion but currently focused on sustaining and enhancing existing operations.

Notable Quote:

"At the moment I'm just happy with four." – Lloyd Rooney [35:56]

Life Wisdom and Personal Insights

Towards the end of the episode, Lloyd shares personal wisdom, reflecting on his journey and the lessons learned. He emphasizes the importance of resilience, trusting one's instincts, and maintaining a positive outlook.

Key Points:

• Resilience: Encouraging himself to not worry and trust that everything will work out.
• Trusting Instincts: Advising to trust one's gut feelings in decision-making processes.
• Appreciation for People: Reinforcing the belief that people are inherently amazing and valuable.

Notable Quote:

"Don't worry, everything will be okay. Trust your gut. Most people are amazing." – Lloyd Rooney [45:23]

Conclusion

The episode with Lloyd Rooney offers a comprehensive look into the making of the Jetson Group, highlighting the blend of personal resilience, strategic management, and empathetic leadership that drives success in the hospitality industry. Lloyd's story serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs, demonstrating that diverse experiences and a commitment to empowering teams can lead to substantial business growth and personal fulfillment.

Key Takeaways

1. Overcoming Learning Differences: Dyslexia and non-traditional learning paths don't limit potential. Embrace self-directed learning and find methods that work best for you.
2. Empowering Leadership: Grant autonomy to trusted managers within a strong framework to foster ownership and high performance.
3. Hiring Wisely: First impressions matter. Look for energy, presence, and genuine hospitality in potential staff members.
4. Managing Seasonality: Develop strategies to scale your team up or down based on seasonal demand to maintain profitability.
5. Consistency Beyond the Honeymoon: Ensure early success translates into long-term stability by maintaining high standards and customer satisfaction.
6. Adaptability in Business: Not all ventures will succeed despite having similar models. Learn to recognize underperforming businesses and make tough decisions to limit losses.
7. Creating Memorable Experiences: The overall customer experience—from ambiance to service—plays a critical role in a restaurant's success.
8. Personal Leadership Development: Leadership is cultivated through experience, empathy, and continuous effort to support and motivate your team.
9. Future Planning: Sustainable growth focuses on maintaining quality and employee satisfaction rather than rapid expansion.
10. Life Wisdom: Maintain a positive outlook, trust your instincts, and value the people around you to navigate both personal and professional challenges.

This episode provides valuable insights into building and managing a successful hospitality empire, emphasizing the interplay between personal growth, strategic planning, and empathetic leadership.

Transcript

[Lloyd Rooney]

Foreign.

[Ann McGinty]

Welcome to How I Built My Small business. I'm Ann McGinty, your host and today we have Lloyd Rooney sharing his journey from leaving the traditional schooling system at 12 due to dyslexia, learning how he learned best to bartending in the UK and now owner operating multiple restaurants in New Zealand employing over 135 people. Lloyd is the co founder of the Jetson Group, a collection of distinctive restaurants in New Zealand. The key spelt Q, U, a Y, number 8, loco and the COVID Cafe. I had the chance to meet Lloyd and Mike during a recent stop at the COVID Cafe and I was struck not only by their approach to hospitality, but also their business philosophies. Ones that blend creativity, strategy and a deep respect for community and locally sourced ingredients. We dive into the behind the scenes decisions that have fueled their restaurant success with a focus in this episode on the COVID Cafe in Waipu, which is highly similar seasonal. At that one location, his staff swells from 16 year round to 45 employees for the summer months. Lloyd shares the challenges of growing in the hospitality industry and how his unique background has influenced his approach. You can find a link through to the COVID Cafe and the Jetson Group in the episode's description. A quick favor before we get started and this means the world to me, if you enjoy this episode or have enjoyed any episode, could you do me a quick favor? Share it with just one person in your life who might love it too? If each of you did that, we'd instantly double our listenership overnight, allowing us to continue bringing you more incredible guests and continue producing content that inspires and empowers you. Just one episode to one person. I massively appreciate it. Lloyd, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming on the show.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to this. It's my first podcast, so let's go for it.

[Ann McGinty]

Well, so I had the opportunity to chat with your partner Mike when we were at the COVID Cafe the other week.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yeah.

[Ann McGinty]

And I was pretty impressed by what I learned of your story. So I'm really looking forward to hearing more and I was wondering if looking back, you could tell us what some of the key experiences were that shaped your path to where you are today.

[Lloyd Rooney]

So I think for human beings we are the sum of all our parts. I suppose in many ways my whole life has shaped where I am today. Growing up in a very poor family as young as a six, I had a black sister adopt before I was born. Muslim sister in law and a Thai sister in law. So a very Large multicultural family. Very poor. Large multicultural family. And I was dyslexic as the youngest of the six kids. Nobody else, the family was apart from me. I ended up growing into somebody that I never thought I would have done when I was a child. But Mum took me out of school when I was 12 and I was taught at home. And that had a massive impact on me because I learned to learn for myself. And I think that was a massive gift that mum gave me was the ability to learn for myself. And it shaped everything I did from then on. So I went to university because I learned to learn for myself. I did my law conversion course called a CPE because I learned to learn for myself. And then I did my law finals and I learned to learn for myself.

[Ann McGinty]

Okay, but so you studied law. How does that translate into becoming a restaurateur?

[Lloyd Rooney]

You know what, I actually loved studying law, but I hated being a lawyer. It was something that it just didn't sit with me at all. You know, being a lawyer and going to seeing a law firm every day just wasn't my gig. And I knew it, and it wasn't what I was born to do. And I knew it. Every time I got on, on the tube to go to work and I saw my reflection in the glass of the tube, I didn't recognize myself. But saying that having that legal background has been a tremendous help to me every single day with running a business because I'm able definitely to problem solve and solve issues before they become a big issue and before I need to spend money on lawyers fees. So I'm already kind of thinking five steps ahead when I'm working every day. So having that legal background has been a tremendous help.

[Ann McGinty]

How did you then get your foot in the door with hospitality?

[Lloyd Rooney]

So when I was in my law finals or my CPE course, I got a job working as a waiter in a restaurant called Capodel Anse in Camden Town. And then I went on to manage a pub called the Engineer in Primrose Hill. It was owned by Lawrence Olivier's daughter, Tamsa Olivier, and Abigail Osborne. And it was my kind of real taste of running a restaurant. And one thing Abby and Tam taught me, which I think is really important, is they basically left the restaurant for myself and Claire, the other manager, to run as if it was ours. And I think we emotionally bought into it. We loved it. And they had the knowledge that we were running it for them in the best capacity that we could do. So that was my first sort of step into hospitality, was the Engineer One of London's first gastropubs, and probably the most successful gastropub in London at the time.

[Ann McGinty]

They gave you a lot of autonomy to just figure things out.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Huge, yeah, huge. A massive amount of autonomy. And it's something which I've taken from me with my restaurants, in that I have given the staff who work for me the same autonomy. And I think it's probably the biggest ingredient to my success. I know it's the biggest ingredient to their success because they couldn't run the engineers. Abby got married and had children, and Tamsin also got married. And so they weren't in a position to run a hospitality venue, which was 11 in the morning to 11 at night. And them empowering us gave us the ability to really, really, really, really get our teeth into it. And I've taken the same essence from them and I've given it to my staff. And I think that's what's definitely empowered me to open. At one point, I had seven restaurants, and I couldn't have done that if I didn't have staff that I empowered to run it for me.

[Ann McGinty]

And when you were given that position and autonomy, what key lessons do you think that you learned beyond how important it was for you and your team to have that autonomy? Like, what did you learn about the actual management or the running of a successful business that translated over when you eventually branched off on your own?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yeah, I think that for me, when I empower the staff, before I empower them, I need to know that they can take that power, that they can take the autonomy and they can run with it. I think that's a big gift, is to know who has the ability to take on that role and be autonomous and those that don't. And I also think it's really important with empowering people is that you give them a really strong framework to work within. So they have this autonomy, but they have a really good framework around them and a great team that supports them and helps them deliver what we need to deliver. I think the framework is really important with autonomy.

[Ann McGinty]

What do you mean when you say framework? Is this like a training that they go through?

[Lloyd Rooney]

No, I think when I say framework is that they have a really clear understanding of what their role is, what we need to achieve and how we achieve it is what I mean by framework. And I think, you know, you basically kind of give them an outline, a sketch of what the restaurant is and what we need to do to get from A to B to deliver the product that we need to deliver. And of Course, you know, at the end of the day, we can only deliver that product if we've got the team around you. So you give them a really good framework, a really good sketch of what it is that we need to do, and then you give them the team around them and the tools to achieve it.

[Ann McGinty]

How did you learn how to hire the right team? Is this just like trial and error? Like, where did you get most of this learning from?

[Lloyd Rooney]

I think it's definitely experience. When I have my own restaurant in London called the Duke of York, when I left the engineer, I set my own restaurant I called Duke of York and St. John's Wood. I had a business partner, Brendan, and Brendan always said to me, he can tell when someone walks through the door whether or not they're going to be a good fit. And I think, you know, it's part about their presence, it's part about their energy, it's part about how they interact with you when they first enter the room. And I think that's a massive part because, of course, the most important thing for me is when I'm looking for a staff member is that they can interact with the customers in a way that I am happy and I feel confident about. So, yeah, I think the interaction between you and potential staff member is the biggest key to begin with. And I think everything just grows legs from there on.

[Ann McGinty]

Yeah, communication and then also hospitality.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yes. I always say restaurant manager has to be the best waiter, the best maitre d, the best barista and the best bartender, because you need to be able to walk into the restaurant and just pick up every single piece and run with it, you know. So I always say it's really important with managers that they can do every single part of what that puzzle and what that piece is. But also they have to have that communication skills, that light in their eyes, you know, when you walk in and you have just this person on the front door that has this energy and this light. That's what you need. You need then to be able to do all the parts and have this energy and light about them that just makes them a joy to be able to interact with. When I look at the staff, I can walk into my restaurant and see who are the ones that I can just see are actually resonating and those that aren't, you know. And of course, not everybody is a magic star, but you try and get as many people of those stars as you can. I go into my restaurant, the Quay in Fongare, the other day, and there's this French waiter there and he just has this energy about this amazing light, this engagement with people. That's incredible. And I just look at that and think, that is hospitality at its best.

[Ann McGinty]

Yeah, that's what you're looking for. Okay, so take us from the UK to you arriving in New Zealand.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Okay, so that was a massive path. So I had a restaurant in the UK in London called Duke of York in St John's Wood. But I also had an interior design store as well. So I was an interior designer. I fall into most things in my life. I fell into restaurants. You know, I trained to be a lawyer, but fell into restaurants, which was the side hustle to earn money to be a lawyer with. And I kind of fell into being an interior designer as well. I had this interior design shop in Islington called Reveloid. And I won in Chelsea, the same name. And I started just basically buying furniture and selling it. And then I just fell into interiors. And someone one day said to me, oh, can you design my house? And I was like, sure, I can design your house. So I ended up being an interior designer. And I had some really lovely clients. I did Dido's house. Cause she lived in Islington. And I did some work for Kevin Spacey, who bought a place in Westminster Bridge Road. And then I met Mike, and he was a farmer in New Zealand. And I ended up crazily jumping on the plane and arriving in New Zealand into the heart of the Waikato, onto a farm. And I'd never set foot in a farm in my life before, you know, And I'd swapped selling furniture dai do to swimming out the pigs, you know, I swapped Westminster Bridge Road, where cospace used to live, to feeding the calves. It was a massive transition. And it wasn't a small bit of land. It was 10 square kilometers. It was two and a half thousand acres. And there was the three of us. There's me, Mike and Kev. And my job was to look after the calves and rear the calves. And one year we reared a thousand calves. So it wasn't a small farm. And so, yeah, that was my transition to New Zealand from doing interior design to crazily working on a farm.

[Ann McGinty]

Oh, my gosh. I have just a vision of what that must have been like for you, but you made it work. So how long did this farm.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Seven years. Okay, Seven years. And I never really loved it. It didn't fulfill me in a way that I wanted to be fulfilled on a daily basis. But I definitely got a better understanding of animals and our place on this planet in a Bizarre kind of way, you know, when you're surrounded by animals every single day in a capacity where you're caring for them every single day, moving them, you know, moving from pallock to Pallock and making sure they've got grass and making sure they've got water, making sure they're healthy. And I definitely got a deeper understanding of how we fit in. My friend Amber always said to me, Lloyd said, you're like a giant potato. He said, I can plant you anywhere and you'll sprout. And in some ways, I think I've thrown myself in something 100% to make it work. But then when I was offered the ability to do a restaurant again, I jumped at it.

[Ann McGinty]

And how were you offered the opportunity to do a restaurant again?

[Lloyd Rooney]

So, I mean, I never thought I'd be back in restaurant. When I sold the Duke of York and I moved away from restaurants in Moyne into interiors, I thought that was my hospo career done. But a friend of mine, Ian, who owned the local gym in Puker Curry, where I used to go, and I became very good friends with him and his wife, Tracy, they had a part share in a restaurant in Waipu Cove called the Two Fish Cafe. And the chef who was working there wasn't enjoying it. And I don't think particularly was doing a good job. And so when they said that they were looking at getting out, I kind of spied an opportunity and I jumped at it. And I got in the car and I drove up to Waipu Cove, and it was a rainy, wet day. It was July, our winter. The rain was horizontal. And I walked into this building and it called to me. It just resonated with me. And I thought, I like this. I like this spot. I like everything about it. I love the bar. I love the outlook. It's on the beach. Who couldn't love the outlook, you know? You know, you were at the COVID It was the most beautiful, beautiful location. And I looked at what Trent was doing in terms of figures and in terms of number of covers a day and thought to myself, if he's breaking even on that, I could turn it around and make money. And so I did, and I jumped at it.

[Ann McGinty]

Can you tell us what it is that you saw when you looked at the numbers and you're like, I can do better than this or I can improve here and there. What did you do? What changes did you make when you took over?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Well, first of all, he's only open five days a week, so he was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays And I thought, okay, I'll change that number one. Number two, there was no consistency to the opening hours when he was open. So if it was a quiet night, he'd close at 6 o'clock. It's a no, no, you never do that. You have to be consistent with what you're giving to a customer. They need to know they can come down and come to the COVID and you're going to be open when you say you're going to be open. And so I gave the restaurant more consistency both with opening times and with this opening days. We were open seven days a week and we were open from nine in the morning to eight o'clock at night. Come winter, come summer, in the summer, we open at 8, an hour earlier. But I never ever close before 8pm because even if it's a rainy, wet night, I want people to know that they can come to the COVID and we'll be open when we say we're going to be open. So I definitely gave it some more consistency in its opening hours and more consistency with the product that we were going to deliver as well. So I employed a team of chefs. I employed a front of house team. I knew that would cost me in terms of a wage bill, but I knew that the long term benefit was going to be a much better product, product, much more consistent opening hours and a restaurant that people knew that they could go to if they wanted to go to it and we'd always be there.

[Ann McGinty]

And did you have any guidelines as to, like how much you were willing to spend of your potential revenue in order to cover this new team and to stay open the hours that you wanted to?

[Lloyd Rooney]

You know, I think with any small business you have to. The biggest cost to you is going to be wages. You know, that's the biggest, biggest, biggest cost. So you always have to be really mindful of that wage bill. But you also can't run your business without wages, without staff. So there's always going to be this dichotomy between giving your business the ability to function and what is the balance between the functionality and the cost constraint. So we kind of opened up with a minimal team, but a really strong team. And I was there and I was a very good waiter when I was running the engineer and Catherine Lancy. So I knew that I was two people and I had a really amazing manager in Siobhan and I had a great head chef and Craig as well, who was the chef at the time. So, you know, I kind of opened up with a really good, strong team. It was a small team, but it was a strong team. But it was also a lot more staff than the previous owner had. I had five floor staff and I had three in the kitchen. And I knew that's what I needed to make it work, so that if it was quiet, I wasn't hemorrhaging cash. But if it was busy, we could all step up and we could make sure that we were able to deliver the product to the customer that came to the doors.

[Ann McGinty]

How long did it take before.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Instantly. You felt instantly.

[Ann McGinty]

Wow.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yeah. I think when you open a new business, there's always that honeymoon period. It's a new restaurant in town. People got to go. Traditionally, when you open a restaurant have that honeymoon period, you're going to be busy for the first two or three months whilst people come and try you out. The difficult part is making that honeymoon period not a honeymoon period, but the consistent period that's going to sustain you for the months and years to come. So I opened up in November, which is our spring in New Zealand. And I knew that December, January and February were going to be busy because it was our summer period. The difficulty for me was how do I make March through to November something that's going to work long term. But I think what happened was we did such a great job when we opened in our honeymoon period that we were able to take those customers that were the locals and the regulars who were really impressed with the quality of food, the menu, the service and the general atmosphere, and they kept coming back. So it's important to make sure that honeymoon period isn't just a honeymoon period, but it extends as long as you can extend it for hopefully indefinitely.

[Ann McGinty]

You have seasonal fluctuations, as I expect that most would. So can you give us an idea of what the range is that you could expect in revenue from like the slow end to like the most popular day?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Okay, slow day, two and a half thousand dollars, busy day, $55,000. So you go from a two and a half grand day to a $55,000 day. That is the biggest challenge for a business which is as seasonal as ours. How do we transform? How do we. How are we able to go from that to that and upscaling your business, and I may add, downscaling the business, that's the biggest key to your success is being able to make sure that you can make hay with the sun shines and really upscale your business to take advantage of those really busy summer months. And then how do you then downscale the business so that you're not Hemorrhaging the cash that you make in the summer during your winter period. So, you know, yeah, it's a massive fluctuation and you've got to get it right to make sure that your business can operate within those extremes and operate really, really, really well. I mean, the more popular we've got and the bigger we've got, I think in some ways has become more of a challenge because we need to make sure that we really deliver. And so what ends up happening is during the winter I do have a much stronger team because I want to keep that really strong core team and I want to be able to take them into the summer and then just bring on all the added help to take us to those 55, 50, $60,000 days.

[Ann McGinty]

Can you give us more clarity on exactly how you manage this staffing and operations to handle these big drastic ebbs and flows? What's the size of your team year round and then what is it in the peak?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Great, great question. So the size of the team year round. So in the winter we still have probably 15, 16 full time members of staff. That would be probably eight or nine front of house and about six or seven in the kitchen. Eight in the kitchen. So we still have a really strong core during the winter. And that I think is a massive part to our success. Because what happens is in the summer when you have that short three month recruitment, when you absorb staff into your restaurant, the biggest key is to get them to assimilate the culture, get them to understand what you want them to deliver and get them to understand what their role is, all within a very short space of time. And so we have a massive recruitment stage during the December period. So getting the staff trained up during that period without costing you a huge amount of money to do so is the key to having a very successful summer. We can go from 16, example during the winter to about 40 during the summer. We have 45 members of staff during the summer summer period. And how do we go from 16 to 40, 45. And we train them up and you assimilate them into the company, you get them to understand what the culture is and then deliver a product. And then equally they start dropping off again between February and March.

[Ann McGinty]

And you're specifically talking about the COVID Cafe, the one restaurant right now I'm.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Talking about the COVID but also the Quay. The Quay is another restaurant we have in Whongare, which is nowhere near as seasonal as the COVID because it's based in the town and it's not based by the beach. So we have quite a large population. Not large by your standards, but by New Zealand standards. We've got 100,000 people who live in Whangarei, so that's quite a big town for us in New Zealand. And having 100,000 people on your doorstep is great at sustaining your business during both the winter and the summer. So the Key doesn't nearly as fluctuate as the COVID but to give you dollar turnovers in terms of fluctuations, for us in Fong the Quay, our quiet day will be 8, $9000 and our busy day will be $40,000. So it's not quite the ebbs and flows that the COVID has, but it still fluctuates, not quite as seasonal. We still have great winters, but there's still a seasonality to it. We have a lot of tourists come through during the summer, so there's definitely a seasonality to the Quay. And I've also got number eight in the town basin in Fongray, and I've got Loco. And once again, they have the same seasonality. Not quite like the COVID but still you have to be able to upskill and then drop staff off as you go through from summer to winter.

[Ann McGinty]

Do you maintain the same margin across all of them?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yeah, yeah. So I don't think the one's more lucrative. I think that Loco is our South American restaurant. But you know what? The COVID Key number eight, there are restaurants and then we serve alcohol. Loco, it's a bar that serves food. And it is definitely a psychological switch and this is showing through revenue. So, for example, with the code for key and with number eight, it's about 70, 30 split margin wise. You got 70% on food, 30% on alcohol. @ Loco, it's the other way around. It's a 70, 30 split, but in favor of the bar. And margins on alcohol tend to be better than on food because, of course, it's so much more labor intensive putting a menu together and delivering across the pass as it is, to making a cocktail, which is simply putting a few spirits into a shaker and shaking it up. So Loco definitely has the ability to be more lucrative, but bars don't tend to have the same patronage that a restaurant has because what people need to eat. So restaurants tend to have better patronage, but potentially a slightly less margin than bars that have a higher margin but a less patronage.

[Ann McGinty]

Yet that does make a lot of sense. And I know over here we're experiencing a little bit of a cultural shift as well, with the younger generation choosing not to drink as much.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yeah.

[Ann McGinty]

So would you Agree that over here. I've talked with other restaurant owners and I hear a profit margin around the 20 to 23% range. I've heard some people say lower than that. Very rarely ever heard people say higher than that. But then people that I know who own bars say that alcohol has like a 400% margin. Would you agree with these?

[Lloyd Rooney]

No, I don't think alcohol has quite that margin. None. Over here we have a lot of taxes on our alcohol, so we don't have the margin, anything anywhere near that sort of margin for alcohol for our food. Yeah, I think we work on 30% at the end of the gate for us is what we work on. We try and get our cost of sales about 68%, 70% for us, our cost of sales, and it ends up being almost the same for alcohol over here. It's about maybe slightly higher. But then again, your wage bill should be less because you're just hoping the bottle.

[Ann McGinty]

Well, your 30% margin as a restaurant sounds like a pretty high. That's pretty good. From what I've heard across your four locations. Or maybe you want to even consider all seven that you've had. What have you learned? Both the good and the bad. Like what works and what did you try that didn't work?

[Lloyd Rooney]

So you can pick up the COVID and you can move it to a venue very similar three hours down the road, and it just doesn't work. And I think that's something which I've learned, is that for some reason, whatever you do, that dinner saquo is missing and it just doesn't fly. And there's no other reason for it. You know, we did a restaurant in Mount Maunganui. We spent a lot of money on the fit out at the restaurant, millions on the fit out at the restaurant, thinking that it would be a massive success. It was a huge venue, empty, and there's no rhyme or reason. A great location. Tick. We took the key staff from the COVID and the Quay. Tick. We had almost the same menu and the same wine list as the COVID and the Quay. Tick. But for some reason it didn't resonate. And, you know, and I think that's. That's something which is universal in hospitality. I mean, you know, Jamie Oliver can set up a restaurant in one town and it flies in another town, it flops. The same with Gordon Ramsay. There's no rhyme or reason of why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You can give it all the ingredients, but there's just that one thing that is missing and you don't know what it is. It just doesn't resonate.

[Ann McGinty]

That is interesting. I wonder. Well, I wonder if anybody's really figured out the formula behind it.

[Lloyd Rooney]

No, I don't think so. I think with all chains, some of their outlets absolutely go gangbusters, and there'll be some which just don't, and the others will be supporting it. You know, it's just sometimes things work and sometimes they don't. And I think if we had the magic understanding of why they didn't work, every single hospital venture that you did would be a massive success. But they're not.

[Ann McGinty]

That's so true.

[Lloyd Rooney]

And you give them all the ingredients, you give them all the framework, all the support, everything to make it work. And sometimes it just doesn't.

[Ann McGinty]

It just doesn't. Yeah. So looking back, is there anything that you would have done differently?

[Lloyd Rooney]

I would have pulled the plug earlier.

[Ann McGinty]

It's hard to do sometimes.

[Lloyd Rooney]

I think that's my biggest failure is I just. Just think this time next year, we'll turn it around. What I've learned is that sometimes when a business isn't performing and it hasn't performed, it's not going to work. And I can throw everything at it and it's not going to work. And I think that is the biggest thing that I've learned, is that I've got to learn to pull the plug. Not within four years of it not working, but within 12 months of it not working, because your first loss is your best loss. And don't let pride get in the way of making the right financial business decisions.

[Ann McGinty]

Okay, so just focusing on the COVID Cafe, because we've been talking about that one already, and then we just have some continuity. What do you think the magic is about that place?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Location, location, location. It is by the beach, so it's kind of, you know, we have a really relaxed, surfy sort of vibe to the place, which everyone loves, but we just seem to have connected with this audience in a way that. That I would never have imagined. And the same with the quay in Fongare as well, but for different reasons. People just love it, and it seems to have this energy about it, this goodwill about it from everyone who comes in. They just think, wow, this place is amazing. The staff are always on point, they're always friendly, it's always busy. It just has an energy and a vibe about it that just people love and are attracted to. So, yeah, I think that a big part of the COVID success is its connection with its audience, its connection with its locals, its connection with its Tourists, its passersby. And it seems to tick the box for so many different groups of people. I mean, young adults love it, they love coming in and having a smoothie and watching the surf. Old people love it because they love the menu and they love the staff. Families love it because it's kids friendly. You know, we're by a campground that has two and a half thousand people in it, so we have to be open to everyone who comes in, you know, whoever they're going to be. Our market share is so huge. It's from the very rich, affluent people from Langs beach who have multimillion dollar houses to the mums and dads and kids who are camping at the campground next door. So when I set the COVID up, I wanted to do a menu that definitely ticked the boxes for all those groups of people. And we did that. And so the reason why the COVID I think is so popular is it just ticks the box in so many levels. And the quay in Fongare is by the marina and it has the same sort of goodwill and love in the area. People love the. And once again, with the menu, with the key, I wanted to be able to be somewhere that people could go for a date night, but could also come in and have a muffin and a coffee. So it has a menu that ticks many boxes of many people.

[Ann McGinty]

Well, when you were talking about the COVID I was wondering, oh, is it that it's a captured audience and that there's not a whole lot of competition right there. But then you're saying that the key does equally or similarly as well, and that's in the town basin. So that argument would not necessarily have any proof, I guess, or evidence.

[Lloyd Rooney]

You know, I definitely think that you touched on the point about the cove's location in terms of it being the only place in town. And yeah, it is the only place in town, but I never took advantage of that. I never thought to myself, you know what, he's the only place in town. Where else are they going to go? I never ever thought that was never an ethos behind my business. With the COVID it was always how can we deliver, how can we elevate, how can we provide the best food, the best service every single day, no matter what happens? And I think that's something which has been a key to the success, is that we didn't just rest on our laurels and think to ourselves, well, we're the only place in town. And with the key in Fongare. Yeah, you're right, it's A very different beast. There's a lot more competition. But once again, we just get up every day and say, how can we make it better? And I think with business, you've got to say to yourself, how do I make it better every single day? And we do every single week or every single month when we have a menu change, we think, how can we elevate it this time so that we can just make it better?

[Ann McGinty]

And how much impact do you think that the design and the ambiance play into the Jetson Group's success?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Oh, yeah. I mean, that's so important. I keep forgetting about that. I mean, being an interior designer from London meant that when I came here, that was one aspect that I knew I'd nail. I just thought interior tick. But I think with the COVID the interior had to be one that reflected its location. It's by the beach, so it has to be more casual, it has to be more relaxed. People come in in their Speedos, you know, in a towel, around them in flip flops, so it can't be that high end. But with Fengaret being by the marina, we definitely did interior that was much more elevated than the coves. It just had to reflect the customer coming in. But, yeah, having that interior that people will walk into and enjoy and add to their comfort and to their experience with us is so important because, you know, going out for dinner for most people is an experience. And not everyone can afford to go out for dinner every week. Some people, it's once a month. Some people, it's once a year for their birthday. And you need to make sure that when they come in that it's a whole experience. It's the environment, it's the food, it's the service, it's the atmosphere, it's the greeting, the goodbye. Everything has to align so that they really do enjoy their experience with us, because it's an experience.

[Ann McGinty]

What do you say is your ultimate goal? Like, where do you see the Jetson Group in five years? Where would you like it to go? What are you hoping for?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yeah, I think when I first set the Jetson Group up, I never set it up to have many, many, many restaurants. But, you know, sometimes fate weaves a little weave. And we had a logo that actually was quite transferable. It was four letters in a circle. And so if we wanted to expand with our logo, the expansion was something that we could do. We could simply change the four let, which we did. So the COVID is four letters. The key is four letters. Loco is four letters. At the Mount we had fire, it was four letters. We had the Dun in Mongul five, four letters. I didn't anticipate expanding. But then when I expanded to the quay and I realized that I could transfer the COVID to the quay and I could run two restaurants successfully simultaneously and both of them were hugely successful, I thought I could take this through the country. You know, I could take these four letters and I could take this experience that we offer people throughout New Zealand. That's why I set the two residents up in Mount Mountui, Fire in number eight and I set the dune up and then I set number eight up in Fongray and then Loco. But where we could be in five years time, I did have an idea of expansion southwards. At the moment that's come to a stop. I think I've got quite comfortable with the four. And at the moment they are successful and they are able to provide staff with a great wage and a great job security and job satisfaction. It provides me with a great income. So at the moment I can. I'm 55 now. I don't know, do I have the energy to do more? At the moment I don't. That might change in two years time. I might get another rush and think, actually I want to do four more down the country. But at the moment I'm just happy with four.

[Ann McGinty]

And if anybody is listening in and is also a restaurateur, maybe their restaurant isn't doing as well as yours is, or maybe there's somebody listening in who wants to open something. What advice would you give to them?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Okay, so the ones that aren't doing so well, it's always a tough game. It is a tough game and you're only as good as you are before the next new restaurant opens in town. And you know, you're always fighting for that market share. It's difficult, but you've just got to remember that every single day you've got to provide the best that you can provide, otherwise it's never going to work. So make sure that you provide the best you can do every single day. And for those who want to get into hospo, it's a full time job and you live and breathe it. And for me I'm now very lucky. I've been doing it, I've had the code for 10 years and they run themselves, literally. I went down yesterday and I was just a spare part. I thought I'd go down for night service. I was there half an hour and thought, I'm in the way, I'll just go home and that's a lovely privileged position to be in. You know, I'm in a position now where I don't have to be there every single day. I love to be there and I always go in every single day just so that I can cast my eyes across and make sure that everything's tickety boo. But for those who are starting out, when you first start out, it's a 24 hour, seven day a week venture. And if you haven't got the energy to do that, don't do it because it's going to take everything from you to make it work in the beginning.

[Ann McGinty]

I do know what you're talking about. Just from friends of ours who are in the same industry, I wanted to ask you about just how you've kept your pulse on the team as it's grown so much and you've gotten to this point where you don't need to be there. How do you make sure that there isn't any theft, that everyone is showing up and doing the best that they can? What's the hierarchy with, like how you handle these operations?

[Lloyd Rooney]

That's always a really good question. Theft. You know what, at the end of the day you just have to trust people. And I know it's a really hard thing to say, you have to trust people, but you do. You can't have eyes on ears over everything all of the time. For me, the way that I operate is, first of all, I can go into the restaurant and I could look at a situation or see how it's functioning instantly. That doesn't take long at all. I can walk in somewhere and think that isn't right or actually, that's actually going bloody fantastic. I'm really happy with that. I saw the engagement from the staff to the customers. That's on point. I saw the food can was to pass. That's on point takes five minutes. I can walk out. So keeping your finger, the pulse actually can be really, really, really easy. If it's simply a matter of maintaining what you've got in terms of theft, that's a different ball game. I do trust the staff implicitly, which I think in some ways is a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing is that they know that there's complete trust in them because they could take stock out the back door and I'll be none the wiser. I don't even have cameras in some of my restaurants, you know, so it's simply hoping that I've recruited well, that people are going to treat me the same way that I treat Them, But I do look for patterns. So, you know, I might not have cameras, but I look for patterns in stock. I look for patterns on the ends of the report. So I get ends at the port from every restaurant every night, and I read through the report, and on the Internet report, I see variations between what we should have taken and what we actually took. So that's one pattern I can monitor. The second pattern I monitor is what comes in, goes out. I look for stock coming in and stock going out. And if I think to myself, that's weird, a lot of stocks have come in recently, but we don't seem to be that busy. That's another pattern that I can look at. They're very broad, I grant you, very broad patterns. But it's a pattern nonetheless. And to be honest with you, I kind of wouldn't want to run a business that was run where it was so managed that people felt that they were being watched or not trusted. I think you have to be able to trust people. You have to let them be themselves and you have to let them feel empowered and able to function. But on the flip side, I look for patterns, and that's how I can try and keep some control on the end part of the business.

[Ann McGinty]

Are you doing anything in particular to keep your team happy and motivated for the success of the businesses?

[Lloyd Rooney]

Every day. Every day I think that's so important. Every day I will come into a restaurant and I look for somebody who's not happy and I ask them why Every day I want the staff to be happy every single day. And I do anything to make that happen, because a happy staff is what really makes a happy customer. No one wants coming to a restaurant if the staff are moping around and miserable. You know, it's crazy. Every single day I think to myself, how can I make them happy today? What can I do to make it better? I did little things, like I gave Luke a little bonus the other day because he'd worked so many hours over the COVID over that big summer period of those two or three weeks. So I gave him a three grand bonus because I just thought Mustafi deserved it. You know, I pay for Siobhan to go down to Auckland and stay at a hotel. I sent Milane on a women's retreat for three days. Every single day I think about what I can do for the staff to make them happy. And just sometimes it's just talking to them. Say anything. All right, what's going wrong? Okay. You know, there was a girl working number eight feeling a bit of Tension her. Another manager, I sat down with her, I had a chat with her, then I had a chat with him and said, come on, guys, you've got to be able to work together, and you've got to be able to understand what it means to make your team work. And I always say, for managers, our job is to put fires out, not start them. So that's my biggest, biggest, biggest daily mantra with management. Say, guys, our job is to put fires out. Let's not start them. So I don't want you arguing with the team. I want you supporting the team, and I want you empowering the team. So I use managers to make sure the staff are empowered and supported, and then I obviously make sure that managers feel empowered and supported by me.

[Ann McGinty]

That sounds like you're a great leader.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Yeah, I am a good leader. I'm sorry, but I am. It's definitely something which I know is the reason for a big part of the success is I'm really good at my job, and that is making sure that we keep that ship stable, and the ship has to be stable at all times. And that's about, you know, maybe subconsciously putting in these different ways of making things work, but just making sure that the staff are happy and that they're content, that they've got support, they feel that they've got leadership. I step in when I need to step in, and I step out when I feel I can step out. So, yeah, I am very good at my job. That's definitely been a reason why we're able to be in the position we're in, where we've got four restaurants functioning really, really well, and I can step back and support now from the wings.

[Ann McGinty]

So is this just part of your personality, or is there an experience that made you want to be this type of a leader? Did you read a book or take a course?

[Lloyd Rooney]

No. No book, no course. I think in life, every experience that you have will shape you. Abingtam gave me the autonomy to run the Engineer, and I took that with me so that when I came to run my own restaurants, I gave the staff the same autonomy. So that was something I learned from my experience. In terms of managing staff, I've got great empathy for people. I remember I did Camp America, which is where you go and work in a summer camp in the States, and I did that when I was 18, 19 years old, and suddenly I'd gone from being the youngest of the family who's being bullied yet spoiled at the same time. I don't know how that works. But apparently it works. Bullied and sport at the same time to working in a summer camp and looking after children. And I worked for the Salvation Army, a summer camp in West Virginia called Camp Tomahawk. Great, great, great summer camp. Amazing job Salvation army did in America. Amazing job. So they'd go around Baltimore and dc, this is where the catchment was, and pick up all these kids off the street and bring them to a camp. And I learned empathy from that experience. I learned to put somebody who wasn't a brother or a friend or, you know, somebody I need connection with above myself and which I did. You know, we used to be given an allowance to spend at a tuck shop and we had poor kids and I'd always give them my allowance. It meant more to them than it meant to me and I think I learned the empathy from that. So in terms of doing a course, I always think it's really difficult. I'm gonna put myself out on a limb here. It's like interior design. You can't learn interior design. I think it's something which you have to just develop an eye for over a period of time. It's experience about what mediums go with mediums, you know, And I think it's the same with people management. I don't think you can learn. I think something which you have to, A, have a really good aptitude for, B, have some great experiences which help you understand how to get the best out of people. And C, just putting all of your parts of yourself into understanding what makes people tick and get the best out of people. Empathy is something which is an important trait that we take with us and hopefully learn and use every day.

[Ann McGinty]

It's very true and something we want to teach to our kids. So I just have one final question, and this is a question that I ask everybody. It is unrelated to business. It's more of wisdom. If you could sit down with yourself when you were in your early 20s and have a conversation, what life wisdom would you give yourself?

[Lloyd Rooney]

First thing is, don't worry, everything will be okay. I think that's the most important thing I say to myself. Because when you're 20, you're just always worried about what the future is going to hold. Where will I be? What will I do? What roof will I have on my head? So I think the most important thing I say to myself to a 20 year old is don't worry, everything will be okay. The second thing is trust your gut because it will play well for you far more than it won't trust your gut. The Next thing I say to myself is, and I, I love people. I always have. I love people. I think people are amazing. They make me laugh every single day. And yeah, you can't. Sometimes you get somebody who tests that love for people. But 99.9% of the time I think people are amazing. And I'll say to myself, you know what, you're right, Lloyd. People are amazing. Remember that.

[Ann McGinty]

That is awesome. Lloyd, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story with us. I feel like I learned so much just by listening to your journey, which has been a pretty diverse from, you know, UK as a lawyer, interior design to the restaurant management to now running your own thing to the farm. I mean it is just so rich with experience and I so appreciate you taking the time to share it with us.

[Lloyd Rooney]

Believe me, that was the abbreviated version. So it was very succinct. You know, 20 or 30 years into an hour, there are so many more things that I would like to discuss, but you have to choose points, I suppose, which are the most poignant. And I think I've done it today.

[Ann McGinty]

Today's key takeaways, dyslexia and learning differences don't define your ceiling. You can absolutely learn how to learn. It just might not look like traditional schooling. Find the way you learn best and build from there. If you hand the reins to the right manager while supporting them and empowering them, they emotionally buy in. In other words, they'll treat it like it's theirs. That pride shows up in the day to day. Empowerment isn't hands off, it's a well framed freedom. So before you delegate, make sure they can handle it. Not everyone's wired for leadership. Give them a clear framework. What's the goal, what's the role and how do we get from A to B? Surround them with a supportive team and tools to succeed. First impressions matter. You can often tell if someone's a fit the moment they walk in. Watch their energy, how they carry themselves and how they connect with people right away. A great manager should be able to wear multiple hats. They should be the best waiter, the best bartender, the best barista, someone who lifts the room and keeps things moving smoothly. And that spark in their eyes, that matters. Communication. Presence in that bit of light. That's hospitality at its best. Staff smart by balancing wages with function. Quiet times shouldn't bleed cash, but busy times need coverage. Honeymoon periods don't last unless you make them. You've got two to three months of customer grace. Extend it by nailing food, service, consistency, menu and vibe. Every Single day three things are key when hiring your training. Make sure they get the culture, make sure they know what you want from them, and make sure they understand their role. Know what kind of a place you run. Are you a bar that serves food or a restaurant that serves drinks? That changes everything from your margins to your staff structure and overall approach. Some locations just don't work, and that's okay. You can copy everything, team concept hours, and it still might flop. Be willing to walk away. Don't let pride get in the way of making smart financial decisions. The space matters and your interiors should make customers feel good. It's not just about what's on the plate. It's the full experience, the food, service atmosphere, the way they're greeted and the way they're sent off. As an employer, show up with your best efforts every day. Every day is a chance to raise the bar. Hospitality isn't a side hustle. If you're opening a restaurant, know it'll take everything from you at the start. Be ready. Trust your team, but build systems. You don't want staff feeling watched all the time, but you do need to track your numbers, notice patterns and stay in control without hovering. Happy staff make happy customers. Watch body language. If something's off, ask. Show you care. Culture starts behind the scenes. Managers should put fires out, not start them. Employees need to feel supported by their managers, and your managers need to feel supported by you. Empathy is a skill you can build, but you have to experience it, practice it and use it daily, in and out of work. And lastly, don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. Trust your gut. Most people are amazing. Stay open, stay grounded, and just keep showing up. That's it for today. I release episodes once a week, so come back and check it out. Have a great day.