Assignment 1: Business Analysis

For my networking assignment, I decided to pick the restaurant and retail industries out of the three industries I had in mind. I have always been curious about working in both industries and the management of it. In this assignment, I interviewed seven different people that were found through personal connections. I got to interview four restaurant owners, a market owner and a general manager, and an owner of two gift shops. By doing these interviews, I learned how to write and adjust my questions based on each interviewee. Each interview was from thirty minutes to an hour long. I learned a lot from the restaurant owners and retailers, and I also got to try some deliciously food. I was nervous before conducting each of my interviews, but it
Peja was originally from Cervia and came to the U.S. in 2005. He has been working as a professional chef for 13 years and was in culinary school before that. He attended law school but did not finish and has a CAD Design degree. His goals with the restaurant are to create a legacy and to educate people on food and cultures. Mot Hai Ba was opened in 2013 along with his partner, Chris Banativo. Peja learned to cook Vietnamese food after it was offered to him as a job and did researches to create a fusion between Western and North Vietnamese food. Peja also personally goes to the market and hand pick his ingredients. He cares very much about the ingredients and how his food is made. It is what makes his restaurant different from other Viet cuisine restaurants. I have eaten his food a few times, and the fusion of two cultures is very well balanced. Every day, Peja would come into the restaurant around 10AM, check and prepare everything, cook, work on the menu, go to the bank and market, and continue working at the restaurant until closing time and go home. During the interview, I can see that Peja is very passionate about the things he does even though he felt that it is hard being a chef and co-owner of the restaurant. Besides cooking and managing the restaurant, he also works hard to educate the guests about the food. In order to run a restaurant successfully, Peja stated that it is important to have the right team members that share the same vision and passion. However, it is challenging to find the right people. He believes that it is rewarding being in this position by having the right people working with him, being able to do good things, and gaining regular