Photos Courtesy of Kevin Thai of Three Circle Studios from ACE Next Gen in Boston.
Post by Elizabeth Yang
Ian So, CEO of The Chicken and Rice Guys, gave a talk on How to Scale a Restaurant to $5M: 5 Lessons and 5 Mistakes at an event, hosted by Asian Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (ACE) in Boston. He shared his top reading picks.
Ian kept things real and casual. Passionate about people, the customer experience, workplace culture, and just-in-time learning, he invests in hiring the right people. Throughout his presentation, he made it clear how he leveraged knowledge to scale his national restaurant chain. He studied from the best, like Netflix and the Harvard Business Review, and applied it to Chicken & Rice Guys.
On workplace culture, Ian shared that the company is piloting unlimited time off with his senior management team. You could hear the gasp from a few restaurant owners in the audience. One frankly asked, “Is anyone taking advantage of the policy?”
Ian responds confidently that when you hire the right people and treat them like family, they work hard for you. No one has yet to take advantage of the gracious policy.
Key Takeaways
- Your net worth is your network
- Win on culture with hiring good talent and creating better customer experience
- Your business is a reflection of your leadership
- Knowledge is compound interest
Ian So‘s Favorite Book Recommendations
- Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (New Edition) – Leif Babi & Jocko Willink
- How to Win Friends & Influence People – Dale Carnegie
- The New One Minute Manager – Ken Blanchard & Spencer Johnson, MD
- Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time – Howard Schultz
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business – Gino Wickman (a BONUS mention)