11 ms·

A friend of mine (not in Japan) took over the family business. Previous to this, he was a "second chef" (is that a thing?) at a relatively well known restaurant

A friend of mine (not in Japan) took over the family business. Previous to this, he was a "second chef" (is that a thing?) at a relatively well known restaurant regionally. He took a ~25% paycut, he works harder and longer than he did before (as a chef, mind you, regularly known for 100+ hour weeks), spends close to half of that time driving, and often sleeps in the office. He went from probably being a few years away from running his own three star restaurant to running an unsalable, shrinking business, owns 400k worth of similarly unsalable equipment, in a slowly dwindling industry (dry cleaning). His marriage has fallen apart (did I mention he moved 3 hours away from his wife + children to run the business), his mental health seems atrocious, and the only thing the future seems to hold for him is a piece of a slowly shrinking pie. His father built a burgeoning postwar business that gave his family a good life, but markets change, and businesses that once made sense no longer do.

Waterluvian 4y ago
A second chef is probably a sous-chef. A fairly typical role, they’re basically the Will Riker of the kitchen. FWIW: “…running his own three star restaurant…” often has just as fraught a story attached to it.
ghaff 4y ago
Dry cleaning business? Shudder. I spent some time over the holidays clearing out stuff and, even though I don't still own a lot of suits and jackets these days, I still have a lot of "business casual" I bought because I would "always use it some point." I'll probably donate a lot of it even the stuff that's never been opened. This isn't true everywhere of course but a long time ago I worked at a company that had dry cleaning collection of premises. This was a computer company. That would be laughable today.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  A bunch of the wool stuff that's so trendy among HN-reader sorts the last few years is supposed to be dry-clean only. Though I think some folks just rarely wash it, and hand-wash in a sink or something on the rare occasions that they do.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Yeah, I think a lot of the merino wool stuff--which I use as well--is to basically not wash it a lot and maybe do it on gentle or in a sink when traveling when you do.
    - dieselgate 4y ago
      Fair enough. I've found wool to do pretty well in the wash but of course no dry cycle. Merino can hold up surprisingly well and not shrink much if any, in a dryer
  - eynsham 4y ago
    A sponge and press often suffices.
  - i_am_proteus 4y ago
    Hand wash, dry flat. People have been wearing wool for thousands of years.
- yial 4y ago
  I don’t know… I feel like slightly pivoting - tablecloth rental, rag rental, napkin rental to restaurants / labs / etc might still be profitable. Know of two businesses that use those services. (One a restaurant, one a lab ). Or even just doing regular laundry… Worst case turn the business into a laundromat in the right area…. (Though it might not be possible with that location).
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    Sounds like investing another $400K worth of washers and dryers into a failing business. Is there much reason to think that running a dry cleaner is similar to running a laundromat? If not, why laundry instead of anything else?
  - makeitdouble 4y ago
    Laundromats look like rented parking space to me: a way to utilize a space that would otherwise be lost, but won’t be anywhere near the revenue of actually having a full business/tenant in that spot. In some areas laundromat are basically cost/revenue neutral and inly make sense as a service to the community and keeping the light on.
    - mschuster91 4y ago
      Laundromats usually only exist and survive in areas with lots of old and/or small apartments without enough place for an own washing machine. It's not just a "service", it's vital for the community.
      - kwhitefoot 4y ago
        An apartment too small for a washing machine? It occupies less than a square metre of floor space; how small is your apartment?
    - mcv 4y ago
      Maybe businesses that provide an essential service to a community, like the logistics company from the article that many farmers depend on, should be donated the that community. Make it a coop of some sort, run not for profit, but for the needs of the community that uses it.
- jstarfish 4y ago
  It's still a viable business if you're adjacent to a military base.
  - simne 4y ago
    Or near harbor. To be precise, nearly all hotel-like or hotel-connected business, attract services like laundromat, restaurant, parking, supermarket, delivery, etc.
- cypherpunks01 4y ago
  "I got a shirt that is dry-clean only. Which means.. it's dirty!" - Mitch Hedberg
  - JKCalhoun 4y ago
    Ha ha. I take a Darwinian approach to my clothing: it all gets washed together, into the dryer together. Anything that shrinks or falls apart goes extinct from my wardrobe.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      Same here, I have zero interest in spending time on clothing other than being clean and presentable.
    - badcppdev 4y ago
      I have a friend who does that with kitchen stuff. If it doesn't survive the dishwasher then it goes in the bin
      - lostlogin 4y ago
        Keeping knives sharp seems to be hard if you put them in the dishwasher. Maybe your friend just sharpens them a lot?
        capableweb 4y ago
        As long as you put them in where the blade won't hit other items, i'm not sure it'll actually do damage to the blade itself. Wooden handles could be damaged, but otherwise I think you're fine.
        ilyt 4y ago
        Electric sharpener is another nice timesaver but decent knives can still be "sharp enough" even if mistreated, for those weird people that are fine with half-dull knife
- chrischen 4y ago
  Well keep in mind this is Japan where many people where suits and go to smoky Izakayas in those suits. The business probably got hit hard by covid though.
  - lazyasciiart 4y ago
    He says "not in Japan".
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    There's much less smoke inside restaurants these days too thanks to some new anti-smoking laws caused by the Olympics. Izakaya are more traditional though, but even there many establishments no longer allow smoking.
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  > Dry cleaning business? Shudder. A modern dry-cleaning business is typically not just consumer dry cleaning. It's a whole host of B2B "make various dirty textiles not dirty anymore" services.
bigDinosaur 4y ago
Add to that list the likely carcinogenic chemicals used in dry cleaning. It's also arguably a mostly pointless industry (if the ordinary consumer side largely vanished what would the negative effects really be?).
simne 4y ago
Restaurants are tough business. Current statistics, about 90% are closed within first year with zero profit. In Ukraine, to be precise, ex-USSR, just ~10 years ago, most restaurants owners where relatives of criminals, trying to make something legal with crime money. Now things changed - large restaurants networks are daughters of Western restaurants networks (like mcdo), small restaurants mostly ostarbeiters, made start capital working abroad. But anyway, this business tends to become harder.

Waterluvian 4y ago

A second chef is probably a sous-chef. A fairly typical role, they’re basically the Will Riker of the kitchen. FWIW: “…running his own three star restaurant…” often has just as fraught a story attached to it.

ghaff 4y ago

Dry cleaning business? Shudder. I spent some time over the holidays clearing out stuff and, even though I don't still own a lot of suits and jackets these days, I still have a lot of "business casual" I bought because I would "always use it some point." I'll probably donate a lot of it even the stuff that's never been opened. This isn't true everywhere of course but a long time ago I worked at a company that had dry cleaning collection of premises. This was a computer company. That would be laughable today.

yamtaddle 4y ago
A bunch of the wool stuff that's so trendy among HN-reader sorts the last few years is supposed to be dry-clean only. Though I think some folks just rarely wash it, and hand-wash in a sink or something on the rare occasions that they do.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Yeah, I think a lot of the merino wool stuff--which I use as well--is to basically not wash it a lot and maybe do it on gentle or in a sink when traveling when you do.
  - dieselgate 4y ago
    Fair enough. I've found wool to do pretty well in the wash but of course no dry cycle. Merino can hold up surprisingly well and not shrink much if any, in a dryer
- eynsham 4y ago
  A sponge and press often suffices.
- i_am_proteus 4y ago
  Hand wash, dry flat. People have been wearing wool for thousands of years.
yial 4y ago
I don’t know… I feel like slightly pivoting - tablecloth rental, rag rental, napkin rental to restaurants / labs / etc might still be profitable. Know of two businesses that use those services. (One a restaurant, one a lab ). Or even just doing regular laundry… Worst case turn the business into a laundromat in the right area…. (Though it might not be possible with that location).
- pessimizer 4y ago
  Sounds like investing another $400K worth of washers and dryers into a failing business. Is there much reason to think that running a dry cleaner is similar to running a laundromat? If not, why laundry instead of anything else?
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  Laundromats look like rented parking space to me: a way to utilize a space that would otherwise be lost, but won’t be anywhere near the revenue of actually having a full business/tenant in that spot. In some areas laundromat are basically cost/revenue neutral and inly make sense as a service to the community and keeping the light on.
  - mschuster91 4y ago
    Laundromats usually only exist and survive in areas with lots of old and/or small apartments without enough place for an own washing machine. It's not just a "service", it's vital for the community.
    - kwhitefoot 4y ago
      An apartment too small for a washing machine? It occupies less than a square metre of floor space; how small is your apartment?
  - mcv 4y ago
    Maybe businesses that provide an essential service to a community, like the logistics company from the article that many farmers depend on, should be donated the that community. Make it a coop of some sort, run not for profit, but for the needs of the community that uses it.
jstarfish 4y ago
It's still a viable business if you're adjacent to a military base.
- simne 4y ago
  Or near harbor. To be precise, nearly all hotel-like or hotel-connected business, attract services like laundromat, restaurant, parking, supermarket, delivery, etc.
cypherpunks01 4y ago
"I got a shirt that is dry-clean only. Which means.. it's dirty!" - Mitch Hedberg
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  Ha ha. I take a Darwinian approach to my clothing: it all gets washed together, into the dryer together. Anything that shrinks or falls apart goes extinct from my wardrobe.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Same here, I have zero interest in spending time on clothing other than being clean and presentable.
  - badcppdev 4y ago
    I have a friend who does that with kitchen stuff. If it doesn't survive the dishwasher then it goes in the bin
    - lostlogin 4y ago
      Keeping knives sharp seems to be hard if you put them in the dishwasher. Maybe your friend just sharpens them a lot?
      - capableweb 4y ago
        As long as you put them in where the blade won't hit other items, i'm not sure it'll actually do damage to the blade itself. Wooden handles could be damaged, but otherwise I think you're fine.
      - ilyt 4y ago
        Electric sharpener is another nice timesaver but decent knives can still be "sharp enough" even if mistreated, for those weird people that are fine with half-dull knife
chrischen 4y ago
Well keep in mind this is Japan where many people where suits and go to smoky Izakayas in those suits. The business probably got hit hard by covid though.
- lazyasciiart 4y ago
  He says "not in Japan".
- midoridensha 4y ago
  There's much less smoke inside restaurants these days too thanks to some new anti-smoking laws caused by the Olympics. Izakaya are more traditional though, but even there many establishments no longer allow smoking.
dsfyu404ed 4y ago
> Dry cleaning business? Shudder. A modern dry-cleaning business is typically not just consumer dry cleaning. It's a whole host of B2B "make various dirty textiles not dirty anymore" services.

bigDinosaur 4y ago

Add to that list the likely carcinogenic chemicals used in dry cleaning. It's also arguably a mostly pointless industry (if the ordinary consumer side largely vanished what would the negative effects really be?).

simne 4y ago

Restaurants are tough business. Current statistics, about 90% are closed within first year with zero profit. In Ukraine, to be precise, ex-USSR, just ~10 years ago, most restaurants owners where relatives of criminals, trying to make something legal with crime money. Now things changed - large restaurants networks are daughters of Western restaurants networks (like mcdo), small restaurants mostly ostarbeiters, made start capital working abroad. But anyway, this business tends to become harder.