The Top Four Work Styles of Successful Independent Restaurant Owners

If only there was an aptitude test for restaurant management. You can't become an astronaut, let alone be accepted to college, graduate or professional school, without being tested for your ability to handle the demands of the endeavor. Certainly, running a restaurant is a challenging feat in its own right and no place for lightweights. If this weren't the case, we wouldn't be able to fill a dozen magazines a year with content on how to do it well.

In fact, there are characteristics -- call them work styles -- that seem to be prevalent among successful startup restaurateurs. This article is a summary of an assessment study conducted by Cleveland-based personality assessment firm PsyMax Solutions, to learn more about what defines "the right stuff" in succeeding as restaurant owner and operator. All of the subjects in this study are members of RestaurantOwner.com.

If you're lucky, you have already developed these critical traits; however, as our motto says, "a good restaurateur is always learning." You can certainly shore up any weaknesses you might have. Thus, the article doesn't only note the work styles of successful restaurant entrepreneurs, but also steps you can take to strengthen these qualities in yourself.