Robert Bertel - How to Start a Successful Restaurant Franchise

No matter where you live, there is always a market for good restaurants. People need to eat, and they are always looking for that place that makes them feel at home. If you have dreams of opening your own restaurant franchise, the time is now. New restaurants are popping up everywhere around the country, feeding new clientele every day. In order to get to opening night, however, you should know the risks. Most restaurants fail after two or three years, either because of bad luck, changing customer preferences, changing communities and neighborhoods, or any number of changing aspects of owning your own restaurant. Those few restaurants that survive beyond three years don’t make money until that same three-year period. 

One aspect that you have to consider during the planning process is the cost involved in starting and running your restaurant. Do your homework and research every potential cost, from renting the venue to stocking the freezer. Once you have decided what kind of restaurant you want to open, you can decide which costs are worth it and crucial to your business’s success. If you want to open a fine dining establishment, you have to invest heavily in the best wait staff and chef talent you can find to meet the expectations of your clientele.

Robert Bertel - Saints Preseason

Robert Bertel is a longtime fan and season pass holder for the New Orleans Saints. While the Saints have maintained a strong presence in the National Football League since their Super Bowl XLIV win, their performance in the 2015 preseason would serve as no indicator. While the team went 0-4 throughout the preseason, they still showed the promise of some young talent that is coming to the team and has proven themselves able to compete against some strong NFL franchises.

The first game of the preseason was against the Ravens, where the Saints fell with a 27-30 loss. Next up, they hosted last year’s Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots; and lost to them 24-26. During both of these games, the Saints fought hard and showed lots of promise with key players such as Mark Ingram and Brandin Cooks who helped keep the scores tight. The next two following games would be less glorious, however; as the Saints fell to the Texans 13-27 and then the Packers with a 10-38 final score.

While it was a rough preseason for the Saints, fans like Robert Bertel remain optimistic for the upcoming season, where the starters will get more playing time and get the Saints back to their regular momentum.

Robert Bertel - NOLA Culture

Robert Bertel is a Louisiana native who is well-versed in all of the charming aspects of New Orleans culture that keep visitors coming in throughout the year. While many who are less familiar with the city often relate it to its most popular event, Mardi Gras, Robert Bertel likes to remind people that NOLA is a great destination year-round for the following things:

Food

Food is an essential cultural element to many tourist destinations, however none do it as well as New Orleans. You can start your day with beignets and coffee at an outdoor café, and then indulge in gumbo and a number of other Cajun specialties in the lunchtime. For dinner, a plate of crawfish and some oysters on the half shell are a guaranteed good way to start the evening.

Music

The sounds of live jazz music pour out the doorways of New Orleans’s most popular clubs and onto the streets, where wanderers can also get a little more rhythm to their step. And more times than not, one will also encounter a talented street band showing off their skills.

Voodoo

One of the cultures most unique to New Orleans is the voodoo culture that shows its face scattered all over the city’s most popular, and most desolate streets.