CELEBRITY television chef Manu Feildel is opening up on the darkest days of his hospitality career in a bid to encourage small businesses to reach out for help when times get tough.
In Newcastle on Thursday to speak to small businesses as part of a partnership with advisory service My Business, the My Kitchen Rules co-host ruled out opening another restaurant because of the prohibitive economic climate and called upon governments to ease visa restrictions to help address dire labour shortages across industries.
Feildel, 48, said that if it was not for his wife, Clarissa Weerasena, he may not have made it through the turmoil of closing his fourth restaurant, Le Grand Cirque in Melbourne, shortly after it opened in 2014.
"I went through depression, my daughter was born, I was a horrible father, and my wife was struggling to hold our lives together," he said.
"It was a tough time, I was able to move on but it's something that needs to be said because some chefs pull the plug. The number one thing was my wife - she was stronger than me and able to pick me up and just made me understand that it wasn't the end of the world. If I didn't have my wife, I would have walked away..."
The national My Business roadshow is offering free advice to small businesses who have battled through COVID lockdowns and now face issues including staff shortages, supply chain delays and cashflow pressure.
My Business spokesperson Richard Spencer said the aim of the free roadshow by the member-owned not-for-profit was to help businesses lift their competencies in "the unfun stuff", such as accounting and human resources, so they could perform better overall and focus on what interests them most.
Mr Spencer said there 2.45 million businesses in in Australia, 2.35m of them employing less than 20 people, and 87% of them earning less than $200,000 annually. Feildel's vulnerability about his own journey, he said, was a reminder to business owners that they were not alone.
"One of the things in running a small business is that it can be a lonely exercise because you don't have an advisory group surrounding you and often the process means you keep coming up against new challenges as well as opportunities because it is all new to you," he said.
Mr Spencer said that business confidence was "patchy" and it was crucial for businesses to plan for change and every scenario in the wake of COVID-19: "It has taught us we can't control anything but we can plan for scenarios."
Feildel said he was not giving those in Newcastle advice, rather sharing his life journey in the hope it helped others.
"My life story is about starting restaurants, closing restaurants, losing money, not knowing why I did, learning from my mistakes and going to the next business, and so on, until you find a recipe for success," he said.
"People have asked me will you ever open a restaurant again and at this stage it's no, because the margins are non-existent, we don't have staff anymore, the rent and food costs go up, and buying a lettuce for $12 is not funny anymore. It's what I was born to do, but now I have business sense there is no way I would get back in."
Months before COVID arrived, Feildel launched a sauce range, Sauce By Manu, now stocked at Woolworths and used by the Laundy hotel and pubs group.
He says businesses must be "ready for the next wave of any kind" and an exit plan was vital: "That's the thing I learnt a little too late in life, but it is something we can try and teach people now."
He says is is important businesses avail themselves of free services online through Business NSW and other forums.
And he does not take anything for granted.
"I know TV will stop soon, it's not a career forever, that's why I am doing what I am doing [with his own business]. I have a backup plan and one day I hope like everyone I can turn 65 and maybe slow down and have something in the bank account."
One person who is trying to claw back his savings is Jackson Blanch, who after almost a year of trade was forced to close his Darby Street business in April 2021 and return to his trade as a panel beater.
"We never recovered from the second lockdown and we couldn't get any of the government grants because it was a new business. It's so hard to come back from that," said Mr Blanch, who had hoped to attend the roadshow but was rostered to work.
"All the staff got COVID, including me. It was just one thing after another and we never recovered, so I had to make the decision to hard decision to shut the shop."
"I was going to go solely online and concentrate on selling music there and organising DJs, events and my podcast. But when I had to go back to work full time, it was all too much and I couldn't keep up with orders. I was too tired, stressed and it was all a hassle, which took the fun out of it so I stopped it all."
Mr Blanch said no-one could have predicted the multiple lockdowns that would disrupt his business but he was hoping to re-open a business in the future.
"My pipe dream is to get up and running again," he said.
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