Amongst the thousands of pieces of friendly advice kindly handed to me over the years by customers, colleagues and others with an interest in what I do, are two pieces that actually have some validity.
The first (interestingly from a licensee who greatly admires the late Robert Maxwell for his financial acumen) simply states "keep good beer and drive an old motor". For decades the pub landlord, the insurance agent and, often, the doctor drove the flashiest cars around. A little humility with your choice of vehicle can be preferable. It doesn't draw attention to you and, collectively, us. The days of the jewellery bedecked landlady wearing her liquidable assets and the landlord pulling out his "innkeeper's roll" of banknotes and peeling off a couple are thankfully over. Mostly. If we can make a success of our business, let us do so discreetly.
The second piece of advice, given to me indirectly by a drayman, was for anyone thinking of running a pub.
"Keep good beer. Keep the place clean. Be there."
This has become my mantra. In the last pub, and certainly in this new one, whenever things are quiet I concentrate on the fundamental basics. I clean the lines, regenerate the water softener and check the glassware. I check surfaces, floors, glassware and paintwork for any signs of dirt. It doesn't have to be new. Just clean. Some of my favourite pubs are worn and shabby but scrupulously clean. And I make sure the hours I work are the visible ones. The ones that count. So everyone knows I am here all the time.
There will be exceptions but, in almost all cases where I have seen a licensee fail, the failure was because the pub was dirty and smelled horrible, the beer was scarcely drinkable and the licensee was off playing golf.
My customers know my mantra now. They understand my obsession with these values - good beer, clean pub and being there.
Normally they simply lift their glass and say "Two out of three isn't bad". Ouch.