However, it is a highly speculative business. There is probably as much failure in this industry as in any industry I ve ever looked at. In the short term, it is very fast moving and a lot of it depends on fads, promotions and advertising. You cannot succeed long term without expanding, but you also have to have a very consistent, long-term operating focus. A lot of interesting concepts come and go because they are not executed well.
Execution is probably more difficult than arriving at a viable concept.
In fact, there are viable concepts that come up, and people steal the concept or knock them off and are sometimes more successful than the originator, because they can operate them. Certainly Italian food is not unique in any regard. It is probably one of the most popular cuisines in the United States, after hot dogs and hamburgers. But what they do differently is they serve everything family-style. You and I could not go to dinner there and feel we ve gotten good value.