I have this love/hate thing for Gordon Ramsay. He’s brash, arrogant, foul mouthed and belittling, but I admit, I love watching the original BBC version of his series Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, where he travels around the UK visiting failing restaurants and within a week whips them back into shape. He comes off like a miracle worker possessed by Satan, but his formula is pretty simple and relevant to any business. Ramsay looks at each business from an outsider’s perspective.

My fascination with the show, aside from witnessing his nonchalant way of screaming the f-word in the faces of somehow unsuspecting business owners (they knew he was coming, right?), is the fact that most of these “restaurateurs” seem to have no idea what the problem with their business is or how to solve it.

Chef Ramsay has a simple formula that he follows for each restaurant disaster that he tackles. They all have one or more of the same problems: the food stinks, the chef has no idea what he/she is doing, the service is terrible, the inside or outside décor is shabby, the food has mold growing on it, the ingredients are packaged/frozen and/or not fresh, the menu is too big or confusing, the place is filthy, they charge too much or too little, they’re trying to sell food that the clientele doesn’t want, the restaurant has not changed since 1982, the owner has lost his/her passion, etc. But most importantly, the owner in one way or another cannot see or chooses not to see what the real problems are. This is not rocket science. It all seems so obvious. Heck, I think I could go into any of those restaurants and tell them what’s wrong, and I’d be nicer.

It’s frustrating to watch sometimes and I find myself yelling at the TV: “Doesn’t he know that keeping moldy peppers in the fridge is a bad idea?” So why do I watch? Maybe it makes me feel smarter because I can see what’s wrong, just like the great Chef Ramsay, because I too, am an outsider.

If every troubled restaurateur would just watch one episode, then have the ability to look at themselves from the outside, Chef Ramsay wouldn’t have to come and yell at them each week. As a business owner, it’s often hard to see or admit to problems that are right under your nose. The lesson here is simple: for business success you need to have the ability to remove yourself and turn around and look at your business, really open your eyes, and have the strength to change the things that need changing. Remove yourself and things become clear – kind of like having one of those out of body experiences. Or then again, you could have Chef Ramsay come and yell at you.