In 1999, Cary Chessick helped raise money
to launch Restaurant.com. The original business plan was designed around Sysco Corp.
and promoting its restaurants online. A subscription-based model was introduced that
included restaurants paying an annual fee in
exchange for a priority listing and Web site
in the Restaurant.com directory. Six months
after the launch, management was forced to
revamp the model, as restaurants were not
willing to pay for the sites. To stop the company from free-falling into bankruptcy,
Chessick left his legal career behind.
With six months of cash reserves available, he successfully cut expenses to
prolong the life of the company. At the
time, he was involved in nearly every
aspect of the business, crafting and testing business models, raising additional
funding, writing new business plans,
conducting legal work and overhauling a
customer service center — all of which
set the tone and a steady course toward
significant long-term growth.
He advocates teamwork and invests
heavily in technology, personnel, training, data analysis, partner relationships,
restaurant acquisitions and retention.
For customers, he strives to offer a positive online experience unlike any other
on the Web.
Between 2005 and 2007, company revenue grew by more than 177 percent with
significant profit. He says that progress
was from tremendous persistence, hard
work, ingenuity and teamwork. He continues to see no end in sight to the company’s growth potential.
HOW TO REACH: Restaurant.com, www.restaurant.com
