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Bite
Me owner David Michaels, the next Richard Branson,
by Jim Dickins - 23rd October 2007
(Credit:
The Daily Telegraph)
FROM
Las Vegas casino king to Sydney burger baron,
the roles come like courses for entertainer-turned
entrepreneur David Michaels, founder of Sydney's
newest fast-food outlet, Bite Me.
Life
seems like one long banquet for the 42-year-old
British-born businessman, who models himself on
Richard Branson and enjoys at least two lunches
and two dinners per day.
"Sometimes
I'll have six meals a day - then I'll do a cocktail
party after that," he cheerfully confesses.
"Eating out is my pleasure - finding new
places to eat out."
Despite
gaining a couple of kilograms since opening the
first Bite Me burger bar in June, Michaels' smallish
frame is only slightly rounded.
Combined
with his relentless energy, it is a quality that
somehow serves to underline an impression of rude
good health.
Maybe
his hectic lifestyle helps keep the calories at
bay.
He
only arrived in town last December but already
estimates his various local enterprises will employ
about 80 people by the end of the year.
Bite
Me sprang from Michaels' early assessment that
Sydney suffered from a lack of good burgers -
a view many may hotly dispute, especially outside
the inner city.
When
The Sunday Telegraph visited his trendy warehouse
headquarters at Paddington last week, the open-plan,
first-floor space was humming with apparent productivity.
At
one table, three women, dressed in a careful-casual
style typical of the place, discussed arrangements
for the cocktail bar at Bite Me's new Bondi outlet,
scheduled for opening on Campbell Parade in November.
Topics
included the relative merits of wooden cocktail
crushing sticks or muddlers as opposed to stainless
steel ones.
(Wood
is traditional but stainless steel more compliant
with health regulations.) At another table, staff
from Michaels' design company BEE (Brand Environment
Experiential) were busy preparing material for
various projects.
Apart
from Bite Me, these include Michaels' new ice-cream
brand, Pat and Sticks, a planned Las Vegas casino,
and external clients in London and elsewhere.
In
the lane downstairs, a fleet of Smart cars in
red and black Bite Me livery stood in a neat line.
Michaels,
who shares Branson's fascination with the power
of brands, is primarily a design guru but began
his business career selling breathalysers.
"I
made my first bit of money when I was 19 in England,"
he says.
After
ditching theatre school, the brash lad from north
London approached a financially troubled manufacturer
offering to shift its surplus breathalyser stock
in return for a 50 per cent share.
The
company agreed, and Michaels says he made his
first million (pounds) repackaging the devices
and selling them as fillers to make up Christmas
stockings.
Within
two years the money was gone - blown on boats,
cars, friends, jewellery and houses.
"I
don't regret that," he says. "It was
part of being young.
"But
blowing a fortune helped to teach me about my
own limitations. I'm no good with money.
"I'm
a creative person, an ideas person. I'm not a
financial person.
"So
ever since then I've surrounded myself with good
people who can take care of the parts of the business
that I'm not so good at handling. The finances
and cash flow are among them."
He
left for the US in his early 20s: first New York,
then Los Angeles, where he ended up as a staffer
(or "cast member") at Disney, working
on a dubious visa.
Despite
his complete inability to draw and lack of any
formal training, he quickly became involved with
the company's design team, producing concepts
for new theme parks and other projects.
Later,
in Las Vegas, a combination of design nous and
fast-talking bravado gave him entry as a design
consultant to the city's lucrative casino industry.
"Las
Vegas is an amazing place," he says. "I
ended up spending a lot of time there.
"I
just wanted to learn what makes the whole Vegas
model tick."
Something
of the theme-park casino has found its way into
Bite Me - mixed with a twist of Darlinghurst.
The menu, developed with prominent chef and food
writer Kim Terakes, includes the Beef Encounter,
Soft Prawn and Pluck Me.
A
concession to the local burger culture is available
in the Great Australian Bite - that's one with
the lot to you and me.
It
proves a relatively faithful interpretation of
the original, with all the right ingredients in
a slightly narrower but substantially taller package
- generous layers stacked to a height of about
12cm with a Bite Me flag skewered in the top.
Chips
arrive crammed in miniature shopping trollies.
Michaels
admits to a certain bemusement at the Aussie burger
- he doesn't like beetroot and doesn't understand
the inclusion of pineapple. And, when asked, he
doesn't quite understand how he became so wealthy,
either.
"I
can't attribute it to any one thing - no single
project," he says. "It's really been
a combination of a whole load of projects and
businesses and fingers in different pies."
But
despite being worth many millions of dollars,
Michaels says he doesn't regard himself as wealthy.
"Wealthy
to me means Bill Gates and Donald Trump,"
he says. "To me, it's not about the money.
It's about the game. The fun of building something
new.
"Money
gives you freedom and that's great, but I want
to get up every day and create something. That's
what makes me happy."
And
with Bite Me, he's only just beginning.
Rejecting
the franchise model, Michaels plans more wholly
owned outlets in Australia, before taking the
brand to China, the US and Europe.
The
only hiccup so far seems to have been a dispute
with the City of Sydney over a lease on the former
Gowings site in Oxford St, Darlinghurst.
The
council has awarded it to a US clothing retailer
in opposition to Michaels' bid.
Michaels
had already banked heavily on securing the site,
developing detailed plans and even installing
Bite Me signage.
He
was planning a court injunction last week, hopeful
of reversing the decision.
"I
like to stir up a bit of trouble," he says.
For
Michaels, who works "sitting cross legged
on the floor and drawing in my head" - leaving
trained designers to finish the job - concept
is the key to success.
"If
I had to say what I am more than anything else,
I'm an ideas person," he says.
Friends,
and the chance to buy an apartment on Kent St
with views of King Street Wharf on one side and
the Opera House on the other, brought him to Sydney,
but he remains a man of international horizons.
More
casino projects in Macau and Las Vegas keep him
constantly on the move, as do plans for a return
to the theatre with a massive ice production,
billed as Cirque du Soleil meets Torvill and Dean.
Although
he enjoys a party and clearly knows how to have
a good time, he doesn't seem the type to lapse
into extended bouts of relaxation. Among his few
private passions is television - EastEnders, The
Sopranos, Boston Legal and Oprah are Michaels'
particular favourites.
And
you get the impression he is genuine when he insists
it isn't all about money, that if business isn't
"fun" it isn't worth doing.
"I
don't know whether it's being a driven person,
or being stark raving mad," he laughs.
"Nothing's
ever done - it's always a work in progress ...
I'm learning every day."
Company:
Bite Me
Founded:
2007
Staff:
80 by year end
Turnover:
Projected turnover of this and two other Australian
enterprises: $18.5m by next year
GOLDERN
RULES
1.
... Relationships - It's crucial to get on with
the people you work with and go into business
with. If the chemistry isn't there, forget it
2.
... Passion - I have to be able to be passionate
about my work, so it has to interest me. If you
said we could make a fortune selling air conditioners,
I wouldn't be interested. It's too dull and life's
too short
3.
... Innovation - I need to create
new
things, to be imaginative and not have that constrained.
Always dream to the fullest, then pull back if
you have to
4.
... Fun - If it isn't fun then there's no point
to it. I want to get up every day and enjoy it
5.
... Diversity - I know it's a cliche but variety
is the spice of life. I love to have a variety
of projects on the go and different challenges
to meet
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