SERVING SPECIALIZED DAYTIMERS

By SIMON TUCK -- Ottawa Sun
After 11 years working in local restaurants, Dave Lipson knew
what to put on his new firm's menu.
The Nepean entrepreneur had seen enough misplaced notes,
forgotten drink orders, and empty stock supplies in his time to
know restauranteurs could use a helping hand organizing their
fast-paced operations.
So Lipson, 27, took action last summer and began compiling a
special daytimer -- or manager's communication module (MCM)
as he's calling them -- for restaurant managers and workers.
His first client, a local Pizza Hut outlet, asked him and his
ex-business partner to synthesize their three managers' books into
one. It turned out to be a prototype and the seed for a new
company.
Before long, his Knife & Fork Productions had a manager's log
book, a reservation book, a sales book and a catering book.
He now has an arsenal of nine such books and has sold about
350 books to about 75 restaurants. His best customer is The
Lone Star Cafe, where Lipson still works about three shifts a
week and gathers plenty of customer feedback.
Despite plans to push out into new foreign markets and produce
translated versions of the MCMs, the Ottawa native's bread and
butter is, to this point, the local market
An estimated 45 of his customers have been local restauranteurs,
including East Side Mario's Big Daddy's Crab Shack and Oyster
Bar, Buffalo Charlie's Bar & Grill, Maxwell's Bistro and Denny's.

He says no one else in Canada is working the same niche.
Lipson's books sell for about $100 each and can be specialized
to suit the specific customer's needs.
"It's a great start," says Lipson, admitting the operation is already
in the black. "I'm very surprised. I started this as a consulting
thing and people started calling me.
"I never expected to have nine books. I never expected to have
75 customers."
Armed with his company's philosophy that "today's preparation
determines tomorrow achievement," Lipson knows about the
need to make order out of perpetually hectic environments as
well as anyone.
"You have scattered notes all over your desk," says Lipson,
whose restaurant resume includes The Olive Garden, Chi-Chi's
and a Club Med in the Caribbean. "I had worked so many years
in so many restaurants, it came pretty easily.
"It just came out of a need for better organization."
The books are designed to help busy shift workers keep track of
what's happened, what needs to happen, when, why and whom.
Things like orders that need to be made, booze supplies that are
drying up, the number of cab calls and ID checks, and employee
matters, such as who's not doing the job.
Lipson advertises a slew of references.
"We liked their philosophy so much we bought all their products
for all units across Canada," says Gord Berezin, director of
operations for the Lone Star Cafe chain in Canada.
Although he hopes one day to own his own restaurant, Lipson
says the market for his products looks great, with so many
restaurants in every town.
"I think the climate is getting better," he says. "The GST had a
drastic effect on the rest of Canada."

RESTAURANT ORGANIZERS
* Entrepreneur: Dave Lipson
* Age: 27
* Company: Knife & Fork Productions
* Product: Specialized daytimers for restaurants
* Price: About $100 each
* Location: 1460 Merivale Rd., Box 78029
* Contact: 1-800-942-7086
* Quote: "Todays preparations determines tomorrows achievement"