MOVERS & SHAKERS
it, they want it and that’s it. You can write as many spreadsheets as you want, but at the end of the day, it’s got to be a good product.” When mistakes are made, Alfy’s design background gives him a philosophical stance on improvement. “At college, we were taught you’ve got to disconnect yourself from the thing you’re working on. A lot of your heart goes into design – and the same with cooking as well – but if you take all the critiques personally, you’re not going to be very good at your job. You need to look at the thing as a product of what you made, and take critique on it. If it’s not good, you’ve got to say there and then: it’s not right. Ultimately, we’re putting a burger on a plate. If it’s not good, we’ll redo it.” While working as a designer, Alfy specialised in UX (user experience), which has left him with a unique skill set for creating a restaurant brand. “Design, marketing, any of the dark arts: people only notice they’re bad when they’re bad,” he laughs. “It’s never commented on when it just works. And the idea of scaleability, especially with software, is a massive thing. You can make something here, but then roll it out in every country – and that’s what I used to do, so that’s what I’ve done. What we do in a night now is what we were doing in a week: I look at the tracking app and think,
‘OK, if that was five restaurants, that’d be five times as much. And then ten restaurants… that’d be a lot.” But it’s not all about the bottom line. Like many entrepreneurs, Alfy’s not entirely driven by profit. “I don’t do it because of money: it’s a feeling of accomplishment. There are some people who go to work, get their pay cheque, look forward to the weekend, that’s what they do. Whereas, I think people who do their own thing don’t get the same satisfaction from going into work to get a pay cheque. The money’s a nice part of it, but it’s the entrepreneurial bit of it – it’s not identifiable as ‘I want to be wealthy’.”
Alongside Alfy’s matter-of-fact approach to management, he’s also sincere about the possibility that his restaurant can make an actual difference to individuals – and to the planet. “There’s no rosy nonsense about it,” he says. “If someone eats 12 burgers a year, but they have three of ours, then I’ve actually made a difference. That’s what annoys me about design: we can make better equipment for disabled people, but it’s completely inaccessible because it costs tens of thousands of pounds. But we can make a burger, and if Mr Meat chooses to come to us, then we’ve actually... done something.”
ABOVE From a rooftop pop-up, to a basement bar, to a busy burger restaurant – Alfy Fowler's hard work has paid off
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ISSUE 02
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