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Lisa Cham, Owner, The Fixx Café and Pasta Bar

Kelowna entrepreneur puts experience to work

Lisa Cham has a recipe for success: Make each customer so they feel special. Lisa owns and operates The Fixx Café and Pasta Bar in Kelowna.

"I learn people's names and try to make an effort to talk and get to know my customers," says Lisa. Of course, the exceptional service is always accompanied by exceptional food.

Lisa started her restaurant career as a waitress. She dreamed of opening her own business as she served her customers. She was promoted into management, and the dream remained. A few years later she took a course on how to start a small business... and the dream became stronger. Seven years later, she opened her first restaurant, the Allegro Cafe in downtown Vancouver.

At Allegro, she learned her most important business lesson. "I thought I could do it all myself," she says, and quickly realized doing it all could turn a dream into a nightmare. "It made me miserable, and I ended up selling."

Lisa traveled Asia and then worked in the food and beverage department for the Hyatt Regency Corporation in Grand Caymen for a few years. She then managed a restaurant in St. Vincent for a year before opening her second restaurant. She ran Ocean Allegro for more than four years.

In 2005, Lisa moved to Kelowna and opened The Fixx Café and Pasta Bar. Women's Enterprise Centre believed in her business plan, and loaned her the money to get started.

"My advisor was very helpful," says Lisa. "She required extensive research from me to prove that The Fixx Café was a viable business endeavour." Lisa demonstrated that it was and received her start up loan.

Lisa believes that being in business means you have to be prepared to work hard. She has overcome her greatest challenges to date, which were finding the proper staff, establishing a good reputation, and teaching herself to cook on the kitchen line full time. Her customers appreciate the cozy atmosphere, excellent service and the terrific food. Although she's busy enough that reservations are recommended, she remembers her days of taking on too much. She's comfortable with the business now, and has no plans to expand.

Her advice for those considering going into business: "I would tell them to make sure it is a business they know and love," she says. "I believe that experience is worth so much."

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