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Do your thing and do it well

Monday 27th July 2009 | 2 comments

I recently had an amazing lunch at Melbourne's MoVida tapas bar, and the experience reminded me of some great business advice - find what you do really well and focus on improving it, becoming expert at it and making your business or career revolve around it. Play with it, add to it, improvise and have fun, but stick to a core theme that works for you, that expresses what you are really good at, the 'essence' of you.

You see, MoVida does exactly that - they do tapas and other Spanish food, and that's it. They do it REALLY well, but you won't find any Asian fusion dishes or middle eastern specialities here. That said, as chef & co-proprietor Frank Camorra says in the fabulous MoVida cookbook, each dish is handcrafted and slightly different to the rest. Some ingredients have been substituted for Australian varieties, some dishes have been improvised, some are really adventurous, but it all comes back to the roots of tapas and other Spanish food. The service is sublime and their enthusiasm for the food and the customer's experience of it is palpable.

Their manifesto:

• Be led by the season and let the produce create the menu.
• Find a source of (regional) inspiration.
• Create but remain true to the source of both the produce and the inspiration.
• Explore and be curious with new techniques.
• Reject pointless complication and embrace the beauty of simplicity.

With not so very many changes, that could be any business's manifesto:

• Be led by your strengths and let them create your business offerings or career path.
• Find a source of (external, client-driven) inspiration.
• Create but remain true to the source of both your strengths and the inspiration.
• Explore and be curious with new techniques.
• Reject pointless complication and embrace the beauty of simplicity.

Each time I have eaten at MoVida, the dishes are different, the ingredients vary, but the quality is always brilliant and the experience is always 'essence of MoVida'. That's why I come back, for their perfect blend of consistency and variety.

How could you offer that, in your career or your business? What is your 'essence of MoVida'?

Tags: career, essence

Comments

1. Yet another elegant, thought-provoking post. I'm off to tweet it right now. Many thanks! P. :)

   Posted by Paul Hassing | Thursday 30th July 2009 @ 12:50pm

2. Thanks for the post - if it was at all elegant it was inspired by MoVida's most elegant food!

   Posted by Joanna Maxwell | Thursday 30th July 2009 @ 9:25pm