Richard Jaffray at Cactus Club Cafe

“Those were definitely crazy times,” he laughs. “I got a job as a waiter and actually lived in my car for the first two or three months out here. I would sleep at Jericho Beach and take showers at the local community centre. Eventually I bought a sailboat and lived on that instead of paying rent, which is how I built up the equity to open my first business. I guess that’s one good thing about starting out young, because I’m not sure I’d be prepared to do that today.”

Noticing a growing trend in coffee, Jaffray made a smart decision and went on a reconnaissance trip to Seattle to scope out what was happening in their marketplace. Witnessing first hand the Starbucks phenomenon, he set his mind on opening a cappuccino bar that also offered ice cream, frozen yogurt, sandwiches and salads. And so in 1986, at the age of 21, with the help of some how to manuals ordered through the Entrepreneur magazine subscription his father had given him, Jaffray saw the actualization of his first industry dream as he and a coworker opened Café Cucamongas.

It wasn’t long before his new venture was humming, thanks in part, according to a very honest Jaffray, to a couple of factors. “Fortunately for me, we opened during the same time period as Expo of 86,” he offers. “And although I had worked in the industry since I was 14 and thought that I knew everything that I needed to know, the truth is I didn’t. Thankfully, there was enough people in the city to help me through those first few months.”

Once he got the hang of things, however, Jaffray set his sights on something bigger. Realizing that it would be tough for the Café Cucamongas model to support an absentee ownership model, he wanted something that could do higher volume and give him the opportunity to one day bring in management and expand. Watching the seeming success of Earl’s and studying the coffee shop/diner program of White Spot and Denny’s, Jaffray noticed a lack of fun and innovation. Voila, an opportunity.

In 1988, after rustling up investors and selling Café Cucamongas, Jaffray opened Cactus Club Café, a full-service restaurant avec license, on Pemberton Avenue in North Vancouver, and, as he puts it, “hasn’t looked back since.”

Today, Cactus has grown to 20 restaurant throughout British Columbia and Alberta and is looking to have its first eastern location in the Toronto market in the next two or three years. And while it is no doubt a huge success story, Jaffray readily admits that there have been tough times. “There was a time around 14 years ago where I almost lost it all due perhaps to an overaggressive expansion program and a little too much youthful enthusiasm,” he explains. “I had always decided that I was going to work hard and then when I hit a certain level of success, start taking time off. During that challenging time, I kind of realized that unless I took the time, I was never going to get that time off, so I started scheduling time away from the business to rejuvenate. Having now made it though those tough times, I think the philosophy we adopted – be aggressive and go for growth, but leave something in the reserve tank – is what has helped us continue to prosper and succeed.”

Recently named by KPMG as one of Canada’s top employers for young people, Cactus has always placed a large emphasis on its people. With an education allowance and profit sharing for management, the largest stable of Red Seal Chefs in Western Canada and a mentorship program that pairs the seasoned vets with the new hires, Jaffray has been able to guarantee that there is not only staff buy-in, but that the staff themselves are learning and growing and bettering themselves too. “Its my objective is to teach all my managers as much about the industry as I can, because this is a very thin margin business, and they need the knowledge so they can help us create a great customer experience and still remain profitable,” he explains. “And it doesn’t stop there. If someone starts as a dishwasher, line cook, server or a host, we start teaching them about the business from the moment they start, so that whether or not they choose to pursue a career with us, they’ve learned something along the way.”

While Jaffray thinks that BC has weathered the storm instigated by the financial crisis quite well, he is well aware that things have changed, that people are spending their hard-earned dollars differently. His plan for ongoing success, however, is simple. A going back to basic, if you will.

“I know we’re only as successful as our last meal, he offers. “And what got me here today isn’t going to keep me here today. So we will always strive to lead the way and figure out what it is that our customers don’t even know they want yet. Our focus has and always will be on the customer’s experience, because if there’s an industry where not taking care of the customer means you won’t do well, it’s this one.”