Bernd Steiner, CEO of La Maison du Pain, is a perfect example of someone who started with very little and built their own success. Despite being born in Germany’s Black Forest and residing near Zurich in Switzerland, Bernd had dedicated the past few years to establishing a wind farm in South Africa, located quite literally on the other side of the planet. The wind farm, situated one hour east of Cape Town, will feature 100 wind turbines and is expected to be the very first commercial wind farm in South Africa. This remarkable project is capable of producing enough energy to power over 200,000 households. However, the story came to an end in 2012 when Bernd sold his shares in the company to a Belgian government-owned firm.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Bernd Steiner:
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
If you start a business at a young age, good education and establishing a network seems to be the right things to have. But later, you will find out that your professional way will be embossed by experiences from all your past work over the years. Today, I have the conviction that success occurs if gut feeling meets seniority.
Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?
LA MAISON DU PAIN is the result of a love affair between a Franchisor and France. With their authentic French recipes and an ambience that transports you directly to South of France, its treating people with an experience of a lifetime.
Established in 2011, LA MAISON DU PAIN has been ruling millions of taste goods through its mesmerizing, authentic French bakery, patisserie, and other delicious products. Known for Tarts, croissants, macaroons, beignets, and éclairs it is renowned for offering much more than just bakery products. With its products offering a roller coaster of taste at every delicious bite, La Maison not only rules the hearts but rules tummies too. As a Franchisor of the Brand, I know more about the French art of live his journey. Today La Maison are a fully certified member of the German Franchise Association and a French-inspired bakery & bistro serving all-day breakfast, patisserie & other bakery products.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
Success may not always bring out the best in individuals, but it has left the passionate leader relatively unaffected by its transformative impact. However, history teaches that unexpected setbacks occur at the most inconvenient times. “If your business or the economic environment are fragile, you must become a troubleshooter. From a personal point of view – I’m always prepared for inconvenient incidence at any time. And if luck meets opportunity, success will happen,”. Having understood this La Maison keeps innovating, experimenting with the taste, and keeps adding to its menu offering its customers not only new products but newer experiences too. This has helped La Maison to establish itself as a brand people relate to. Its products are at the tip of their customer’s tongue and are the first preference when people want to go out and enjoy their time. Even with most of its customers praising its products, La Maison is always in the pursuit of introducing new and better products without letting the quality of their old products getting hampered.
Which are the major services of the company and how do the company to get ahead in the competition? What value-added services does the company provide?
When I start franchise in the Bistro and Bakery Business, we were quite surprised about the competitor. To run a restaurant or open a Bakery is not complicate at the first sight and there are low entrance barriers to do so. In result a lot of people dream to be host in this sector. Well… that’s a good idea if you operate as a hobby. If you aim for earnings and plan surpluses, you must be prepared in different way. We do have a completely different approach with many systems which the guest never would assume. Guest has very high expectations and our job is to get them satisfied. So, we do train our franchisee onboard and ongoing in their stores. It often not only a matter of training but have the right mindset to become a successful host.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
As a Franchisor I play the role of Coaching and Train our Franchisee. It sounds easy but in fact, it´s a quite complex approach to transform a founder and new franchise partner into a high level performing and to become an professional host. Even though the Covid crises the business model was robust and was not distressed like another Restaurant- and Storeowner.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
La Maison is a unique business model that has been tried and tested over many years with an authentic French bakery and bistro concept.
The food industry, apart from being challenging is unpredictable where your days-old competitor can complete you shine you. Those days are gone where people were emotionally attached to brands, and it is now purely the quality of your food and innovation that matters. People get bored of eating the same thing and immediately start searching for something new and better. This change in the mindset though is a matter of concern, brings along with it an opportunity to offer customers something new and keep them glued to your products
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
If you reach the peak of the mountain top, make sure that you decent the peak as soon as possible. If you stay too long – either you frozen to dead or going crazy.
