Feature Story

Restaurant Magic
And Relationships that go ‘round ‘n ‘round…
By Jay Winchester

Steve Roberts credits the success of his entrepreneurial journey to the relationships made along the way.

When Renaissance poet and clergyman John Donne coined the phrase, “No man is an island,” he was writing about the interconnectedness of humanity. He had no idea he was also describing the entrepreneurial journey of Steve Roberts, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Restaurant Magic. Tracing Roberts’ life from his college years to the present offers a persuasive testimony to the positive influence one person can have on another.

For example, if a magic eraser removes one person from Roberts’ life - Kathryn McManis, nee Holm - it potentially changes everything about his life: his business, his interests, his partners, even his marriage. Holm’s influence began during Steve’s time at the University of South Florida, when he firmly believed that his career was destined to involve his talent for the French horn. Enter Holm, USF’s professor of the harp. During a conversation about interests outside of music, computers came up. Holm mentioned that she had a computer, and offered Steve access to it if he wanted to learn more about how they worked.

Steve began experimenting with the TRS-80 microcomputer, Tandy Corporation’s popular desktop model sold exclusively through its Radio Shack stores, circa 1977. “I was completely ignorant of computing at this point, and remember typing ‘I want to play a game,’ and receiving the computer generated response of ‘Syntax Error,’” he says. A manual for the BASIC computer language came with the computer, and Steve began learning all he could. That experience ignited a fascination with software. “It was as if a switch was thrown in my brain,” he recalls. “I didn’t know it then, but this introduction to computing was ultimately going to take me out of the music business…but not directly.”

Leaving USF prior to receiving his degree, Roberts made two abortive attempts at starting businesses, one building fiberglass replicas of old MG’s, and the other involving sports photography. “In both endeavors my skill contribution centered upon automating some process with software, more than on the business opportunity,” says Roberts. “I sold my position in both companies due to a lack of real interest on my part. I still had it in my head that I was going to make a living as a professional French horn player.” Or so he thought.

Once again, the influence of Holm began to work, this time in another aspect of Steve’s life. In another conversation with her, Steve learned that Holm had enticed a young harpist named Dolly to transfer to USF to finish her Master’s in music. The professor had a notion that the two might be compatible. The young people soon started dating, eventually embarking on a 24-year marriage that is still going strong.

This relationship also set the stage for Roberts’ future in software. After winning Dolly’s hand, she made it clear that, after migrating from New Jersey, she had grown quite fond of living in Tampa Bay and had no intention of moving elsewhere. “I did my best to let her know that we would have to move wherever a successful music audition took us,” Steve says. He had been playing part-time with both the Florida Orchestra and the Gulf Coast Symphony. However, Dolly was steadfast, so Roberts started looking for work to supplement his music income, eventually landing at the now-defunct Tampa Christian Academy as a music teacher.

During his first staff meeting, the school’s principal mentioned that equipment for a computer lab had been donated, and wondered if anyone knew anything about computers. Wanting to show school spirit and support, and certain someone at the meeting had to be more qualified than he, Steve raised his hand. This action earned him a new job title: Music and Computer Teacher.

In a subsequent career move, Steve worked his way into a company that integrated custom software applications in accounting practices. This opportunity opened his eyes to the potential of a software business. He says, “I liked the prospect that the business was about selling software and joined the company as a hired hand. A lot of growth came from this particular job as accounting integrations improved my working knowledge of business process.” This led to the founding of AccSys, Inc. Steve’s father handled the business side, another man handled the practice side, and Roberts worked at handling his passions. “I have to confess that I was a lousy partner,” he admits. “I was full of ideas and passion, but had not yet learned to temper my passion or tame my temper.”

While the company grew, Steve once again found himself in the field of custom application development. Although he enjoyed the customer interaction necessary to deliver quality products, the endless cycle of start-finish-start again with new customers began to take its toll. His vision involved creating a top-notch software product and reselling it, rather than having to re-invent. Roberts found himself at a critical juncture with AccSys and his software resale vision when some good fortune occurred.

AccSys had been providing custom software for Outback Steakhouse, at the time in negotiations to acquire Carrabba’s. Roberts was sent to Houston to confirm that Carrabba’s business and point-of-sale system could be blended into Outback’s system. Steve confirmed that the merger was possible, but only after a significant re-write of Carrabba’s legacy system. He proposed a fee for the work that Outback rejected. Eager for the business, Roberts decided it was time for risky business.

“I knew we could fix their system and make it much better than their current one, providing value to both Outback and Carrabba’s,” he says. “I approached Carrabba’s with a new proposal: AccSys would write a replacement system, keeping the good ideas of the original product, but correcting the defects too, at the company’s own cost and risk.” The plan was that AccSys would sell additional software licenses to Carrabba’s as new units opened. Carrabba’s agreed, and two things happened: Restaurant Magic was born, and Steve learned new lessons about the entrepreneurial life.

The first lesson involved pricing. When determining the cost of the license, Roberts simply took the original estimate for rewriting the software and divided it by the number of units Carrabba’s planned to open over the next few years. The second lesson was that the restaurant business is fickle. Carrabba’s didn’t open as many units as planned.

With costs high and revenue low, Roberts faced the fact that he might either have to close the business or let people go. Neither option was appealing. Fortunately for him, Kathryn Holm decided to get married, an event that held significant implications for the future of Restaurant Magic. As it turned out, Holm’s father had passed away, and a prominent local businessman and close friend had agreed to give her away. That gentleman was Ray Murray, noted in Tampa Bay for generous philanthropic endeavors and an extremely high business IQ. As so often happens at weddings, the Roberts met the Murrays, and the two men discovered they shared common interests.

Shortly after the wedding, Roberts confessed to the newly wed McManis that the business was struggling, and wondered if Murray might be willing to share some of his expertise and insight. McManis agreed to set up a meeting. The meeting went well, although it marked both the end of Holm’s influence in Roberts’ life and the beginning of Murray’s.

Steve’s father’s health had taken a recent downward turn. Murray assessed both Steve and his business, deciding ultimately to purchase the father’s share of the struggling business. Sensing Steve’s creative gifts in developing software, but aware that the business had struggled under his leadership, Murray introduced Steve to another man, Drew Peloubet, who had earned rich experience in over-store management during his tenure at Brinker, famous for its Chili’s restaurants. Drew turned out to be as gifted at management as Steve was at idea generation and software development. It was a good mix.

Proverbs 27:17 reads, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” That verse describes the relationship between the three men. The intimacy and depth involved in how they work together is something Roberts appreciates. “With Ray, it’s like having someone who can read the parts of your mind that you would rather not have read,” he says. “If I am an onion, Ray is the ultimate peeler. I always grow a bit in my understanding of myself, as well as my interaction with friends, family, co-workers, and customers. With Drew, I always learn something about how to organize and execute a business concept beyond simply imagining a software module. The truly great thing about both of them is that they encourage you to dream big, and work toward fulfilling your dream.”

Today, Restaurant Magic, Roberts’ dream made real and headquartered in Tampa with offices in Dallas and Kiev, Ukraine, offers its customers a true passion for service combined with truly great enterprise technology. At the core of the company’s success is its new flagship product, Data Central, built on Microsoft’s .Net technology. This allows Data Central’s applications to move from the restaurant operation’s desktop to a centralized server. “With Data Central, and its robust, flexible suite of features and tools, we are finally able to match our commitment to servicing our customers with an equally great product,” says Roberts. “We provide Data Central as a Software as a Service (or SaaS). This allows customers to subscribe to our software. During the subscription period, customers receive every new feature we develop, depending upon their subscription selection.”

While Roberts has certainly earned his current success, he isn’t one to toot his own horn, so to speak. He’d rather extend the credit to others - like Kathryn McManis. The fact is that Kathryn McManis appeared in Steve’s life at almost every critical juncture in the early development of his career. A man of faith, Roberts believes this was pre-ordained. “To some, Kathryn’s influence in my life may appear to be nothing more than an intriguing coincidence,” he says. “However, the other side of that coin is that there is no such thing as coincidence, that Divine Intervention could be attributed to her place in my life. To me, the latter is as clear as the proverbial bell.”

Without a doubt, Steve Roberts’ journey through the ups and downs that are part of the entrepreneurial life reflects Donne’s assertion that, indeed, no man is an island. Entrepreneurs achieve success through a potent combination of vision, hard work, determination, perseverance, ingenuity, commitment, faith and prayer. The truth, though, is that no entrepreneur achieves success alone.

We all get by with a little help - and helpful influence - from our friends. 

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