BusinessWeek Logo
Annie Somerville, 56

Annie Somerville, 56

The head chef of Greens restaurant in San Francisco earned a national reputation for imaginative vegetarian cooking. Her bestselling cookbooks include Everyday Greens and Fields Of Greens.

Advice to aspiring restaurateurs:
"The food makes a restaurant and draws customers in, but you have to have a great business sense or a partner with experience who understands the money flows. At times, the money flows out faster than it flows in. It is a serious business and the profit margins are so slim. Many people don't realize how complicated it is.

"If at all possible, I'd say that when you start go into an existing restaurant space. That is a way to go so that you don't spend all of your money just furnishing the kitchen. So many people start out undercapitalized. They spend it all opening and never make it back."