BL Gruppo, a holding company that operated eight wildly acclaimed and highly rated restaurants, plus a catering operation, in Boston, Massachusetts was a culinary mini-empire that had continually achieved recognition as a great organization. The story of BL Gruppo was also two stories of two entrepreneurial journeys. One was the journey of Barbara Lynch, a high school dropout who, through hard work, self-education, perseverance, and entrepreneurial focus, became a world-class chef, and the other was the journey of someone with no formal business training who built a culinary business employing over 230 people and grossing close to $18 million in revenue. Now Lynch faced one of her biggest challenges: How to institutionalize her business to sustain the enjoyment of her regular customers and the opportunity for advancement by her employees, at the same time giving her management team and herself a chance to monetize and create wealth? And just as important: Should she keep directing her entrepreneurial zeal toward trying new business opportunities?
