Portland Jerk; Building a successful business includes building strong partnership

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Sharmaine Wendel didn’t know it, but when she applied for that new restaurant opening up down the street from her home, she was not only applying to be a waitress, but she was applying to be part of a beautiful relationship, and a successful business. What makes this story so special is that it is about a partnership that started many years ago, that has flourished into a business venture that has been around for over 20 years.

Why is it that some business ventures do really well, and some business ventures do not? One very important part of business is working with people who have the same objectives, work ethic and goals that you do. There at times can be reluctance on the part of business partners to engage properly with the other to help formulate a realistic approach to growing the business. Business partnerships are important because each person can help to guide the business through projects, but what ends up happening is they put unreasonable demands on each other, and on their teams. There is a complete breakdown in communication, and the business then suffers.

We have written about Portland Jerk in our paper before, but we are featuring them because they have been able to pull off something that most business owners cannot, a successful partnership that is built on trust, honesty, and hard work. Portland Jerk located at 9025 Torbram Rd, Brampton, Ontario, has been in business since 1998. Sharmaine, like most teenagers, was looking for a part-time job so that she could earn some money. She had remembered seeing a new restaurant open, and she figured, “Hey, why not? I am going to go and apply.” There must have been something that Gary Mackintosh saw in Sharmaine that made him hire her on the spot, and from there, they began to work together to create a popular hang out not just for adults, but for young people too.

Let us give a little back-story on Gary Mackintosh. Gary immigrated to Canada from Jamaica in 1976. When he came here, he already had it in mind that he was going to open up a restaurant that would provide quality Jamaican Jerk to the residents that lived in the community. Gary’s ability to change with the times, and think outside the box are some of the reasons why he has lasted for 20 years, even though there have been hundreds of Jerk restaurants that have opened up in the GTA.

Right now, Portland Jerk is recognized as the 2^nd best Caribbean Restaurant on Trip Advisor, and they continue to hold a spot on the Top 10 Caribbean Restaurants to visit in Toronto. One of the reasons Sharmaine explained is because of their Tuesday special. “Our students were the ones that actually invented the Tuesday Special. We are located close to schools, and we know that children cannot always pay the high prices that are charged at these other establishments, so we began to offer the $5.00 special. Once adults heard about it, they began to come. Then it just became a thing, and now it is what makes us popular.”

What is interesting is that Gary and Sharmaine have been able to sustain and grow a fantastic business, with little to no help from social media. No Instagram, no updated Facebook page, no LinkedIn, not even a website. I didn’t believe it until I checked for myself. I was curious; how did they manage to maintain their following without an online presence? “It is all word of mouth Simone,“ Sharmaine told me, “You know how many of these kids that come in here I have known since birth? I have seen some of these families who visit us grow and change. They have shared their stories with me, and this is what has allowed us to create such a family environment. Once you come here, you are family!”

Their restaurant has also attracted celebrities including: Lennox Lewis, Patrick Husbands (Thoroughbred Horse Racer) and Ben Johnson who has also frequented the establishment on several occasions. Business is so good that at times Sharmaine does get overwhelmed, “I become most overwhelmed when there is a large line of people waiting for food, and I cannot get the food out to them as fast as I would like to. The demand can be crazy sometimes, but Gary reminds me that I am good, but even I need help sometimes.” So what they have done is hire some young people to work with them as servers in the shop. It is also a great opportunity for Sharmaine to provide the same experience and opportunity that was given to her in 1998.

The partnership that Gary and Sharmaine share with each other has spilled over into the work that they do in the community, and the relationships that they continue to build. They are known for sponsoring Charity golf tournaments, hockey teams, basketball teams and baseball teams. Together they have displayed an important element of business success, creating great partnerships that can last a lifetime.