TRACY — John Oh broke a cardinal rule about entrepreneurship. He didn’t know much about the restaurant industry when he opened The Commons last year.
Still, other business leaders regard him as a success. In fact, the Tracy Chamber of Commerce has named Oh its Entrepreneur of the Year. Oh will receive the award at the Chamber’s Winter Gala on Jan. 29.
“Honestly, I think it’s amazing,” said Oh of the award. “I know there are a ton of great businesses in town and a ton of great business people in town that deserve this way more than myself. It’s a great honor to be recognized in that fashion.”
Dino Maragos, president of the Tracy City Center Association, thinks Oh has earned the recognition and credits him for his perseverance.
“It’s definitely a very well-deserved honor,” said Maragos. “It wasn’t easy, as I’m sure anybody will tell you, to open up a restaurant. It’s a long, hard road, but he followed his passion and made it happen.”
The Commons, located in downtown Tracy on 10th Street, opened in the summer of 2014. Oh characterizes it as a gastropub, which focuses on serving quality food, craft cocktails and a unique selection of craft beers.
Prior to opening The Commons, Oh had no experience in the restaurant industry, although opening a bar was an idea he’d been thinking about since he was a teenager at Tracy High School. As someone who grew up in Tracy, he began ruminating on the details of how wanted to operate and what would be a success in his hometown.
“Once I started developing ideas, I think the biggest thing was there was a huge need for the city to have a place kind of like this,” said Oh. “We’re very process-food based. There are a ton of chains. You can think of any chain, and they’re going to be in Tracy. Everything was processed, so I kind of wanted to take a step back.”
Instead of viewing it as one entity, Oh looks at The Commons as three separate businesses operating under one umbrella. He breaks it down as if craft beers, craft cocktails and food are all independent of each other, with the common goal of making the overall restaurant a success.
Having a downtown location was also important to Oh. Even though a lot of the city’s traffic and other businesses are located closer to the interstate, Oh wanted to help revitalize the downtown area. He wanted to attract more people to the city’s center, especially at night.
“That restaurant, directly and specifically, has influenced other restaurants to locate in proximity, said Maragos. “He’s raised the bar. He’s raised the standards for growth, all along that street corner they’re located on. And it definitely put a spotlight on downtown as far as dining options. Six, seven, eight years ago, everything shuts down at 5 o’clock. But now you have restaurants nearby, and there are more coming.”
Oh also has a unique viewpoint on the industry, which he credits to his lack of experience in it. He described himself as “a sponge” when coming up with concepts for the restaurant. He talked to other restaurant owners and small-business owners in different fields.
In fact, if he had any advice for prospective entrepreneurs looking to open a business, it’s just that: Absorb as much information as you can. And think over every aspect of the business you can prior to opening, even a backup plan if it fails, which Oh admits he did.
“I think the biggest thing is you need to do so much due diligence,” said Oh. “You have think about every single crazy situation that’s going to happen and then have a counter for it. Then when you open, there’s going to be a million more that show up that you could never think of.
“Be so confident from doing so much research that when you’re ready to pull the trigger, it’s all systems go.”
Despite the long hours — he says he’s at the restaurant seven days a week — Oh has loved every minute of owning The Commons. During hours of operation, he works alongside his employees, spending his time cooking and delegating other responsibilities to his crew.
“I think the best part about it is I like to cook,” said Oh. “So when I’m here, I’m in the back on the line. So I get to do something that I enjoy doing as a job.”
He enjoys it so much that eventually Oh, who’s 34, would like to open more restaurants in the future.
“If I could predict the future, when I’m 52, I’d like to have multiple places in Tracy,” said Oh. “I don’t think there’s really a need to go outside of Tracy. I have roots in Tracy. I care about Tracy. There’s no place I’d rather be than Tracy.”
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