Kitchen Nightmares is my favourite Gordon Ramsey show. It's so satisfying to see him go into a struggling business and turn it around.
Gordon Ramsey knows the secret of success. He does what he loves and he learnt to do it well. He concentrates on the
essence
of business, creating value that customers will want to spend their money on. He compliments this with strong business prowess, ensuring that he delivers quality products and service in the most efficient way possible. On top of all this, he is in a niche that affects everyone - food.
The businesses Ramsey helps, especially in the American show, (I'm sorry to say) are mostly clueless. They're so hung up on emotional issues, focussing on the problems with their workplace relationships while expecting customers to swallow bad food and bad service. I can't believe how much crying and tantrum throwing happens in the US show compared to the UK one. It's usually always grown men, too.
Business is about giving the customer what they want and providing it in a way that is better than they could provide it to themselves. Having a business all too often gets caught up in the politics of people, the needs of the staff instead of the needs of the customers. It's a simple change of focus, that when combined with Ramsey's inspiring talks, turns businesses around.
Its simplicity is testified to by the makers of the show. They have a working formula of "Bad restaurant > Crying staff > Shouting Ramsey > Fixed restaurant" that they repeat episode after episode to keep their customers happy. And I for one can't get enough. | 
