Depending on the business, these areas might have quite different suppliers, equipment, and daily operations.

And different people might manage each area (you don’t want people trying to open the same spreadsheet at the same time).

A restaurant in Chicago

When we were thinking about this, we often referred to the TV show, The Bear. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about a restaurant in Chicago.

The back office is run by Natalie. She’s in a room with a desk and a computer, sorting out their administrative chaos.

The front office is run by Richie. He’s in charge of the restaurant area where the customers are and the delivery of the product.

The ‘product’ is run by Carmy. He’s in charge of the kitchen where the food is made, i.e. the product that they sell.

Some businesses are simpler than this, some might be more complicated. But hopefully this conveys the basic idea of ‘staff only’ versus ‘customer facing’ areas.