Noah Alper is best known for the business that bears his name: the West Coast chain Noah's Bagels. But he has started and exited several other businesses, including Bread & Circus, an East Coast natural foods store that eventually became part of Whole Foods; a housewares venture; a kosher Italian restaurant and a firm that attempted to sell food and gifts from the Holy Land to born-again Christians in the US. Alper lost $50,000 on that venture but learned from his mistakes, and within a few years went on to start the bagel empire that would make him famous.
Today Alper runs a consulting firm and is a strategic advisor with FMG Leading, a human capital strategy firm. He's authored a book entitled "Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today’s Entrepreneur." In this interview, he talks candidly about his triumphs and failures as a serial entrepreneur. And he shares what he's learned about many topics, including identifying opportunities, building a team, the big payoff, when to exit a business, working with relatives and more.