Another Restaurant Buying Thread (2 Viewers)

[Joe Bryant]

In the process of trying to take a more long-term approach. Now, not in the "developing systems for this place to run without me" way. More in the doubling down on the current "work like a dog" method, but realizing there's only so many more years I can do it this way, so I'm going to maximize long-term savings so I've got more options down the line. Living dirt-cheap, trying to pay down the home and business as early as possible, and (finally) actually investing in an IRA. I don't know what my body will feel like when I'm 50, but I want a paid off house, paid off business, and a decent chunk in retirement savings by then. I make very little, money by FBG standards, so trying to make every penny count.

This approach is currently being put to the test a little. We're in the process of getting a loan to fully pay-off the previous owner. it was owner-finance for up to five years, with a balloon payment after that. We're about to close that loan. My business partner/FIL also suggested it'd be a good time for an equipment loan for some equipment upgrades. While talking about it, I'm only half-paying attention (our discussions on this stuff happen when I'm running around the restaurant or washing dishes). In my mind, I'm thinking sure if it's 4-5% interest or something, not a bad idea, I guess. So, I go to sign for this $5000 loan and it's only then that I realize it's 11%. Immediately, I know I don't want this, but sign it anyway (I was exhausted and needed to get home, make dinner, and rest for Saturday morning). $3000 of that loan was for a necessary expense (must have a new ice maker by Spring), there's are nice to have but not totally necessary yet (or at least I thought). So, I knew I was going to get out of this loan real quick. 

We've had a process for over 4 years of dealing with equipment repairs and unexpected expenses that (luckily) don't include bank loans. I live cheap, save everything I can personally so I can loan the business what it can't cover at the moment. And equipment repairs have to be handled delicately. There's a balance. As nice it would be to upgrade things, there a couple dozen things that could bug out and cause $1000-3000 expense at any time. So you kind of have to wait until it's necessary because you don't know what's about to go next. And we keep back up units for the things that act up regularly (fryers and steamers).

Anyway, about 4:30 Friday morning, I was doing the morning budgeting, and had been staring at that $5000 loan for 7 days. It was eating away at my soul. So, I just paid the whole thing back. Scared the hell out of me (the $3000 ice maker had already been ordered), because that $5000 did represent a nice cash flow safety net, even if just for a couple of months.  But screw it, I prefer the "work like a dog and make the best decisions you can" safety net. If that ain't good enough, then it just ain't good enough. 

And like clockwork, an $1100 steamer immediately croaked (might be able to fix it, but my gut says it just needs to be replaced). A fryer acting up and my 20 year old car is starting to make some funny noises too, but that's beside the point.

I didn't realize at the time, but Friday also would've been the previous owner's 76th birthday. He was a wonderful, beloved man, and built a number of successful businesses, including this one. But when it comes to business matters, we are exact opposites. He was a borrow/spend, wheeler-dealer.  Comparatively, I'm a complete bore. Sometimes it worked brilliantly (he sold the land for Weenie Stand #2 for more money than I'll likely ever make in my life). Other times not so much. In the end, the borrowing had caught up with him. I've always been risk and debt averse, but with that in the backdrop, that philosophy becomes even more ingrained (whether it's right or wrong, I don't know). 

But anyway, it's on to figuring out how to cash flow the icemaker and steamer (and whatever else is about to go). I'm about to cut payroll back even more. And we've already cut it a lot. When I got here 4.5 years ago, we had 208 employee hours to make through each week during our current hours. Now (not counting my 70), we do it with an average of 79 hours. We've even had 3 weeks under 50 so far this year. Over the years, all the callouts for ridiculous reasons, have forced us to just figure out how to do it with less. And we've become pretty good at it. So I'm going to dial the schedule back to about 70 hours a week.

Now, I don't want to be seen as some heartless payroll slasher. I've never cut the hours of anybody that really wants/needs to work and acts accordingly. Now, what I will do (and am about to do again) is cut the hours of those that constantly miss for stupid reasons so that those that want to work can make even more, and save myself a little money in the process. There's some chance that the source of the hours reduction isn't going to take it too well, and going down to 70 hours might end up taking us down to 60 hours a week. We're prepared for either result. 

On a random note, Doordash has just started up around here. I don't know if you guys uses these sorts of services much, but from the other end of it, we aren't a fan (so far). We generally don't answer the phone if it's a Doordash order and we're slammed. We do that at times on other call-in orders too. People in the restaurant always take priority and when things get super crazy, a big call-in order is just too much. Doordash takes that to a new level. The person making the order is often difficult to understand, which is fine, but when I'm answering the phone, I'm usually doing a few other things at the same time. It's going to take a long time to get the order out of them, and then, of course, they are going to want a total (which drives us nuts). And about half the time, the when the driver comes to get it, the order is still wrong, and we've got to deal with them trying to get authorized for the difference. And of course, they almost never tip. Whether we answer the phone for Doordash totally depends on how busy we are at the moment. I have no idea what the consumer experience for Doordash/Grubhub is like, but some restaurants don't always love it.

Just some Sunday morning rambling.

Thanks for the update! Always look forward to these.

 

[pollardsvision]

It was a pretty exciting week, as we seem to keep hitting new efficiency milestones. I've mentioned the "two-man" days before, but it's pretty simple. We just roll with two people for the day. It's a big deal in our world (or, used to be, I guess). 5 years ago, it took 5 people to get through a day (sometimes 6). Over the years, we whittled it down to 3. 5 to 3 took a lot of work to get there, but going to 2 is fundamentally different. 3 is a lot of work, but pretty straight-foward. One is a server, one is a cook, I fill in the gaps in between. 

The two-man days get me excited because they are always going to present a series time-management conundrums and push us to the brink. Both people are going to be put in situations where there's about 5 things that need to be done pretty much right then. The server is going to stuck with a line at the register with people needing to pay, more people coming in the door, some people on the floor that still need to order, tables that need to be bussed so the people coming in the door have somewhere to sit, drinks needing to be refilled, food that needs to be run. All going on at the same time, and a cook that can't help with any of this because they are buried in tickets. The cooks gets their own series of similar dilemmas. It's so awesome.

So, this week, we put up a monster week with 5 of the 6 days being two-man days. Including a couple that were so big that even a few months ago, I wouldn't have dreamed they were possible to pull off with just two people. The two-man thing started as a couple at the end of 2016 when everybody called out and we had no choice. Then we did it 24 times in 2017, 20 times in 2018. In 2019, barely 3 months in, it's been 37 times now. 

Now, I still don't think we'd ever plan to run with 2 as our typical day, even if it's becoming more frequent. It feels like a bit of a dangerous game. We've done it a lot, but I still can't "draw it up" so that it make sense on paper. It still has a "how the hell did we just do that" feel. And it certainly runs the risk of alienating customers. Up to this point, they seem fine with it. I think we're pretty good at prioritizing, and even when it's crazy, we can get people just in for a quick lunch on their lunch break in and out quickly. And when it's gets hairy, we cut out the types of orders that we know will make it hard to really give our best to the bread and butter customers (quick lunch break). If it's nuts, we cut out breakfast orders, and it it comes to it, stop answering the phone.  

There's trade off's of course, though, I always tend to lean towards the doing it with fewer people route. We are in a dogfight to keep prices down (and they've been largely untouched for 5 years). Lean payroll is the most important way we can keep prices in check. We are due for some price increases, but given our location, they'll always have to be on the low side. 

And I do believe in a fundamental truth that customers will forgive a couple extra minutes here and there if they see you working your tail off (and on the flip side, they'll never forgive if they see you lolly-gagging when they need something). 

And I believe in the show. I'm not gonna lie, this crew is pretty good. So, the customers get a front row seat to watch people that are really good at what they do giving it everything they've got. There's some entertainment value in that, and it's much cheaper than a Warriors Playoff ticket. The highpoint of the week was a customer telling me that one of the reasons she loves to come is because she gets inspired watching how hard we work. That one might've made my whole year.

Speaking of basketball, trying to use the Showtime Lakers as a training example, but I've run into a problem. I work with women that don't know who Kareem is! Pilot in "Airplane" was as far as I got.  And they only know one thing about Magic.  I thought what I had cooked up was rather brilliant, tbh, but I've run into a roadblock. Nash's Suns fit better, but I thought at least they'd know who Kareem and Magic are. Oh well.

But anyway, where we've come from and where we're going relies on pace, space, and communication, and getting away from the plodding station-to-station and paint clogging style. Hopefully, we can keep getting better at that.

 

[Rattle and Hum]

When I got here 4.5 years ago, we had 208 employee hours to make through each week during our current hours. Now (not counting my 70), we do it with an average of 79 hours. We've even had 3 weeks under 50 so far this year.

This thread has been particularly interesting to me. After losing my job in 2013/2014 I had thought about and looked at small businesses for years. I came from a niche field and my experience did not lend to the employment market well. Analysis paralysis and not understanding sm biz profitability (most sellers in my price range that I spoke to made very little except for the invisible tax savings or massive hours logged). A few sellers would tout livable profits but I could see through it and they closed a few months later. My strength is analysis...see the irony here.

Anyways, I'm wondering if you would indulge me on a few questions, understanding they may be too personal to answer:

1) Are you able to grow revenue while cutting expenses like this? Is the customer experience still good?

2) Would you be able to cover your life expenses if you scaled back to, say, 45 hours/week?

3) Let's assume after your fifth year you had a debilitating case of Uromysitisis poisoning and couldn't work for six months. What would happen to the restaurant?

I haven't 100% given up on the idea for me but my gut started telling me I wasn't sm biz material a while back. Thanks for the sharing of your journey, Pollard.

 

[Beef Ravioli]

@pollardsvision on your two person days, do you pay them a little bit more of give them a bonus of some sort? Maybe a little motivation to embrace those days???

 

[Johnny Rock]

Good couple of updates.

I’m 100% with you on payroll being your most controllable expense and I believe it should be matched with how busy it is. Having said that, too low of a payroll can be bad also. You’ve clearly tested the extreme on the low side and I agree that it’s not optimal except when absolutely necessary, like when someone calls in sick.

Having said that, you’ve pointed out that there is still some money left on the table, which can make that third person even more profitable. 

1. I actually love your idea of posting the sign, like “Yell out your order when you come in.” It’s catchy and cuts the bs for many. I see it evolving into cool schtick. You probably know many of the “Regulars” orders anyway.

2. I agree that phone orders are terribly inefficient for small restaurants and giving attention to those in the store is more important. But that’s money left on the table plus the hidden/cost of “some” customers maybe getting pissed and not trying you again or thinking you’re closed if the phone isn’t answered. Consider an affiliation with a site like ChowNow, where you get the printed order in the restaurant, it’s already paid for online and the only interaction is handing the food out when they come in. I don’t know the numbers but even with some fees these transactions should be profitable and add to the gross.

3. Consider a self-serve beverage station to free up staff from serving and refilling drinks. Customers love it and are used to it elsewhere. More time for a short staff to do other things. This doesn’t need to be a Coke Freestyle machine. Of course it can be a regular fountain, plus tea and even coffee.

 

[pollardsvision]

This thread has been particularly interesting to me. After losing my job in 2013/2014 I had thought about and looked at small businesses for years. I came from a niche field and my experience did not lend to the employment market well. Analysis paralysis and not understanding sm biz profitability (most sellers in my price range that I spoke to made very little except for the invisible tax savings or massive hours logged). A few sellers would tout livable profits but I could see through it and they closed a few months later. My strength is analysis...see the irony here.

Anyways, I'm wondering if you would indulge me on a few questions, understanding they may be too personal to answer:

1) Are you able to grow revenue while cutting expenses like this? Is the customer experience still good?

2) Would you be able to cover your life expenses if you scaled back to, say, 45 hours/week?

3) Let's assume after your fifth year you had a debilitating case of Uromysitisis poisoning and couldn't work for six months. What would happen to the restaurant?

I haven't 100% given up on the idea for me but my gut started telling me I wasn't sm biz material a while back. Thanks for the sharing of your journey, Pollard.

1) Revenue not growing, but profits are.

2) There are ways I could cover life expenses scaled back to a 45 hour week, but it would require some changes to the business I'm not interested in making at the moment.

3) That's the real danger for the business at the moment. If something happens to me, I'm not sure what happens to the restaurant. There are ways to maybe work around and move forward, but most likely, it's just not good. As Dave Ramsey would say, I'm don't really own a business. I just own my job (and the equity in the building). We've got a good crew that could handle it fine without me for some time, but long-term, there'd have to be some major changes and profitability would obviously take a hit.

That's obviously a concern, but it's the reality for a lot of small restaurants. In fact, 2 very similar restaurants in our area are currently going out of business because the owners are at retirement age. One is going to become a carwash, the other probably a gas station. 

 

[pollardsvision]

Good couple of updates.

I’m 100% with you on payroll being your most controllable expense and I believe it should be matched with how busy it is. Having said that, too low of a payroll can be bad also. You’ve clearly tested the extreme on the low side and I agree that it’s not optimal except when absolutely necessary, like when someone calls in sick.

Having said that, you’ve pointed out that there is still some money left on the table, which can make that third person even more profitable. 

1. I actually love your idea of posting the sign, like “Yell out your order when you come in.” It’s catchy and cuts the bs for many. I see it evolving into cool schtick. You probably know many of the “Regulars” orders anyway.

2. I agree that phone orders are terribly inefficient for small restaurants and giving attention to those in the store is more important. But that’s money left on the table plus the hidden/cost of “some” customers maybe getting pissed and not trying you again or thinking you’re closed if the phone isn’t answered. Consider an affiliation with a site like ChowNow, where you get the printed order in the restaurant, it’s already paid for online and the only interaction is handing the food out when they come in. I don’t know the numbers but even with some fees these transactions should be profitable and add to the gross.

3. Consider a self-serve beverage station to free up staff from serving and refilling drinks. Customers love it and are used to it elsewhere. More time for a short staff to do other things. This doesn’t need to be a Coke Freestyle machine. Of course it can be a regular fountain, plus tea and even coffee.

1. Knowing the orders of the regulars is a huge help. We generally recognize the car too which helps, so we can start on the order before they even get out of their car. I haven't asked them to yell it out yet, but I have started getting more orders by yelling across the restaurant. It save us so much time. In the old system, there were so many steps involved in getting an order. Truly painstaking (go to table, get drink order, go get drinks, go back, get order, with plenty of chit-chat along the way). I've got one employee still quite stuck in the previous system, and on a day like today (the main cook is off today), there's going to be some times that I'm going to have just get their order myself (by yelling from the grill) because there's just no time to waste. We have a little friction on that, but we're getting there. She's adds to that down home feel, which is important, but has to be done the right way. I've even told I don't care if she wants to talk about how mama is doing, just get the me order first. Losing the down home feel would seem to be a risk in this, but when you work with personable people, it's going to happen quite naturally (they allow me to be the boring robot). 

Some of this stuff actually comes from seeing The Varsity in Atlanta on the Food Network many years ago ("what'll ya have, what'll ya have, what'll ya have!").

2. Oh yeah, it's a dangerous game, and certainly a big reason 2-man likely won't be our SOP any time soon. Thanks for the idea on ChowNow. Never heard of it, but I'll look into it. Something automated/printed would be great. The phone is just so cumbersome. Yesterday wasn't terribly busy, so we gave in and answered a DoorDash call which of course turned into a huge headache. 

I did get a little confidence on the not answering the phone thing at times when I found out Waffle House does it too. They even have a prepared message. But yeah, we've got to limit those times as much as possible.

 

[Joe Bryant]

On the answering phone thing - I know little about restaurants but I'll say this is something I'm learning over and over in just business - Managing expectations is HUGE.

In other words, a phone ringing without answering because you're so busy is terrible. People assume you're out of business, incompetent or just don't care. You can have the exact same situation of being too busy to answer the phone and turn the same customer reaction around completely with a clear message saying simply you're not able to take phone orders at this time.  That type of thing. 

 

[pollardsvision]

Doing our usual Sun-Mon-Tues closing for Monday holidays, and got a little stroke of timing luck on Friday to help pull it off with a little more breathing room.

This is not the busiest time of year. Business is fine, but Mar/Apr tend to boom, and then things dial back a little as Summer break for schools approach. The past week or so has been a little nerve-wracking trying to manage the budget so that all the bills are paid with the loss of two days. The dishwasher serves as the short term line of credit when cash flow pinches arise, but the dishwasher has an 80 foot pine tree next to his house with termites. Tree and termite guys coming this week will put a little dent in the home/business emergency fund

Anyway, just not the margin for error we're accustomed to. Every day last week was earmarked for very specific bills coming up next week. Then Friday, a check from the bank arrives. $1500 from overpayment or whatever on the loan we closed on the other week. Pheww. A little breathing room. Now, in about 2 weeks, every penny of that is going back to hammer the principal on the business mortgage because I loathe debt, but for a week or so to help me finally get a couple days off with a little more cushion, it comes in handy.

Speaking of that loan, closing on that thing was kind of a visceral experience for me. The business purchase called for 5 years of owner financing, then a balloon payment to the previous owner (who's now deceased, and the money now goes to his widow who needed it desperately to get into a retirement home). It's just a different feel for me, between sending checks to an old lady each month compared to looking at a big number on a computer screen every day when I pay the bills. I don't know, it just makes it easier to feel the weight of the yolk.

So, 2 hours after we closed on the loan, I went home and threw a symbolic $500 back at it that I couldn't totally afford to try to set the precedent that this loan will be attacked from day one. I really, really want to get this thing knocked out in the next 7 years.  

 

[pollardsvision]

On the answering phone thing - I know little about restaurants but I'll say this is something I'm learning over and over in just business - Managing expectations is HUGE.

In other words, a phone ringing without answering because you're so busy is terrible. People assume you're out of business, incompetent or just don't care. You can have the exact same situation of being too busy to answer the phone and turn the same customer reaction around completely with a clear message saying simply you're not able to take phone orders at this time.  That type of thing. 

I agree, though I'm not sure how to properly handle it. The best solution would probably be an answering machine telling people that (that's what Waffle House has). 

Until I can get around to that, I don't see answering to tell them we're not doing call-ins at the moment making sense for us. When we don't have time to do it, much of what we don't have time for is literally picking up the phone, so finding the time to explain this wouldn't be in the cards. Well, I don't know, we'll try to give that a shot.

For now, I'll hope our customers do not assume the don't care part. This is a very intimate restaurant and the bulk of our business is regulars. We do many things wrong, and we have many things to improve on, but I'm confident the customers know we care. Work our ### off is the one thing I think we do right, and the customers can get a real feel for that.

And I think the topic goes to the differences between a small place chaining itself into staying small, like we are at the moment, vs. a larger business that's growing. We are the former, and that's where I want to be at the moment for a variety of reasons, for better or worse. 

I find that difference when I'm dealing other businesses in town. Like mechanics or even the different termite companies I've been talking to. I was just discussing with somebody the other day that if you go to a small garage, if you don't know somebody there, you'll get the feeling they really just don't want your business (same with the small termite company). They have a small staff and they are usually overwhelmed with the business that they already have.

That's what we are in many ways, though I do hope we are a little more inviting to new-comers.

Anyway, thanks for that thought Joe. We've got keep trying to get better.

 

[glvsav37]

I'll admit, I have not followed this thread 100%, but on the issue of phone orders—do you have a web site where people who want carry out could order from? This way it eliminates most phone orders and there is nothing to verbally misunderstand—if the menu section is set up properly, the customer selects their item, customizes it with a few options and a ticket gets printed out for your team to prepare. I know its an upfront expense and time commitment, but as someone else said, the potential money you could be missing out on could be huge.

 

[Ron Swanson]

Doing our usual Sun-Mon-Tues closing for Monday holidays, and got a little stroke of timing luck on Friday to help pull it off with a little more breathing room.

This is not the busiest time of year. Business is fine, but Mar/Apr tend to boom, and then things dial back a little as Summer break for schools approach. The past week or so has been a little nerve-wracking trying to manage the budget so that all the bills are paid with the loss of two days. The dishwasher serves as the short term line of credit when cash flow pinches arise, but the dishwasher has an 80 foot pine tree next to his house with termites. Tree and termite guys coming this week will put a little dent in the home/business emergency fund

Anyway, just not the margin for error we're accustomed to. Every day last week was earmarked for very specific bills coming up next week. Then Friday, a check from the bank arrives. $1500 from overpayment or whatever on the loan we closed on the other week. Pheww. A little breathing room. Now, in about 2 weeks, every penny of that is going back to hammer the principal on the business mortgage because I loathe debt, but for a week or so to help me finally get a couple days off with a little more cushion, it comes in handy.

Speaking of that loan, closing on that thing was kind of a visceral experience for me. The business purchase called for 5 years of owner financing, then a balloon payment to the previous owner (who's now deceased, and the money now goes to his widow who needed it desperately to get into a retirement home). It's just a different feel for me, between sending checks to an old lady each month compared to looking at a big number on a computer screen every day when I pay the bills. I don't know, it just makes it easier to feel the weight of the yolk.

So, 2 hours after we closed on the loan, I went home and threw a symbolic $500 back at it that I couldn't totally afford to try to set the precedent that this loan will be attacked from day one. I really, really want to get this thing knocked out in the next 7 years.  

Knowing what you know now, if you were to do this again, would you still buy an existing restaurant or start from scratch?

 

[pollardsvision]

Knowing what you know now, if you were to do this again, would you still buy an existing restaurant or start from scratch?

Depends on the situation, for sure, but certainly starting with an existing customer base is a great place to be. For me, this has been a perfect fit. But it's not for everyone. Our place stayed on the market for a long time with no takers. Other places around here like it typically see the restaurant go out of business when the owner retires, and turned into gas stations and car washes. It takes just the right person at the right stage of life to come along at the right time.

There are certainly downsides to buying an existing place. Limits options, and when buying the building, locks you into a location.  When I got here, I had been in the process of looking for a place to move my BBQ catering/vending business into a small restaurant. I did those staples here, along with the existing menu for a while, but ultimately, it just didn't make sense for us (though it could be done, but doesn't fit with my less is more style when it comes to everything from the menu to staffing). The BBQ did fine here, but with a place focused on other stuff, I didn't think we could do the volume to keep the quality where it needed to be (at least not adding to disproportionately to the workload). The menu stuff that I've brought in, and kept, has been stuff that fits more seamlessly into what we already do best. 

On the flip side, my best friend actually did start a place down in NC using many of BBQ staples that we worked on together over the years. The place is doing very well, on the top line, at least. I'm not sure how much longer he'll be involved, or should be. Nothing to do with starting from scratch, but it's a 3-headed ownership group. 2 of them know what they are doing, but it's a side gig for them (one already has a very owner hands-on successful restaurant). The one with the time to actually be there is not somebody I'd want to be in business with (though he is a great guy), and they can't afford to buy him out. If one of the other two had the time to really take the reigns, it would be a nice opportunity.

Anyway, I think both can work for anybody that just loves to work a lot for a modest amount of money. 

 

[kutta]

Doing our usual Sun-Mon-Tues closing for Monday holidays, and got a little stroke of timing luck on Friday to help pull it off with a little more breathing room.

This is not the busiest time of year. Business is fine, but Mar/Apr tend to boom, and then things dial back a little as Summer break for schools approach. The past week or so has been a little nerve-wracking trying to manage the budget so that all the bills are paid with the loss of two days. The dishwasher serves as the short term line of credit when cash flow pinches arise, but the dishwasher has an 80 foot pine tree next to his house with termites. Tree and termite guys coming this week will put a little dent in the home/business emergency fund

Anyway, just not the margin for error we're accustomed to. Every day last week was earmarked for very specific bills coming up next week. Then Friday, a check from the bank arrives. $1500 from overpayment or whatever on the loan we closed on the other week. Pheww. A little breathing room. Now, in about 2 weeks, every penny of that is going back to hammer the principal on the business mortgage because I loathe debt, but for a week or so to help me finally get a couple days off with a little more cushion, it comes in handy.

Speaking of that loan, closing on that thing was kind of a visceral experience for me. The business purchase called for 5 years of owner financing, then a balloon payment to the previous owner (who's now deceased, and the money now goes to his widow who needed it desperately to get into a retirement home). It's just a different feel for me, between sending checks to an old lady each month compared to looking at a big number on a computer screen every day when I pay the bills. I don't know, it just makes it easier to feel the weight of the yolk.

So, 2 hours after we closed on the loan, I went home and threw a symbolic $500 back at it that I couldn't totally afford to try to set the precedent that this loan will be attacked from day one. I really, really want to get this thing knocked out in the next 7 years.  

I applaud you for what you’re doing - being your own boss is awesome. And I don’t mean to be a downer here, but I’m failing to see the end game for you.

You work tons of hours, every day, can’t hire someone to answer the phone, and are barely making ends meet it seems. Do you plan to do this for the rest of you’re life? Because it’s going to get harder and harder every year you get older. Do you plan to sell? That’s going to be tough with as tight a ship as you run.

I’m just trying to see where you see this going and if you plan to keep working this way forever. It feels like you are heading for a crash if things don’t change soon.

 

[pollardsvision]

I applaud you for what you’re doing - being your own boss is awesome. And I don’t mean to be a downer here, but I’m failing to see the end game for you.

You work tons of hours, every day, can’t hire someone to answer the phone, and are barely making ends meet it seems. Do you plan to do this for the rest of you’re life? Because it’s going to get harder and harder every year you get older. Do you plan to sell? That’s going to be tough with as tight a ship as you run.

I’m just trying to see where you see this going and if you plan to keep working this way forever. It feels like you are heading for a crash if things don’t change soon.

Not a downer at all. Valid concerns that I struggle with daily. 

The "plan" is to do it at this pace as long as I can, get building paid off as fast as possible, and adjust when need be or as more options open up (particularly when the mortgage is gone).

We could do things differently now, but that's not what I'd prefer at the moment. I love to work, I like the lifestyle, and I really want to get out of debt. It's not a that we can't afford somebody to answer the phone. That person is actually scheduled each day, but if they call out, we don't replace them. Just roll on. A trade off, but one I think makes sense, for now. Not overstaffing is about both saving money/keeping prices in check, and frankly, people standing around not working drives me nuts.

There are certain things we need to do differently now (some price increases are overdue), but generally, we don't struggle to make ends meet. It's not lucrative, but we've never been late on a vendor or tax payment, we've cash flowed a large number of pretty big upgrades/repairs, and the profit margin is reasonable.  And we pay me enough to suit me. It's not perfect or lucrative, but not a bad spot.

You're right that the long-term plan needs some addressing. For now, we just give it the best we can everyday and make the best decisions we can. If a day comes where that's not good enough, then I'll either adjust or find a new line of work.

 

[Beef Ravioli]

@pollardsvision the wife and I might be headed your way in the next couple weeks. Are you in the “office” typically on Monday’s? 

 

[pollardsvision]

@pollardsvision the wife and I might be headed your way in the next couple weeks. Are you in the “office” typically on Monday’s? 

That would be great. Swing on by if you get a chance. Oh, yes, I'll be there.

 

[Beef Ravioli]

That would be great. Swing on by if you get a chance. Oh, yes, I'll be there.

I will let you know 

 

[Inhiding]

I have not followed this thread at all but it caught my eye since I am consolidating my brewery and taproom under one roof and adding a small kitchen.  I have ZERO restaurant experience, except for what I want on a menu.  I have someone that is willing to come over from his current chef position to work for me and work quite inexpensively at first.  His menu is fantastic, and he has cooked some of the items for me already and they are quite delicious.  I'm sure that I have some questions for you so those might come through as a PM if you don't mind...

 

[Worm]

I have not followed this thread at all but it caught my eye since I am consolidating my brewery and taproom under one roof and adding a small kitchen.  I have ZERO restaurant experience, except for what I want on a menu.  I have someone that is willing to come over from his current chef position to work for me and work quite inexpensively at first.  His menu is fantastic, and he has cooked some of the items for me already and they are quite delicious.  I'm sure that I have some questions for you so those might come through as a PM if you don't mind...

Do you have any background on this you could or have shared?

 

[Inhiding]

Do you have any background on this you could or have shared?

Background?  I have owned and operated a brewery for 7 years now.  A space opened up in town that is too good to pass up.  Reasonable rent, Main St visibility (an upgrade from the sidestreet I am currently on).  Our customers keep asking if we do food and I know from travels that food is almost essential.  We are looking at offering up about 12-15 items.  Rotating some in and out.  Every other week we will be offering up Sushi and Ramen as a special.  No sushi or ramen in our town currently.  Other than running a taproom I have no experience in the restaurant field.  My chef worked as the head chef at the SF Marriot catering divison doing 300+ events a year.  He will run the kitchen...

 

[kutta]

Background?  I have owned and operated a brewery for 7 years now.  A space opened up in town that is too good to pass up.  Reasonable rent, Main St visibility (an upgrade from the sidestreet I am currently on).  Our customers keep asking if we do food and I know from travels that food is almost essential.  We are looking at offering up about 12-15 items.  Rotating some in and out.  Every other week we will be offering up Sushi and Ramen as a special.  No sushi or ramen in our town currently.  Other than running a taproom I have no experience in the restaurant field.  My chef worked as the head chef at the SF Marriot catering divison doing 300+ events a year.  He will run the kitchen...

Good luck! My only comment is that part-time sushi seems pretty strange. I would avoid going to a place that wasn't all-in on sushi if I was going for sushi.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Good luck! My only comment is that part-time sushi seems pretty strange. I would avoid going to a place that wasn't all-in on sushi if I was going for sushi.

Part-time sushi, Main Street, Grimes, Iowa.  

 

[Rodrigo Duterte]

Part-time sushi, Main Street, Grimes, Iowa.  

Yikes, and with no restaurant experience, especially sushi???

No offense at all but there are red flags everywhere on this one.  Stick with the ramen and throw in some pho or whatever.

 

[Johnny Rock]

@Inhiding You need a thread for this journey. Feeling a bit cheated that you’re 7 years in already. No time like the present. TIA

 

[Binky The Doormat]

@Inhiding You need a thread for this journey. Feeling a bit cheated that you’re 7 years in already. No time like the present. TIA

excellent suggestion Johnny.  

 

[msommer]

@pollardsvision still going strong?

 

[pollardsvision]

@pollardsvision still going strong?

Thank you for asking, and I've been meaning to get around to answering, but (until a few days ago) was busy as hell running on fumes. 

In short, 2019 was awesome. We hit levels of efficiency that I'd never dreamed of. At the same time, I made great progress in long-term savings. Maxed out a Roth for the first time in my life and started saving outside of that like a mad man (like 40% of the little bit I make). Part of the reason for that (other than terror of hitting 40 with no retirement savings), was this new efficiency was wearing me out. I love what I do, but cash=options. 

So incredibly thankful that now.

For this area, we certainly jumped the gun. We closed Monday. Not a popular decision around here. No confirmed cases within 45 minutes yet. I know one other place closed this week, but most places operating as usual. But the last few weeks of this have been so miserable for the staff, and I always said we'd close too soon instead of too late. I do not want to put our customers or our staff at unnecessary risk. Plus we are close to a hospital, and many of our customers are in healthcare. Not trying to do anything that might make their life any harder than it needs to be. Thought about doing take-out only, but that just didn't feel right for us. May revisit that later. 

As with everybody, the uncertainty is unsettling. For 2-3 weeks, we'll be fine. I can pay the staff and pay the bills. Past a month and we'll start having to go into debt. That's an option, though, obviously not ideal.

So there we are. Like everybody else trying to the best we can and make the best decisions we can. 

 

[SWC]

i send my best thoughts to you and hope that you get through this as well as possible be well and take care brohan

 

[Don Hutson]

Thank you for asking, and I've been meaning to get around to answering, but (until a few days ago) was busy as hell running on fumes. 

In short, 2019 was awesome. We hit levels of efficiency that I'd never dreamed of. At the same time, I made great progress in long-term savings. Maxed out a Roth for the first time in my life and started saving outside of that like a mad man (like 40% of the little bit I make). Part of the reason for that (other than terror of hitting 40 with no retirement savings), was this new efficiency was wearing me out. I love what I do, but cash=options. 

So incredibly thankful that now.

For this area, we certainly jumped the gun. We closed Monday. Not a popular decision around here. No confirmed cases within 45 minutes yet. I know one other place closed this week, but most places operating as usual. But the last few weeks of this have been so miserable for the staff, and I always said we'd close too soon instead of too late. I do not want to put our customers or our staff at unnecessary risk. Plus we are close to a hospital, and many of our customers are in healthcare. Not trying to do anything that might make their life any harder than it needs to be. Thought about doing take-out only, but that just didn't feel right for us. May revisit that later. 

As with everybody, the uncertainty is unsettling. For 2-3 weeks, we'll be fine. I can pay the staff and pay the bills. Past a month and we'll start having to go into debt. That's an option, though, obviously not ideal.

So there we are. Like everybody else trying to the best we can and make the best decisions we can. 

Would you legally be allowed to serve your food outside?  Serving takeout burgers and hot dogs from a table in your parking lot could bring in a lot of customers if most restaurants are shut down.  It'd be easy to promote on Facebook.

 

[Beef Ravioli]

Rooting for you @pollardsvision! I’ll be out there for another lunch after the Corona leaves us alone! Hang in there! 

 

[kutta]

Would you legally be allowed to serve your food outside?  Serving takeout burgers and hot dogs from a table in your parking lot could bring in a lot of customers if most restaurants are shut down.  It'd be easy to promote on Facebook.

This could be a good idea, or even just delivery. You could do that with a scaled down crew and people would probably really appreciate it.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Thank you for asking, and I've been meaning to get around to answering, but (until a few days ago) was busy as hell running on fumes. 

In short, 2019 was awesome. We hit levels of efficiency that I'd never dreamed of. At the same time, I made great progress in long-term savings. Maxed out a Roth for the first time in my life and started saving outside of that like a mad man (like 40% of the little bit I make). Part of the reason for that (other than terror of hitting 40 with no retirement savings), was this new efficiency was wearing me out. I love what I do, but cash=options. 

So incredibly thankful that now.

For this area, we certainly jumped the gun. We closed Monday. Not a popular decision around here. No confirmed cases within 45 minutes yet. I know one other place closed this week, but most places operating as usual. But the last few weeks of this have been so miserable for the staff, and I always said we'd close too soon instead of too late. I do not want to put our customers or our staff at unnecessary risk. Plus we are close to a hospital, and many of our customers are in healthcare. Not trying to do anything that might make their life any harder than it needs to be. Thought about doing take-out only, but that just didn't feel right for us. May revisit that later. 

As with everybody, the uncertainty is unsettling. For 2-3 weeks, we'll be fine. I can pay the staff and pay the bills. Past a month and we'll start having to go into debt. That's an option, though, obviously not ideal.

So there we are. Like everybody else trying to the best we can and make the best decisions we can. 

Rock on Buddy. Not sure if you know who Sam Jones is. He's a rock star BBQ guy in North Carolina. Owns Skylight Inn and Sam Jones BBQ. One of the most respected in the country. He posted this today and I thought it was spot on. https://www.instagram.com/tv/B99Ss6tnzeQ/?igshid=57nlr6g0selu

 

[Redwes25]

Thank you for asking, and I've been meaning to get around to answering, but (until a few days ago) was busy as hell running on fumes. 

In short, 2019 was awesome. We hit levels of efficiency that I'd never dreamed of. At the same time, I made great progress in long-term savings. Maxed out a Roth for the first time in my life and started saving outside of that like a mad man (like 40% of the little bit I make). Part of the reason for that (other than terror of hitting 40 with no retirement savings), was this new efficiency was wearing me out. I love what I do, but cash=options. 

So incredibly thankful that now.

For this area, we certainly jumped the gun. We closed Monday. Not a popular decision around here. No confirmed cases within 45 minutes yet. I know one other place closed this week, but most places operating as usual. But the last few weeks of this have been so miserable for the staff, and I always said we'd close too soon instead of too late. I do not want to put our customers or our staff at unnecessary risk. Plus we are close to a hospital, and many of our customers are in healthcare. Not trying to do anything that might make their life any harder than it needs to be. Thought about doing take-out only, but that just didn't feel right for us. May revisit that later. 

As with everybody, the uncertainty is unsettling. For 2-3 weeks, we'll be fine. I can pay the staff and pay the bills. Past a month and we'll start having to go into debt. That's an option, though, obviously not ideal.

So there we are. Like everybody else trying to the best we can and make the best decisions we can. 

Probably smart too close.  Do you guys sell gift certificates?  

 

[pollardsvision]

Would you legally be allowed to serve your food outside?  Serving takeout burgers and hot dogs from a table in your parking lot could bring in a lot of customers if most restaurants are shut down.  It'd be easy to promote on Facebook.

We could, and actually, in our State, for now we can still serve in the restaurant (but no more than 10 people in the building).

Honestly, right now, we're a little paralyzed trying to figure out how to move forward, hoping for more information. As of now, we're the only restaurant in town I know of that's totally closed down. This city's going strong actually (many places not abiding by the 10 person guidance), so I know our choices so far are unorthodox for this area. 

We've been considering options all week, and I still don't feel comfortable with any route in the near term. We're not well set-up for take out only. In our neighborhood, we're not well set up to not take cash, either. We have the Square/CashApp set up to do it, but many of our regulars are cash people.

All that to say, I'm nearly certain that going take-out only for us, in most forms,  would mean operating at a loss. 

We're a tiny restaurant. The nice part about that is we have very little overhead. We have a cheap owner that's saved up capital to be able to cover up to 2 months of a closure without going into debt. Like I said, I don't go out to eat, personally, because I can't afford to and want to preserve capital. 

My staff also makes a solid wage, and given the stress of the last couple of weeks, they aren't chomping at the bit to do take out only. They are likely better off signing up for unemployment (I am too). 

So, instead of risking going at a loss with my staff being exposed, I'd prefer to hunker down. Use our cash reserves to hold up for a month or so. If it goes much past that, then the country is going to hell in a handbasket anyway. 

I have no idea what's right. If I did, I'd do that. 

 

[BassNBrew]

Thank you for asking, and I've been meaning to get around to answering, but (until a few days ago) was busy as hell running on fumes. 

In short, 2019 was awesome. We hit levels of efficiency that I'd never dreamed of. At the same time, I made great progress in long-term savings. Maxed out a Roth for the first time in my life and started saving outside of that like a mad man (like 40% of the little bit I make). Part of the reason for that (other than terror of hitting 40 with no retirement savings), was this new efficiency was wearing me out. I love what I do, but cash=options. 

So incredibly thankful that now.

For this area, we certainly jumped the gun. We closed Monday. Not a popular decision around here. No confirmed cases within 45 minutes yet. I know one other place closed this week, but most places operating as usual. But the last few weeks of this have been so miserable for the staff, and I always said we'd close too soon instead of too late. I do not want to put our customers or our staff at unnecessary risk. Plus we are close to a hospital, and many of our customers are in healthcare. Not trying to do anything that might make their life any harder than it needs to be. Thought about doing take-out only, but that just didn't feel right for us. May revisit that later. 

As with everybody, the uncertainty is unsettling. For 2-3 weeks, we'll be fine. I can pay the staff and pay the bills. Past a month and we'll start having to go into debt. That's an option, though, obviously not ideal.

So there we are. Like everybody else trying to the best we can and make the best decisions we can. 

We could, and actually, in our State, for now we can still serve in the restaurant (but no more than 10 people in the building).

Honestly, right now, we're a little paralyzed trying to figure out how to move forward, hoping for more information. As of now, we're the only restaurant in town I know of that's totally closed down. This city's going strong actually (many places not abiding by the 10 person guidance), so I know our choices so far are unorthodox for this area. 

We've been considering options all week, and I still don't feel comfortable with any route in the near term. We're not well set-up for take out only. In our neighborhood, we're not well set up to not take cash, either. We have the Square/CashApp set up to do it, but many of our regulars are cash people.

All that to say, I'm nearly certain that going take-out only for us, in most forms,  would mean operating at a loss. 

We're a tiny restaurant. The nice part about that is we have very little overhead. We have a cheap owner that's saved up capital to be able to cover up to 2 months of a closure without going into debt. Like I said, I don't go out to eat, personally, because I can't afford to and want to preserve capital. 

My staff also makes a solid wage, and given the stress of the last couple of weeks, they aren't chomping at the bit to do take out only. They are likely better off signing up for unemployment (I am too). 

So, instead of risking going at a loss with my staff being exposed, I'd prefer to hunker down. Use our cash reserves to hold up for a month or so. If it goes much past that, then the country is going to hell in a handbasket anyway. 

I have no idea what's right. If I did, I'd do that. 

Best of luck to you.

 

[Beef Ravioli]

@pollardsvision you all back at it yet? 

 

[pollardsvision]

@pollardsvision you all back at it yet? 

Not yet. As of now, only outdoor seating is allowed in Virginia, which started last Friday. I'm guessing some form of limited dine-in will be allowed somewhere around June 1st, so we're hoping for/targeting that.

 

[jamny]

Saw the facebook post. Congrats on the re-=opening, even if it is just take-out for now.

Best of luck going forward.

 

[pollardsvision]

Saw the facebook post. Congrats on the re-=opening, even if it is just take-out for now.

Best of luck going forward.

Thank you. It was great to get back and see so many of our customers. Although our place is as much about the community as the food, so takeout only is so unnatural for us (as with everything in everybody else's business, I guess). 

Being closed for a while was good to help get my head right about the challenge ahead. We had spent years building a beautiful system that worked so well for the customers, the staff, and me. I took me a bit to stop whining and get ready for a new challenge.

My normal staff is not back (only 2 of them). I have one employee right now, the 18 year old daughter of the main cook (and she's the 3rd generation to work here). It's supposed to be just for July and I've made it clear I'm not compelling anyone to come back until they are comfortable. But I have my doubts that I'll ever get them back.

Because to get them back requires a lot more work for less money. I've always taken care of them very well and will always do so. It's a math problem and I don't see the solution yet. I'll find it, but I don't know where the money will come from. They absolutely loved the old way, and I'm not sure they'll be down for what lies ahead.

From that standpoint, the kid is good for the journey right now because she has no previous expectations. 

Doing takeout only is extremely difficult for us. For a lot of reasons, I have no idea how long we can do that. None are really even about the money. I plan to lose money for a while. I'm just trying stay relevant and slow the burn rate. I live cheap, and we can hang in for a long time with crappy sales.

The hard part is two-fold:

It's just not what we are built to do. I'm trying to improve our systems, but I'm not seeing the solutions yet. It's hard to explain how much harder take out is than dine-in for us, but it just is. Even it were me and one of the long-time employees, a big lunch takeout rush will push us to the breaking point. In the past, when things got nutty, the first thing we did was stop answering the damn phone. So, we got to figure it out.

I don't mind feeling like I suck at my job. It's fun to have a challenge again. But I have to get it figured out before we lose business over it.

And training the kid in this environment is so difficult. It's not her. She's working her little heart out. But communication is key in any restaurant/kitchen. We don't have the shorthand from years of experience, which is fine of course, that has to be learned and earned. But communicating with masks on beside a loud exhaust fan is difficult. And yelling through a mask for long stretches is exhausting.  Talking in general through a mask is exhausting.  Trust me, I'm not complaining about wearing a mask. Just noting it's an added challenge. I might adjust the schedule a little for now, but basically the first 3 days have basically all been the same. Mostly nothing, then an hour of mayhem. 

So, sticking with takeout is hard leaving the money on the table. Not really for the business, I've accepted that it's not about money right now. But that one move would help me get this girl paid so much better for the great effort. 

So, like every decision these days, it's a choice between money or health risk. 

The other hard part about not doing dine-in is that goes against the general consensus of this area. If we did dine-in, I think we could get back to fairly normal business pretty quick. We didn't reopen at all until the day the state allowed full-capacity dine-in. Which, around here, nobody listened to the 50% anyway. 

So, we get people asking why just takeout? There are a lot of reasons for it, but none that I feel particularly comfortable discussing in detail with customers. Few bring it up, but I don't like talking about it and I feel like I'm just giving BS answers. Plus, it's a conflicting and difficult decision to begin with.

So, that's where we're at. It was a great few days to get back in the swing of things. It was awesome to see so many of our customers. And I'm so grateful that so many still missed us. The great fear in all of this, from a business perspective, is that folks will just to get too used to life without you.

I try to keep myself reminded that the sales do not matter right now. It's about getting my mind and body back into shape (the quarantine 30 doesn't help), about having a great attitude, and embracing new challenges. And the kid is having fun, learning, and getting more confident, so that's fun to see. 

And no matter what, I consider that some business frustrations are completely meaningless. 132,000 Americans have lost their lives and families crushed. Anybody that sees the other side of this with themselves and their loved ones safe is extremely lucky. 

 

[pollardsvision]

I can't believe it's been 6 months since we re-opened. That last update was mostly meaningless. We tried take-only for just a couple of days. All it did was make customers mad, which of course is not generally a good idea.

So, we've been chugging along. Business not what it used to be, but much better than I expected it would be. Plenty good enough for now. And really, 4 months of zeros changes perspective a little. 

Any day getting the opportunity to wake up in the morning and be able to go to work is such an incredible blessing. Anything that happens from there is just an added bonus.

We do it as safely as we can, understanding there's risk in the whole endeavor. We just had our health inspection, which is always nerve-wracking and obviously moreso now, and it went well. She likes the way we are handling things.

The staff wears masks at all times, of course. I've found painter's tape on the nose to be incredibly helpful to keep them from riding up and down all day while talking. And it's a symbol to the customers that we take this seriously.  Far as handling dishes and sanitizing things, we just assume everyone has covid, although that's not terrible different than we've always operated.  Now and before, I guarantee there's not a restaurant that goes though more gloves per capita per hour (the double glove method we discovered a few years I think was revolutionary for us in terms of efficiency and surely comes in handy now).

We ask that customers wear masks when not eating and keep a certain distance. We do a pretty good job of that, but I can't say we get 100% compliance. If someone comes in without a mask, I'm not asking them to leave.  Arguing with customers is not something I'm trying to do, particularly with restaurants being such a grey area in terms of masks.

The staff right now is basically just me and the main cook (my niece helps out a little), and we have threaded the needle on known exposure so far. But I know that likely won't last. I'm prepared for weeks/months of closures that may come from exposure and/or sickness.

I've always been fairly frugal, but 2020 has obviously heightened the intensity on emergency reserves. I don't know when the bottom will drop out again, but we're far more prepared than we were in March (and we were on solid ground then for "regular" circumstances). 

We really do have such amazing customers. Being gone for 4 months, you worry that people will just get find a routine that doesn't include you, but we've been very lucky.

2020 will end up being such a perspective changing year. Keep your families safe and keep the bills paid. Anyone that manages to do those things is so incredibly fortunate, and the rest doesn't matter much.

Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. Merry Christmas fools.

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

I can't believe it's been 6 months since we re-opened. That last update was mostly meaningless. We tried take-only for just a couple of days. All it did was make customers mad, which of course is not generally a good idea.

So, we've been chugging along. Business not what it used to be, but much better than I expected it would be. Plenty good enough for now. And really, 4 months of zeros changes perspective a little. 

Any day getting the opportunity to wake up in the morning and be able to go to work is such an incredible blessing. Anything that happens from there is just an added bonus.

We do it as safely as we can, understanding there's risk in the whole endeavor. We just had our health inspection, which is always nerve-wracking and obviously moreso now, and it went well. She likes the way we are handling things.

The staff wears masks at all times, of course. I've found painter's tape on the nose to be incredibly helpful to keep them from riding up and down all day while talking. And it's a symbol to the customers that we take this seriously.  Far as handling dishes and sanitizing things, we just assume everyone has covid, although that's not terrible different than we've always operated.  Now and before, I guarantee there's not a restaurant that goes though more gloves per capita per hour (the double glove method we discovered a few years I think was revolutionary for us in terms of efficiency and surely comes in handy now).

We ask that customers wear masks when not eating and keep a certain distance. We do a pretty good job of that, but I can't say we get 100% compliance. If someone comes in without a mask, I'm not asking them to leave.  Arguing with customers is not something I'm trying to do, particularly with restaurants being such a grey area in terms of masks.

The staff right now is basically just me and the main cook (my niece helps out a little), and we have threaded the needle on known exposure so far. But I know that likely won't last. I'm prepared for weeks/months of closures that may come from exposure and/or sickness.

I've always been fairly frugal, but 2020 has obviously heightened the intensity on emergency reserves. I don't know when the bottom will drop out again, but we're far more prepared than we were in March (and we were on solid ground then for "regular" circumstances). 

We really do have such amazing customers. Being gone for 4 months, you worry that people will just get find a routine that doesn't include you, but we've been very lucky.

2020 will end up being such a perspective changing year. Keep your families safe and keep the bills paid. Anyone that manages to do those things is so incredibly fortunate, and the rest doesn't matter much.

Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. Merry Christmas fools.

Glad to hear that you have survived so far Pollard. I like to think you have made it through the toughest part and the slope back to normality has begun. 

 

[Beef Ravioli]

Thanks for the update! Merry Christmas! Hope to see you sometime in 2021 for lunch!!

 

[ProstheticRGK]

@pollardsvision Man, I love reading your updates. I can tell you'll thrive no matter the situation with your positive attitude and mindset of viewing setbacks as blessings. Merry Christmas, brother, and a great New Year!

 

[jamny]

Thanks for the update!  

 

[Beef Ravioli]

@pollardsvisioni saw your Aldi thread and I had to check. You still at the restaurant? 

 

[pollardsvision]

@pollardsvisioni saw your Aldi thread and I had to check. You still at the restaurant? 

Thanks for asking. Yeah, we're still kicking. It's been just about a year ago that we re-opened, and we've been incredibly fortunate so far. 

We even got lucky with PPP forgiveness. We stayed closed so long that we juuuuuust barely got to the 60% of it used on payroll in the 24 weeks. Just got the forgiveness approved this week. 

Being such a small place has certainly been helpful. I couldn't imagine having a restaurant with big overhead in normal times, and certainly not in Covid times. We're small and perfectly fine going lean when needed. 

Staff is really just me, the main cook, and my niece helping one day a week. We've been heading towards that type of set-up, really, for 7 years. Covid was sort of the final step to get there.

Of course, that type of set-up is a pretty big risk. It relies on having one really good, dependable person. So far, the main cook has been that over the years. Sometimes I worry about her ability to hold up with that schedule, and what I'll do when/if she can't. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. She's earned a shot to roll with it. 

We still wear masks while we work, and probably will continue for the forseeable future. I got the vaccine months ago, but the main cook just got her second shot last week. We could drop the masks when she hits her two weeks, but I doubt we will.

I'd like to see how things shake out with the Delta variant, but mostly, as long as I think it might make some customers a little more comfortable, we'll wear them. 

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

@pollardsvision how’s it going? You still slinging amazing food?

 

[Dezbelief]

Lol, read and reacted to the OP before realizing it was 8 years old.

 

[pollardsvision]

@pollardsvision how’s it going? You still slinging amazing food?

We hope it's amazing, but yeah, we're still slinging it. The last 6-8 weeks have just been nuts. The busiest in the 8 years I've been here.

No really sure why. Our prices still being too low surely is part of it.

The other part might be that our main competitors (in the local hot dog/burger/breakfast joint space) are all in a time of transition.

All beloved places, but one has a 90 year old owner looking to sell with no clear path to transitioning. I figure the buyer will turn it into something more lucrative than a hometown restaurant.

The biggest hot dog player in town just sold out to a regional chain of gas stations (Express Lane). People absolutely loved this place, and I figured this wouldn't go well. It's not. Scaling a business is great. Small community restaurant trying to scale with corporate CFO overlords? That's hard to pull off.

This city loves it's locally owned dog/burger/breakfast joints. Suddenly, there just aren't many left.

And we're in a unique spot where it's mostly just me and one other person (outside of my niece helping one day a week). We're both long past Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours (50,000 between the two of us, I think), yet we're still in our 40's. You don't age well in this job, but we've got something left in the tank.
Like many jobs, the peak balance of knowledge/experience and youth/energy probably is in the 40's for our business.

Either way, most places are becoming the investor owner model. That tends to lead to underpaid 20 year old's that don't give a **** (and maybe shouldn't). You come here, you are dealing with adults that do.

When that's not the case, we'll deal with it then. We did it a different way 5 years ago and I'm sure we'll do it a different way 5 years from now.

For now, we're providing a place for folks in the community to break bread together, which I think is important and increasingly rare. I'll find ways to do it as long as I can. Not lucrative, and I have no idea what idiot will buy into a chance to do this when I'm done. But I love it.

Thanks as always for listening to the rambling.