Thread: Wenatchee WA
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Default Wenatchee WA



"Dave Bugg" > wrote in message
...
> Ekal Byar wrote:
>
>> Went belly up.

>
> LOL!!! It wasn't as bad as that. Heck, we were named 'Best New Business of
> The Year' by the public the first year we were opened. After two years, I
> was seeing customer growth at about 5% per year. I had projected, based on
> my research, that we should see a 20% per year growth during our first 5
> years of operation. We maintained customer loyalty and repeat business
> (about a 92% return rate), but new customer growth was too slow for my
> comfort. We had a so-so profit return: about $42,000 per year average on
> about $296,000 in sales each year. That was just not sufficient enough for
> my tastes, and the low percentage growth in new customers clearly
> demonstrated that an increase in our profit margin was not going to happen
> as fast as I wanted it to.
>
> This was a problem for me for one very big reason.... I was running myself
> ragged and literally had no time for myself or family. Then it hit me like
> a bucket of icy water: I didn't own the business as much as the business
> owned me. I was an employee, not a business owner. I had never planned to
> work 16-18 hour days, 7 days a week forever and ever. I had expected that
> after the first year, I would be able to hire a chef to manage the store
> and kitchen, but the profit margin didn't allow for that level of employee
> expansion.
>
> At the point I decided to sell the land and building, I had been going at
> creating and running the business for several years. Some of you may
> remember my initial post here in which I announced my decision to open a
> bbq joint. I had reached THAT decision after over a year of burning the
> midnight oil, while working full time at the health district, researching
> and drafting a rough business plan. I had been at this a loooong time, and
> I was exhausted. We sold the building and, after the business loan was
> paid off, came away with a decent profit . Since we owned our restaurant
> equipment and furniture, we were fortunate to capture about 75% of our
> purchase price when it was sold. That is an atypically high recapture
> percentage, but most of the kitchen gear was purchased new and was kept in
> excellent condition (I was a bear on kitchen and equipment cleanliness).
>
>> Bad location.

>
> It was, given the conditions that the city imposed AFTER I opened the
> doors. It was a considerable factor in lower than expected new customer
> growth.
>
> I had been concerned, from the beginning, that the location lacked one BIG
> factor: great visibility. During the time I spent working with the city
> during the building permitting process, I specifically met several times
> with the city manager to obtain assurances, in writing, that we would be
> able to have adequate signage, both on the property, and at other
> locations throughout the city, to direct potential customers to our store.
> I won't go into the whole long story and battle that occured AFTER we
> opened; suffice it to say that the city decided to change its sign
> ordinances which effectively blinded my location from the direct view of
> motorists who use the two major streets which carry the major traffic
> flow. The city's attorney held to the position that my agreement with the
> now EX city manager (he left shortly after the store was built) held no
> weight for allowing a grandfathering exemption to the new ordinance. He
> then smiled and invited me to take it to court. I took it to the full city
> council, but on the advice of the city attorney the council refused to
> consider exempting me from the new ordinance. My attorney advised me that
> there was no certain outcome if civil action was attempted, but that the
> money required to go forward with an action would be considerable. I
> decided that I couldn't afford it.
>
> In hindsight, I should not have built the store at that location. I should
> not have relied on signs to overcome poor visibility. The land was a
> bargain, but it turned out the old adage is true: "If you buy quality, you
> only cry once". Of course at the time, the amount of money available for
> construction was limited and existing lease options on existing stores in
> good locations were non-existent.
>
> The other thing was that I had never intended to close as a business, I
> had wanted to relocate to another, more favorable location even if it
> meant leasing a building. In fact, when we sold our building I rented it
> back from the owner and continued operation for 6 months. During that time
> we learned that another restaurant, which operated in an old Pizza Hut
> store, was closing up shop. They had another 4 years on their lease, and
> were willing to sub-lease the store to us. They would be pulling out their
> equipment and furniture and we would be moving ours in. I gave notice to
> my building's new owner, and set a date to move out. During the time prior
> to our scheduled move, the new owner found a guy who was starting a
> motorcycle shop who signed a leased to move in after our move-out.
>
> Five days before the move, I got a call from the 'Pizza Hut' guy. I was
> informed that they decided to keep the business open. So, instead of a
> move to a new store, the move was made to a storage facility. Signs and
> ads informing customers of our move, were changed to "keep an eye open for
> a new grand opening". The "right" location never appeared; they would
> either be too invisible to the public, or they lacked sufficient
> parking/access, or they were a sucker's bet with high lease rates, plus
> triple net, plus high multi-year (10 years was typical) contracts.
>
> I still get calls every once in a while from customers asking when we'll
> be opening again. Sigh.
>
> I love bbq, and I loved the entire process of getting my bbq joint open
> and running. I loved the vast majority of my customers and their loyalty
> and enjoyment of the bbq we turned out. I enjoyed the challenge of
> re-educating the community as to what bbq really is, and the pleasure at
> seeing the reaction of folks, who entered our doors for the very first
> time, sink their teeth into their first pulled pork sandwich or plate of
> brisket. It tickled me to no end to have ex-pats from the southeast region
> of our country eat our food, break out into big grins, and come up after
> their meal to tell me that what they had eaten reminded them of home.
>
> Jill and I talk about how much we have learned from owning and operating
> the store, and how re-starting an eating joint would be so much easier for
> us now that we have a better handle on things. One of the things we agree
> on is this: the concept of a real bbq joint is a cultural thing. People in
> the Pacific Northwest don't have a grasp on what bbq is or what a bbq
> joint is. They generally love it once they 'discover' it, but it's not
> part of the eating tradition like it is in areas like the southeast. So if
> I were to open a new joint, it would be a hamburger/hotdog joint. I would
> do what Danny Gaulden did and start with the expected and typical 'joint'
> food for this area, and slowly-but-surely add bbq offerings to the menu. I
> love a good hamburger or hotdog, and I can commercially cook a good
> product. Good hamburger/hotdog joints are not plentiful around here and
> that would be my hook in building customer traffic.
>
> I will be getting back to driving truck in the next 12 weeks. Hell, I may
> even save all of my trucker salary toward opening a 'joint' all over
> again, using the lessons learned. I miss the good things about the store
> and its customers. I think I learned enough to avoid what I hated most.
>
> To Big Jim, Chef Juke (I miss seeing you here, Pat), Dave and Heather,
> Harry D., TFM (and a nod toward Heaven for Christy), the Reverend Frohe
> and his 6" Boner, Nick (say high to Jun for me), and those I know I'm
> forgetting to include but who were part of a special memory: You all made
> the opening special. It spoke volumes to the caring nature of the folks on
> AFB and why, despite a very few certain characters, I love this NG. Now
> all I need to do is figure a way to get back to Texas and hook up with
> Sqwertz and Om.



Nice post, Dave. What happened to Chef Juke? Nothing serious I hope.

TFM®