On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:06:21 -0700, "Dave Bugg"
<deebuggatcharterdotnet> wrote:

>It has been an exciting, exhausting, surprising, and life-changing two
>weeks.
>

Whew, glad to hear from you on the list again...I was just about to
post an MIA message hoping that you hadn't gotten so tired that you
fell into the Ole Hickory while loading it up one night.

Glad to hear it's continuing to go well. While you are still likely
to find that the number one thing you underestimated in your
projections was the amount of time you'd spend at the restaurant the
first year, what you will find is that over time, as you work out more
efficiencies and as your clientele settles down into a routine, you
will gradually be able to spend more time doing different things at
the restaurant than you are now (like schmoozing, etc).

It looked like you had a very good point of sale system that gathered
a lot of data. One thing you will want to look at (eventually, not
THIS week) is what kind of reporting over time that it provides.
There are a number of trends that you will want to mark to help plan
for the future. Things such as: What kind of change in business do
you see on or around holidays? (Some holidays will be different than
others..betcha the weekend after thanksgiving might be slow...but then
again, by Saturday, the leftovers might be gone and folks may want BBQ
for their football parties on Sunday...) Things like that will
eventually become important, especially any times you see an
unexpected spike in biz.

You will also start to notice how your biz changes with the weather.
A funny thing I used to notice was that biz seemed to always be slow
the first day of a major weather change. Like the first really warm
day of late spring, or the first rainy & cold day after a long warm
spell. Don't know why, but it seemed to be the case.

BTW, I had a lovely drive back, even with the rain & fog...it had been
dark when I drove out and I was really amazed at the fall in full
swing valleys i passed through on the way back. Took a slight detour
to check out Roslyn (saw the sign right before I was about to pass it
and swerved over to the exit just in time...) I remember a friend of
mine from Washington talking about it back when Northern Exposure was
on TV. Cute little town.

Say, you ever gonna get any real VEGGIES on your menu? I mean, here
you are, with your sign talkin' about REAL SOUTHERN Barbecue and you
don't even have any GREENS! I mean, just a pot of collard greens with
a hamhock or two....

;-)

Keep up the good work, and remember, it will get easier...but it may
happen so slowly that you don't notice it for a while.

Cheers,



-Chef Juke
"EVERYbody Eats When They Come To MY House!"
www.chefjuke.com