Dave Bugg wrote:
> 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.
>
>

Running a Q joint isn't easy. If the joint's any
good it's usually because the proprietor has to be
too hands on to leave too much to the hired help.
One of my buddies has been running a place in
Granite Falls for 7 years and he's burning out. I
help out a another friend with his BBQ catering
and it's a royal PITA working with a bare minimum
kitchen facilities. He's too anal and old school
about the process to use a Southern Pride or a
CookShack so that makes opening up a restaurant
that much more of a PITA to get past the Health
Dept. Your old location wasn't really a handicap
(IMNSHO). Word of mouth seems to inspire most
folks to seek out good Q regardless of the
frontage. What your place did do apparently was to
plant enough of a seed to give somebody else the
guts to open up a Q joint near you in Cashmere.
It's off the beaten track a bit. It's not bad but
it doesn't have the mojo your place did. Rumor has
it they're thinking about a location in Wenatchee.
I miss your place. It was a great reason to stop
in Wenatchee when riding my old Hog to Twisp. The
Q joint there sucks out loud. I'd LOVE to see you
open up again but I totally understand if you'd
don't.

JD