The Year(s) In Review - Part II

So, here’s what you think when you set an opening. You think that you’re going to be so busy that you won’t be able to keep up. I did research and couldn't find a place in our area that was going to do what we were going to do, offering the cuisine we were going to offer. Good thing right? No, not always. The reality is, the reason why there’s nothing in the area could be because it may not fit the people in the area. But you see, as an artist I believe when you build it they will come, and it does in certain cases but not always. There are way more factors involved than the hope and the dream. There’s location, appearance, marketing, foot traffic and parking.

Before I go any further please understand that this is therapy for me and also meant to tell the story and offer a view through our eyes of what happened, what didn't happen and why. It’s partly biased but it’s all told from a great place.

So, expecting all this traffic we purchased the equipment and purchased product (quite a bit of it perishable because we build up just about everything from scratch). Hired staff as well.

Opening day comes and nothing. Actually, we had done a soft opening and opened our place up to the Comic Book store next door for a Comic Book event they were doing. Sales were moderate but below expectations. So, while were on that subject there is a target sales number you should be looking for. It should be the amount of money you need to make on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to take care of all the expenses the business is generating. Expenses like Security (alarm company), Business Insurance, Lease, County Fees, Utilities and the big L (Labor).

We did a Grand Opening with the Local Chamber of Commerce. Thoughts were that once that happened, business would pick up. Again no real increase in business. At this point we’re advertising locally in the neighborhood and targeting them on Facebook as well with the logic being that we draw our neighbors in and grow from there.

So, we did start to get customers (regulars in fact) and we had some great days. Were they all great? No. Did the sales keep up with the business expenses? No. So what had we done wrong? Quite a few things at this point (6 months in).

Well, we took on labor much sooner than we should have. We also didn't realize that what we were doing didn't really fit the neighborhood. Maybe it would have over time, but when you’re bleeding cash, time is not a luxury that you have. Our Social Media presence could have been better. We had a great track record when it came to the food. Once someone tried it, they were likely to come back.

With low foot traffic and a limited social media presence we didn't have a steady way to increase our client base. The intersection we were at saw a huge amount of vehicle traffic, but we didn't have a whole lot of parking and the front of our place wasn't the most attractive. My thoughts were that some of the best food I've had came from hole in the wall places. The trick to these places is that they've operated years under the radar before they became know (if they ever did). There again is that tricky thing called time.

To be continued…..

(One more I think)