Low Hanging Fruit is not enough

Our first thought with opening a restaurant started when we were asked to cater food for a friends mission farewell lunch. We had to plan and organize for 200 people. Shortly after we got a call to cater for my friends wedding reception. This will be 225 people. As we were then asked to cater for more and more events, we realized my husband's banking job was the top priority UNTIL the day came of the food events, and then we had to shift focus for a few hours/days.

Our first idea of simply catering was comparable to the idea of "low hanging fruit", which isn't bad fruit but it is the first idea and usually the easy idea. Our next idea: a drive through food stand, our next idea: a food truck, and now the idea has morphed into a full restaurant that seats 252 guests! We aren't in the business of fixing problems. We have a dream and with our 4th, 5th, 10th idea, we can make that dream come to fruition.

We have finally got our location, after searching for almost a year. Contract negotiations were completed in August, 2024. Then we hired a general contractor. We assumed the GC was doing us a favor. NO! We shifted the mindset that the contractor works for us! Quickly we went from the one guy that we thought we had to hire to the process of finding 4 GC's and choosing the right one to tackle this WITH us. Trent and his team are outstanding! Transparent, quick responses, quality work, clear plans, scheduling is done with precision, we have expressed our gratitude multiple times and he has said he enjoys working for us!

Now that construction is going at full speed, we've began interviews for potential employees. We can be picky! We should be picky! We have opted to not offer "tip share" when we open, where the customers tip and we divide that up to our employees. We are not going to ask for tips! We are going to compensate our employees. The expectation is that they will simply do their job for the agreed upon wage. Our belief is that if you stand as you order your food, seat yourself, take your own tray to the waste bin, you should not have to tip! We are going to absorb this burden as business owners and we've accounted for it in our financial projections. We feel strongly about this, only time will tell if this is a wise choice. 

As entrepreneurs, before problems arise, we must have solutions. Being creative has gotten us this far. We have done our research and feel like we are adapting the best business patterns from other tried and true BBQ restaurants. We hope for the most family friendly, bright and happy atmosphere that we can offer. Now, as David Carrington mentions, we must remember to run our business and not to let it run us! The best is yet to come!

Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/search/low%20hanging%20fruit/