Good luck to you and the business. I'm down for rolling down that way and showing some support.

 

I might come in tomorrow dude, or at least thursday. You need to get a myspace for jimmy johns so can get a little more free advertising.

 

Congrats and Wish you well!!

 

WOOOO! congrats!!! i just ate some last night!!!!!! we got one literally 50 feet off campus and i lurveee them

 

Congrats and good luck!

 

You should make a custom sandwich like the 350Zwrap or something less obvious the Z33 Grinder.

Whatever it is, it better taste great, be affordable, rock chip easily, and have annoying tire roar. Thats what a 350Z sandwich is about!!!

 

+1 i never heard of them either. are they only in va or something?

 

I think we maybe on to something....lol

 

congrats, had JJ for the first time when i was working down in Plano,TX the JJ gargantian is dope!

 

thanks for the support everyone!

It has been a blast, I absolutely love it. Day 1 sales were not where I wanted them to be, so immediately I am going to start getting out there with an aggressive marketing plan.

My lot is fairly big, I am next to Vitamin Shoppe, Verizon Store, Saxbys coffee, a nail salon, and Longhorne Steakhouse.

Once I get a little more established and my crew gets more comfortable then I am all for doing a charity event. I am also going to work with some local high schools and the central virginia food bank as well.

But, it has only been day 1. I have only slept 30 minutes in the past 48 hours... it has been intense non-stop! I love the excitement and the challenge. I'm sure it would get old in just one store, but I am going to be opening more for sure, and that will present itself with even more challenges.

Sorry if I am rambling, I've pretty much had an IV of red bull just to stay awake.

Maybe we could do something with a cruise/meet and give some money to a charity. Like Function Tuned did their toys for tots meet a couple years ago.

Figure it out guys and let me know! I'm off to bed, long day again tomorrow!

 

my parents own a restaurant too, advertise FTW!!! They saw dramatic jump within a week!!! Again, goodluck!!!!

 

hit me up on AIM if you have any questions on running this type of business. This is what I do.

Keep in mind, people are weird, if the weather is bad 5 days in a row and gets nice over night, business will drop. if the weight is nice 5 days in a row and weather gets bad over night business will drop. its weird how it works but around here, I can almost call it. good/bad = like a 10o change in weather, (what we just had) or cloudy days then a sunny day, not talking about nice weather then a major snow storm, thats a given.

Another thing to factor in is this week should be screwed up pretty bad for the food business, people are freaking out. monday stock market tanked and gas shot up to near 5 dollars in some places, people freak out and because of it will either skip lunch or pack a sammy.

Today was down for us and I expect that our night time was also off, hopefully it will slowly pick up into the weekend and by next week be back on track, but I wouldn't be surprised if we're off for another week since the gas jumping really screws with people.

We're members of RAM http://www.marylandrestaurants.com/ I'm guessing VA has the same type of program, they're great, any time you have legal questions you can call them up as with most anything else related to your store. laws change both by state and by county, so ask many questions and make sure you're on top of things when it comes to hiring and firing as with dealing with OT and such.

lots of BS to deal with =(

You're starting a restaurant at a very good time, it's slow, people are not eating out as much, if you watch your labor and food cost you can slowly work into it and when things turn around you should have a banging business, just don't expect to much to start with, your goal should be to make enough to pay the bills. anything over that, look at it as a gift.

Again if you need anything let me know on AIM. getting close to the 10 year mark and I'm only 25, if there's one thing I know, its dealing with the BS of the food business.

 

If I could do anything other than what I do, I'd be a chef....not necessarily a sandwich shop owner but that would suffice for me. Sounds like a lot of fun. GL.

 

Anytime you get to deal with people that are hungry and cheap = a fun time..... NOT

lol

You either have it or you don't

working a smaller shop juggling mostly teenagers and dealing with all their B.S is only something the "right" person can do.

Most people end up breaking down after a year or two and either quit or start robbing the place.

 

Owning a food place is where I'll retire. Being able to make stuff folk consume is a gift. I'm a foodie even though it's not my job now. Some day I will be selling cafe food and top notch burgers to folk in some beach town.

 

It always sounds like a dream job, just remember, it is not a retirement, it's a JOB.

It took my boss a little over 5 years before he was able to step back and let the store run itself (thanks to me) 7 days a week, sometimes working 15+ hour days.

you leave someone in charge, then you're always thinking about how are they handling things, is the food up to par, are they dealing with issues the way you'd want them to? a common mistake is people get into the food business thinking its going to be fun. truth is, almost every new restaurant DOES NOT last more then 6 months.

Just ask a bank, it's pretty much the highest risk business loan out there, this also means it's that much harder to get the loan VS other businesses

When you do find someone who is able to run your place for you to the point where you wont have to worry, expect to pay them a lot of money.

 

You misunderstood. I didn't mean I'd buy a place to let someone else run it. I meant I'll retire cooking for locals. It isn't about profits, it's about just hanging out with locals cooking for them. As a retirement "job", I wouldn't put someone in there. Just hang out and cook for folk and make what I make.

Nothing more, nothing less. I wouldn't be trying to make my nut with the thing, just a place to hang out when I'm done with the rat race.

 

oh in that case then go for it! if its a laid back place it could be really fun, but I'd hate to see you go to a busy place, get in the weeds and have a heart attack due to old age.

 

lol....cheeseburgers in paradise....

 

Dude! If you open another please consider somewhere between NOVA and Richmond (aka Fredericksburg). I'm soooo tired of eating nasty food here and I just cant eat at my own restaurant every single day.

Because of this restaurant:

I missed Redskins/Saints game with box seat tickets

I missed Function:Tuned BBQ

I havent had a day off in months

But you know without this restaurant I wouldnt have the opportunity for any of it. So for those that knows where I'm coming from keep up the good work. Ive been in the restaurant business for 15 years now and I really cant see myself doing anything else.