My restaurant opens Tuesday in Richmond!
Originally Posted by jeffie7
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.
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.
Italian place, do pizza, salads, subs, pastas and so on.
have 20 tables, beer/wine full wait staff, about 30 employees.
today wasn't bad, but the night is down a bit, I'm still here due to an employee not showing, better yet her dad was her ride but got busy, she lives 5 minutes from here but her father will not let anyone pick her up, not even myself or any of the female managers because he "doesn't know them" sigh.
I tell you what, it's one thing dealing with kids, its another thing dealing with parents that could care less if they get to work or not.
I guess I might end up F-ing her on the way down the street or maybe one of the girls might give her drugs.
not to say we couldn't do that once she was here......
have 20 tables, beer/wine full wait staff, about 30 employees.
today wasn't bad, but the night is down a bit, I'm still here due to an employee not showing, better yet her dad was her ride but got busy, she lives 5 minutes from here but her father will not let anyone pick her up, not even myself or any of the female managers because he "doesn't know them" sigh.
I tell you what, it's one thing dealing with kids, its another thing dealing with parents that could care less if they get to work or not.
I guess I might end up F-ing her on the way down the street or maybe one of the girls might give her drugs.
not to say we couldn't do that once she was here......
word...I get that all the time too. I had one guy tell me his father passed away and he had to leave right away - I knew it was BS so I asked him for a copy of the death certificate. Never saw him again - lol. My favorite is the people that are so stupid that they call off and then show up and ask to get their paychecks.
Originally Posted by jeffie7
Italian place, do pizza, salads, subs, pastas and so on.
have 20 tables, beer/wine full wait staff, about 30 employees.
today wasn't bad, but the night is down a bit, I'm still here due to an employee not showing, better yet her dad was her ride but got busy, she lives 5 minutes from here but her father will not let anyone pick her up, not even myself or any of the female managers because he "doesn't know them" sigh.
I tell you what, it's one thing dealing with kids, its another thing dealing with parents that could care less if they get to work or not.
I guess I might end up F-ing her on the way down the street or maybe one of the girls might give her drugs.
not to say we couldn't do that once she was here......
have 20 tables, beer/wine full wait staff, about 30 employees.
today wasn't bad, but the night is down a bit, I'm still here due to an employee not showing, better yet her dad was her ride but got busy, she lives 5 minutes from here but her father will not let anyone pick her up, not even myself or any of the female managers because he "doesn't know them" sigh.
I tell you what, it's one thing dealing with kids, its another thing dealing with parents that could care less if they get to work or not.
I guess I might end up F-ing her on the way down the street or maybe one of the girls might give her drugs.
not to say we couldn't do that once she was here......
We also have about 20 tables and a full bar. We just opened last December so we're not too terribly busy yet plus its a pretty small town. I do need to hire more people but its hard to find somebody whos willing to work when like today is dead and yesterday was kinda busy. So in the mean time while things smooth out, I have to deal with no days off whatsoever, working from 11-10 everyday and running from serving to cooking and making drinks all in one trip. 
good luck with your restaurant.. As jeffie said this time of year (period 10 for me) is always a slow time. Just be ready to work your but off for a while!
Originally Posted by jeffie7
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.
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.
Originally Posted by Cass007
word...I get that all the time too. I had one guy tell me his father passed away and he had to leave right away - I knew it was BS so I asked him for a copy of the death certificate. Never saw him again - lol. My favorite is the people that are so stupid that they call off and then show up and ask to get their paychecks.
haha you guys are awesome. I'll hire you Joe, but that's one hell of a commute!
Thanks for all the insight Jeff, I do appreciate it!
Day 1 sales were in the $1300, day two was in the $1800 range, and we had maybe 5-10% delivery... most established stores around the country do between $1500 and $2500 per day, with 30% delivery. I want our sales to be even higher then that, but it is only the 3rd day today! And we are still building our delivery and catering business, since most people don't realize that we do deliver.
I know we're new and week 1 sales are hard to judge normal sales on, but I am happy with the opening result. I may be a little tired, but I am really enjoying this!
Thanks again guys!
Thanks for all the insight Jeff, I do appreciate it!
Day 1 sales were in the $1300, day two was in the $1800 range, and we had maybe 5-10% delivery... most established stores around the country do between $1500 and $2500 per day, with 30% delivery. I want our sales to be even higher then that, but it is only the 3rd day today! And we are still building our delivery and catering business, since most people don't realize that we do deliver.
I know we're new and week 1 sales are hard to judge normal sales on, but I am happy with the opening result. I may be a little tired, but I am really enjoying this!
Thanks again guys!
$1300 the first day??? someone needs to fire the manager!!! 
So when can I start? I hope you don't require a polygraph like the FBI did... 'effin a-hole-douchebags. I'm not bitter about it, I swear
PS, I will need to expense my gas to get there as the trip will cost me about 125-150 in gas each time i need to go to work. Thaaaaanks
So when can I start? I hope you don't require a polygraph like the FBI did... 'effin a-hole-douchebags. I'm not bitter about it, I swear
PS, I will need to expense my gas to get there as the trip will cost me about 125-150 in gas each time i need to go to work. Thaaaaanks
Something to think about, try doing a coupon, just print it out on basic paper and sign it.
Buy one sandwich get one free, then sign it and make it expire 5 days later.
Idea is to get them back in and hopefully bring a friend or at the very least try two different sandwiches, don't just hand them out, give them to people after they pay for their sandwich.
if you want to hand stuff out to the local businesses I'd take in a sample platter and hand out coupons for a free soda and chips when they buy a sandwich. Again, date it so it expires within a week.
I'm trying to think of a good coupon for tomorrow night, thinking about doing a get a free app if you spend over $29.99 then dating it to expire in 5 days so if they're regular Friday customer, it will get them to come in on a different day hopefully Monday or Tuesday and then they'll hopefully be back once again for their normal Friday meal.
Another thing to do is call up your local schools and talk to them about doing a donation night, tell them to print out a flyer with your business name, date of the event, and have it say, bring this flyer in to "insert business name" on dec 3rd, 10% of the total sales will be donated to "insert cause here"
Let people know that the flyer can be copied and passed out to anyone, even people outside of the school, more people the better, the only thing people need to do to get 10% donated to the school is go in on that day and hand you the flier.
Some schools push it like crazy and you'll get your *** kicked, others are lazy about it and you get a so so turn out.
Buy one sandwich get one free, then sign it and make it expire 5 days later.
Idea is to get them back in and hopefully bring a friend or at the very least try two different sandwiches, don't just hand them out, give them to people after they pay for their sandwich.
if you want to hand stuff out to the local businesses I'd take in a sample platter and hand out coupons for a free soda and chips when they buy a sandwich. Again, date it so it expires within a week.
I'm trying to think of a good coupon for tomorrow night, thinking about doing a get a free app if you spend over $29.99 then dating it to expire in 5 days so if they're regular Friday customer, it will get them to come in on a different day hopefully Monday or Tuesday and then they'll hopefully be back once again for their normal Friday meal.
Another thing to do is call up your local schools and talk to them about doing a donation night, tell them to print out a flyer with your business name, date of the event, and have it say, bring this flyer in to "insert business name" on dec 3rd, 10% of the total sales will be donated to "insert cause here"
Let people know that the flyer can be copied and passed out to anyone, even people outside of the school, more people the better, the only thing people need to do to get 10% donated to the school is go in on that day and hand you the flier.
Some schools push it like crazy and you'll get your *** kicked, others are lazy about it and you get a so so turn out.
Last edited by jeffie7; Sep 18, 2008 at 10:08 PM.
We are out in Short Pump. If you get off of I64 and go west (towards the mall) we are the third light on the left! Next to Verizon, Vitamin Shoppe, and Longhorn steakhouse.
I have punch-out coupons for buy 10 get 1 free, called "Repeater Eater Cards" and they have been a huge hit. Otherwise, JJ's as a brand doesn't do coupons. 1st it's more paperwork and stuff to keep up with, and 2nd they don't work that well with the brand - it's all part of Jimmy's personal philosophy on the value of food, and in keeping the "Gourmet" in the person's mind.
I like the idea about schools. We've got 6 in our delivery area, and I am trying to come up with a proposal for them. I've also got a bunch of high schoolers and I am trying to think of a good way to have their schools compete to see who can get the most points by eating at JJs and the winner gets a majority of whatever we agreed on for their donation, with the rest going out to the other schools for participating. I win by getting more sales, they think they are kickin *** because they have the most points and beat the other schools. Just some things like that I am tossing around. We did it in college, except with fraternities.
Thanks for the advice jeffie
I have punch-out coupons for buy 10 get 1 free, called "Repeater Eater Cards" and they have been a huge hit. Otherwise, JJ's as a brand doesn't do coupons. 1st it's more paperwork and stuff to keep up with, and 2nd they don't work that well with the brand - it's all part of Jimmy's personal philosophy on the value of food, and in keeping the "Gourmet" in the person's mind.
I like the idea about schools. We've got 6 in our delivery area, and I am trying to come up with a proposal for them. I've also got a bunch of high schoolers and I am trying to think of a good way to have their schools compete to see who can get the most points by eating at JJs and the winner gets a majority of whatever we agreed on for their donation, with the rest going out to the other schools for participating. I win by getting more sales, they think they are kickin *** because they have the most points and beat the other schools. Just some things like that I am tossing around. We did it in college, except with fraternities.
Thanks for the advice jeffie
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From: Richmond, VA missin cali :(
I will probably drop in on the weekend or maybe next, wifes trying to find a good sandwich place out here.
You should get together with the other businesses and try to do a monthly car gathering. We used to go to a chipotla monthly car gathering in cali, they catered for us the first time but after the first time we had to pay if we wanted something. There was oddly a very big mix of every kind of car that showed, no ricers but nice imports mixed with classics and some european exotics. Your probably gonna have to make it a early afternoon thing for it to work next to a steakhouse though since they would steal some evenning business from you.
You should get together with the other businesses and try to do a monthly car gathering. We used to go to a chipotla monthly car gathering in cali, they catered for us the first time but after the first time we had to pay if we wanted something. There was oddly a very big mix of every kind of car that showed, no ricers but nice imports mixed with classics and some european exotics. Your probably gonna have to make it a early afternoon thing for it to work next to a steakhouse though since they would steal some evenning business from you.
Originally Posted by mykel
I'm heading down to richmond tomorrow. I'll be there for the weekend so I'll make sure to stop by at least once. Where on W. Broad are you (what's next to you)?
mMmm, jimmy johns...
mMmm, jimmy johns...
yo my wife and I are in town also....this weekend...expect a lunch showing of GZILLA on SAT!
but I will be at the FT meet on Sunday....we leave back for DC late Sat night.
Originally Posted by 4SHIZZIL
yo my wife and I are in town also....this weekend...expect a lunch showing of GZILLA on SAT!
but I will be at the FT meet on Sunday....we leave back for DC late Sat night.
but I will be at the FT meet on Sunday....we leave back for DC late Sat night.