I very much feel for this guys plight and what he's going through. He says the whole story right at the top. The venue is what screwed him. He didn't know all the things he learned about the food after he opened the place, but what he REALLY didn't know was about the operations of a building and the cost of the corner he wanted to end up on. That fucked him from the jump.
I know he's frustrated, as anyone would be, but the deck was stacked from the get go and it's no one's fault but his. Not the landlord or the grease trap. That was writing on the wall about unknown unknowns.
He starts by saying how "hot" the market is, like that's a good thing for his persuit. He starts with talk of it being saturated. The landlord doesn't need to take any risks on that hot corner for your grease trap or electrical.
I've taken a bath on a few things where I over invested in fixed costs. I've had to take a couple years off after a six year startup struggle because of burnout. I will say that when I've come back around, after really fucking kicking myself and licking all wounds, it was a VERY expensive lesson. Emotionally, fiscally, and socially. Usually cheaper than a masters degree though and infinitely more applicable to future runs at the real goal.
You want to get free and run a creative operation? Great. The world does not give a shit. Worse than that, it hates you and wants you to fail. The path to real freedom is paved with bloody miserable failure. Bad leases will eat you, which is not the landlords fault. If you want to make money, buy a Chick-fil-a franchise. They have a great track record and financing. If you wanna make art, be prepared to suffer for it and have no one give a flying fuck about how much it hurt to try.
The desire to blend art and commerce is something that very few people succeed at. Just because you have worked in a kitchen and scored a half million in inheritance doesn't mean anyone needs to care. No matter how much you spent. You could have put the cash in an account and get so good at cooking that someone else will take the ops risk to open your counter or take the risk yourself and learn hard what you don't know. The world sheds no tears either way.
Bunk Sandwiches in Portland didn't start with a $40 chicken. They started with a hole in the wall and a Cuban Sandwich that would make you slap your grandma. Also they could make them fast for $12 and had a line out the door. Eight years later they have several locations and a concert venue. The sandwich isn't as good anymore, but they made a legacy out of thing that could support itself and can continue to grow. I don't know anything about their owners, but I bet they can tell you some shit about surviving upside down leases and kitchen costs.
I seriously wish this guy the best. I'm sure some days that chicken was one of the best things anyone has ever tasted.
> but what he REALLY didn't know was about the operations of a building and the cost of the corner he wanted to end up on. That fucked him from the jump.
However, his family investor 'with nearly a decade in the biz' should have known this stuff from the outset. The same goes for the lopsided income vs outgo. Was that investor just not worth it? Was their advice ignored?
I know people that work in the high end restaurant business in Portland and I've heard them talk about how and why they have had to close things they really cared for.
He's right about the razors edge in the biz he chose to get into. Also, with the judgement he shows about other things in the article, I'm not sure if his family investor is the actual utility he says he is. Propping up 'family' and '10 years' doesn't really say anything about track record. I've got family that have been in things for 10 years and they are still middling or just straight up bad at their jobs. Some of them have even made a lot of money at jobs they are bad at.
This is a high stakes and risk endeavor that not only is OPs dream, but it's a dream he's stapled his name to. To me, it sounds like he took himself on a ride with an inheritance and had poor cherrypicked counsel or he ignored them because he was 'the leader of the band'. Even if they were good, the entire article is about how the environment he chose is the problem, not his own judgement. I think he'll come around to what really happened eventually and I bet he's going to try hard/weird shit again because this is a really crazy idea packed full of hubris. The guy dreams big dreams.
To say his family investor 'with nearly a decade in the biz' was an insulator against failure is like saying that having the best Wingsuit Skydiver in the world showing you how to jump the first time will keep you from turning into a crater.
I think it's good practice to almost never work with family on building commercially melded creative dreams. Their goals, by relation, are inherently stacked against you because what you need in a hostile creative operation is sober and careful partners that challenge you to stretch your abilities. Family cannot, by definition, be that. They care to keep you safe and similar.
If you do engage with family on that level, you really have to be aware that you might permanently damage an important relationship that you might not get back and treat it with that respect. Close family and friends are something you can't recreate by meeting a replacement. You can always start another biz. Any family that might engage in a business/passion idea with a caviler attitude could be taking your familiarity for a ride that you don't want to go on. Intentionally, or more destructively, ignorant as fuck to the consequences.
I think it's good practice to almost never work with family on building commercially melded creative dreams.
> One counterexample would be Stoneyfield Dairy. In a recent Startup podcast the owner talked about repeatedly borrowing money from his mother-in-law against the strong objections of his wife.
Contextually my point is that what family is should be weighted correctly by all parties before taking the risk. Good practice and almost never. Like anything, if you've got a handle on your fit, then you can run with it. But family/friends are more often an albatross than not when trying to do something radical.
I can't think of a more terrifying loan shark than a mother-in-law. I also can't fathom risking my marriage over a loan for an idea. The only reason you bring it up is because it worked. There's not a book on failed mother-in-law loans, but if there was it would be a sad fucking book.
"This is a high stakes and risk endeavor that not only is OPs dream, but it's a dream he's stapled his name to"
It wasn't his dream, bot in reality. If it was, he would have actually researched. Then he would have actually worked in the industry.
Instead he thought throwing money at a problem would make it work. Not in this industry. You can't fake running a restaurant, (at least I have never seen it, I'd love to be proved wrong!), and if you don't have the experience, well, guess what? You're shit out of luck and there is no way you can do it profitably.
To hazard a guess: a supportive angel investor who wasn't deeply involved in the day-to-day and gave a considered thumbs up to the early plans that were a bit more grounded in concept yet totally untethered from the real-world costs?
I mean... a decade working at the airport is not a decade spent building airports. Even a successful floor manager at a restaurant could be miles away from the issues of ownership and entrepreneurship.
Plus, and we all see this in young devs, it can be haaaaard to sprinkle sense into someone in love with an idea.
I honestly doubt that decade was actually working in a restaurant. Every restaurant owner knows how tight the margins are.
Either that or it was a money throw to sate some other family member, (seen that before, a 100k thrown at someone to give them something Todo - a little too common in hospitality unfortunately).
I know he's frustrated, as anyone would be, but the deck was stacked from the get go and it's no one's fault but his. Not the landlord or the grease trap. That was writing on the wall about unknown unknowns.
He starts by saying how "hot" the market is, like that's a good thing for his persuit. He starts with talk of it being saturated. The landlord doesn't need to take any risks on that hot corner for your grease trap or electrical.
I've taken a bath on a few things where I over invested in fixed costs. I've had to take a couple years off after a six year startup struggle because of burnout. I will say that when I've come back around, after really fucking kicking myself and licking all wounds, it was a VERY expensive lesson. Emotionally, fiscally, and socially. Usually cheaper than a masters degree though and infinitely more applicable to future runs at the real goal.
You want to get free and run a creative operation? Great. The world does not give a shit. Worse than that, it hates you and wants you to fail. The path to real freedom is paved with bloody miserable failure. Bad leases will eat you, which is not the landlords fault. If you want to make money, buy a Chick-fil-a franchise. They have a great track record and financing. If you wanna make art, be prepared to suffer for it and have no one give a flying fuck about how much it hurt to try.
The desire to blend art and commerce is something that very few people succeed at. Just because you have worked in a kitchen and scored a half million in inheritance doesn't mean anyone needs to care. No matter how much you spent. You could have put the cash in an account and get so good at cooking that someone else will take the ops risk to open your counter or take the risk yourself and learn hard what you don't know. The world sheds no tears either way.
Bunk Sandwiches in Portland didn't start with a $40 chicken. They started with a hole in the wall and a Cuban Sandwich that would make you slap your grandma. Also they could make them fast for $12 and had a line out the door. Eight years later they have several locations and a concert venue. The sandwich isn't as good anymore, but they made a legacy out of thing that could support itself and can continue to grow. I don't know anything about their owners, but I bet they can tell you some shit about surviving upside down leases and kitchen costs.
I seriously wish this guy the best. I'm sure some days that chicken was one of the best things anyone has ever tasted.