It's been 10 months since I last posted....
Good lord. How can it have been 10 months. Absurd, considering I tell people frequently they should be blogging about their business!
Well, the last couple of months have been the toughest so far, the first year was tough, but nothing compared to what has been occurring lately. Too much to write in this edition! I'll get it down soon though I promise.
Watching Saturday Kitchen this morning, it was good to hear Bryn Williams talking about how tough it is running a restaurant. He observed that whilst there are lots of people out there who are willing to show you how to cook, to introduce you to wines, spirits etc, there is nobody knocking on your door to show you how to run a business. It's one of the most lonely feelings ever, sitting alone in the cellar on a Sunday night adding things up, wondering where money is coming from for this, how we are ever going to get debts paid, if it's even worth it.
Sure there are people who want to tell you where you are going wrong, almost on an hourly basis, but there is no real guide book per se. Often the people who want to tell you where you are going wrong are people who have screwed up their own business. Even before we opened someone who runs a restaurant in town offered me advice, and told me I should have gone to her for advice before even bidding on the cellar, I later found out she was bidding against me, and that most our customers are formerly patrons of the restaurant she was planning to move here.
That said, on Thursday I had a friend in, he runs a brewery, and owns quite a few pubs, which he for the most part leases out. We were talking of the ins and outs of the trade, how absurdly difficult it is at times, and how when the shit hits the fan there is no one willing to help you. Need cash for a short term fix, the bank says no. If a company that turns over as much as they do can't get help, what chance have we the little guys got? There is zero assistance from anyone it feels. Despite the tripe we hear from Westminster, small businesses are really really suffering. No help from anywhere.
Walking about town talking to people, as I am want to do of an evening, if you see me, do stop me and say hi, I talk to small business owners, the chinese by my house who only saw 2 people all night on Thursday, the chip shop who employs a lot of people, but is suffering due to lack of trade. We all know "it's September, it always quite in September in Warwick", but that doesn't help pay the bills, the staff, the rates etc.
Don't get me wrong, here at Pancho we are busier than most, except the BYOB Indian restaurants obviously. We offer something different, at a price no one else in town can match. We are in a great position, sure it's tough, but so are we.
Got a few ideas of how to boost trade, not only for Pancho, but for all the restaurants in Warwick, the only problem is when I talked about the restaurants all working together people looked at me like I had just curse their mothers.
We shall see I guess.
Well, the last couple of months have been the toughest so far, the first year was tough, but nothing compared to what has been occurring lately. Too much to write in this edition! I'll get it down soon though I promise.
Watching Saturday Kitchen this morning, it was good to hear Bryn Williams talking about how tough it is running a restaurant. He observed that whilst there are lots of people out there who are willing to show you how to cook, to introduce you to wines, spirits etc, there is nobody knocking on your door to show you how to run a business. It's one of the most lonely feelings ever, sitting alone in the cellar on a Sunday night adding things up, wondering where money is coming from for this, how we are ever going to get debts paid, if it's even worth it.
Sure there are people who want to tell you where you are going wrong, almost on an hourly basis, but there is no real guide book per se. Often the people who want to tell you where you are going wrong are people who have screwed up their own business. Even before we opened someone who runs a restaurant in town offered me advice, and told me I should have gone to her for advice before even bidding on the cellar, I later found out she was bidding against me, and that most our customers are formerly patrons of the restaurant she was planning to move here.
That said, on Thursday I had a friend in, he runs a brewery, and owns quite a few pubs, which he for the most part leases out. We were talking of the ins and outs of the trade, how absurdly difficult it is at times, and how when the shit hits the fan there is no one willing to help you. Need cash for a short term fix, the bank says no. If a company that turns over as much as they do can't get help, what chance have we the little guys got? There is zero assistance from anyone it feels. Despite the tripe we hear from Westminster, small businesses are really really suffering. No help from anywhere.
Walking about town talking to people, as I am want to do of an evening, if you see me, do stop me and say hi, I talk to small business owners, the chinese by my house who only saw 2 people all night on Thursday, the chip shop who employs a lot of people, but is suffering due to lack of trade. We all know "it's September, it always quite in September in Warwick", but that doesn't help pay the bills, the staff, the rates etc.
Don't get me wrong, here at Pancho we are busier than most, except the BYOB Indian restaurants obviously. We offer something different, at a price no one else in town can match. We are in a great position, sure it's tough, but so are we.
Got a few ideas of how to boost trade, not only for Pancho, but for all the restaurants in Warwick, the only problem is when I talked about the restaurants all working together people looked at me like I had just curse their mothers.
We shall see I guess.
Labels: Food, Pancho Tapas, Restaurants, Tourism, Warwick, Wine
posted by Dale Batchelor @ 04:46
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