Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said

[NickTheGreat]

Sorry to hear about the floods. Any idea of the cause? Other than torrential rain, I mean?

 

[Crakaveli]

Never a dull moment. Had some heavy rain last night and when I walked in the entire kitchen was flooded. Lovely way to start the day.

And who would have thought, but today's lunch was the busiest ever. Even busier than weekends. Been sold out of ribs, tips, and chicken since 1:30.

And a news crew from WNDU came this morning to do a story but with all the flooding issues to take care of I had to turn that down.

Just another day at the pig...

2nd smoker can't come soon enough. too bad you'll miss out on the memorial day rush. hopefully it will be up and running by the 4th.

 

[leabraun]

I finally made it all the way through.:yield: I can definitely say I don't want to even go down that road. I don't know how you kept your sanity (or did you). Congrats on you success.

 

[marubozo]

2nd smoker can't come soon enough. too bad you'll miss out on the memorial day rush. hopefully it will be up and running by the 4th.

It won't be ready until late July.

And speaking of another smoker, I had a woman break down and start crying when I told her we were already booked for our big orders this sunday. That was brutal, so I told her I'd still be able to get her pulled pork and am just bringing in my WSM this weekend to help cook a few more butts.

 

[Crakaveli]

wow.

 

[Guando]

It won't be ready until late July.

And speaking of another smoker, I had a woman break down and start crying when I told her we were already booked for our big orders this sunday. That was brutal, so I told her I'd still be able to get her pulled pork and am just bringing in my WSM this weekend to help cook a few more butts.

You are a good man. That stuff is always remembered. Well done.

 

[marubozo]

You are a good man. That stuff is always remembered. Well done.

Yeah it is for her husband's 70th birthday. Made her day I'm sure. Couldn't turn that down and be able to sleep at night.

 

[Pyle's BBQ]

A new concept. BBQ Subscriptions. You start the WSM and people come by and pick up what is on it when it is done.

Good to hear thing are stabilizing. I understand your feelings about being a people person. I struggle with that also.

 

[thunter]

It won't be ready until late July.

And speaking of another smoker, I had a woman break down and start crying when I told her we were already booked for our big orders this sunday. That was brutal, so I told her I'd still be able to get her pulled pork and am just bringing in my WSM this weekend to help cook a few more butts.

That's just beautiful brother! That kind of attitude and service is what we need more of! :clap2:

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

Yeah it is for her husband's 70th birthday. Made her day I'm sure. Couldn't turn that down and be able to sleep at night.

Ever wonder how "legends" get started? It's something that was earned not given....nice job!

 

[swampsauce]

So, I have reached the end of one the best books ever. What a thread! And funny thing is, I am contemplating the same venture. Little bit bigger scale though. Now I have to cipher is bigger better. Great posts marubozo. Sad that I'm at the end. Or maybe the beginning...

 

[howie]

Well its taken a week but at last I have made all 124 pages - although I can't say I read every post, but all of Jeremy's. Epic thread and a truly valuable insight into starting a business and it brought me to this forum. I guess the most disturbing thing for me is that I still want to this even after reading Jeremy's trials and tribulations.

I definitely think this is just the beginning of the story. As someone looking to do similar (possibly even more of a challenge here in Australia) I am very interested in the setup costs and profit information. I have looked at a lot of businesses but I have never owned a restaurant so please take my comments with a grain of salt. The fact that you are making money with a 38 seat restaurant I think is an amazing effort. In Australia you wouldn't even think if doing a restaurant with a full kitchen with less that 50 seats but 100 is optimal. Obviously the bigger the restaurant the more the economies of scale and the higher the profit margin. 30% is possible I believe but that would almost certainly be excluding the owners wage, interest and tax it drops considerably once you add those things. I would consider a successful business one that makes 10-15% margin after the managers/owners wage and interest expenses.

I think you are going to go from strength to strength adding the new smoker and catering will increase your margins and then I don't think it will be too long before you move to a bigger location.

Keep up the good work.

Oh and if its any help I hear the hours settle down after the first 6 months so by the end of the summer I think you may be able to get more than 4 hours sleep.

Howie

 

[marubozo]

Thanks. I plan on providing a basic overview of some of the costs involved when I have a little more time. One of the benefits here is that I'm in a very rural and low cost of living area. Property is cheap, rents are low, but you can charge the same amount for the food. If I go five miles across the state line toward South Bend and similar properties would be at least 3x as much, not to mention ridiculous taxes, etc.

In other news, last week was a record week and I'm sure the holiday had something to do with that. We had a ton of people from out of state coming in for the first time. It was amazing to hear people from Chicago and Indy coming in and saying they keep hearing about us and just had to swing by when they made it into town for their vacation.

Also, I know it had to be one of the brethren, but on Saturday while I was out running errands somebody came in and said they drove 600 miles. And that it was worth it. That's all I heard from one of the cashiers when I got back. Bummer I wasn't there to see who this person was.

And Neil stopped in and got his shirt on Friday. Unfortunately, I was completely out of it when he showed up so we didn't get to chat much. Which brings me to another lesson learned. It's easy to get swept up into the restaurant lifestyle and culture. You can only work 12 hours and then stay out until 4 in the morning for so long until it catches up with you. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun and you get to meet a lot of cool people, but being able to find a balance is key.

Oh, and just as a little financial teaser to show how we've grown in the past few months. In February my weekly food bill was averaging around $2700. Lately, it's been close to $7500. :shocked:

And word must have gotten out about potato salad or something, because all of a sudden that's one of the biggest sellers. I'm doing around 200 pounds of potato salad a week right now. Seems like the prep kitchen is nothing more than a potato and pickle factory for 6 hours a day.

 

[mchar69]

We should have a poll - 'I only signed up for BBQ Brethren because of Marubozo.'
You would be shocked at the number of folks who follow you and signed up
myself included. Should get a kickback!
We are living vicariously through you - Jeremy. Like when you had the flood, I put my boots on. While you were shop-vaccing the kitchen!
I was hi and dry! Smoke on!

 

[HarrynVegas]

Jeremy, mchar69 is right in my case. When I found this site in December this was one of my first threads. Now I'm a member and a Farker. Much credit to you, and many thanks.

 

[mqvn]

Also just finished reading this entire thread this past weekend... epic story! Congrats and good luck on everything. Hopefully will make it out to SW Michigan someday...

 

[Bperkins01]

One of my favorite threads ever - including other forums.. Love this story.

 

[DaveAlvarado]

Also, I know it had to be one of the brethren, but on Saturday while I was out running errands somebody came in and said they drove 600 miles. And that it was worth it. That's all I heard from one of the cashiers when I got back. Bummer I wasn't there to see who this person was.

At some point I'll have them beat--either this fall, or next spring. I'm planning a motorcycle trip up to the Great Lakes, and you're on my list for a stop. I'll be coming from DFW, TX, that's a little over 1,000 miles. :mrgreen:

 

[Mikeinctown]

Potato salad is a summer picnic type food that people associate with grilling and BBQ. Just one possible explanation.

 

[sliding_billy]

At some point I'll have them beat--either this fall, or next spring. I'm planning a motorcycle trip up to the Great Lakes, and you're on my list for a stop. I'll be coming from DFW, TX, that's a little over 1,000 miles. :mrgreen:

Make sure to bring me some takeout. :mrgreen: