Fancy New TVs for Everyone

A couple months after we opened the bar, we found out the local hockey team would be replacing all the TVs in all the rinks. We had 5 flat screens in the bar, but many of the rinks still had box TVs. Since McKinney was the newest, nicest rink, we were second on the list for replacement, after HQ of course.

The original set up was our 5 TVs in the bar, plus screens throughout the rink. There were 3 DirecTV boxes behind the bar. This was extremely inconvenient when we were busy because someone always wanted a channel changed but didn’t know what channel they wanted. And it took a while to get to know which TVs were connected to which of the 3 boxes. The one great thing was the local hockey team subscribed to the sports package so we could show their games at the rink. That meant we had all sorts of sports channels and could show almost any game in the bar.

The new setup would put 10 TVs and 1 large projection screen in the bar and 5 (or 6, can’t remember) DirecTV boxes in the arena management offices behind the front desk. We were thrilled. Now we could really market to office meetings, clubs, and parties who wanted to hook a laptop to the projection TV. And the arena employees would be responsible for changing the channels, not us.

In order to install the TVs, Todd demanded that we pay to paint one of the walls in the bar. I told him there was no need as we hadn’t damaged the wall. We never even put up pictures on the wall, so it was in the same condition as when we signed our contract. So, Todd went to Pierre to tell him we had to paint the wall. Which is funny since Pierre was only 1/3 owner and his name wasn’t even on the contract. I told Pierre we really needed that money for payroll and there was no reason for us to pay for painting when we hadn’t damaged the wall. Eventually, Pierre hired some guys to come in and paint the wall. I was so pissed. Pierre never put in his seed money (and we really needed it for payroll) and yet paid to paint a wall that didn’t need to be painted. Pierre was supposed to be my partner, not Todd’s partner. I have to say, the new TVs were wonderful. Did Pierre seize this opportunity to really market the bar and bring in some meetings? He hosted one Super Bowl party with his friends – that was it. He didn’t bring in one party or business meeting after that.

Threat Confirmation

One day a rink employee asked me if we would host 2 of their birthday parties in our bar. I told her I would think about it. She said Todd wanted an answer now, so I told her he hadn’t been very nice to me lately and I would think about it. The next thing I know, Todd shows up in my kitchen telling me he has not been mean to me. When I explained I didn’t say he was mean, just that he hadn’t been that nice to me, Todd said, “I can be real not nice”. There it was again, that threatening tone. I’ve allowed this man to steal from me, his people to steal from me, his people to disparage my business and mock me, accuse me of not paying my rent, and now he’s threatening me. At this point, I spoke up and told him this was the second time and he was not to threaten me again. Well, that was it. All the crap I had put up with to keep a good relationship with Todd was now for naught. I was the bad guy for speaking up and Todd made sure I was punished for it. Everything just got worse and worse after that.

I told Todd we would take the parties they had overbooked on the condition that he give us the $50 they charge for using their party rooms. He agreed. In the next 2 years that I was there, he never paid us the $100. I even sent him an invoice and got nothing.

I told Pierre about all this. Pierre is my partner and should help me with these issues. He has known Todd for years and used to work for the local hockey team. Pierre should be able to get these guys on a more honest course. Instead Pierre told me I needed to learn to play nice with the big boys and they would be nice to us. What??? So, it’s my fault they steal from us because I haven’t been nice enough to them? Really? We gave them free food everyday; we gave them a discount on everything they bought; we smiled and joked with them. That’s not nice enough so it’s our fault they steal and sabotage our business? What is wrong with these people? Apparently an ice rink is a very toxic environment when the General Manager is a toxic individual.

I’m telling you all this, because I want you to think about these things before you decide to start a business and before you team up with a partner. It never occurred to me my landlord would threaten me and steal from me. It never occurred to me my partner wouldn’t back me up when our landlord was breaking the law. I just want you to be prepared for anything before you begin. I wanted to think that being kind would conquer all, but I was drowning in an icy cesspool, bleeding money as I gasped for air. This should not happen to you.

What was my mistake here? If I don’t stand up for myself, Todd will threaten me again. If I do stand up for myself, I’m the bad guy. Truly, my mistake was not recognizing that I couldn’t build a business when my landlord was dishonest and my partner didn’t have my back – and no liquor license or private parties would change my fate. I should have quit early on and cut my losses.

Sans Sandwiches

We met with Great Outdoors several times. Once, we met at the rink so they could see the restaurant space. In our last meeting, they asked if we would consider a franchise at a location other than the rink. We were only interested in having a restaurant at the rink. Great Outdoors felt very strongly that their restaurant would not do well at the rink and they already had a store a few miles away. Unlike some chains that will sell a franchise right across the street from the one they sold you, Great Outdoors is very protective of their brand and want to give you the best opportunity to be successful. One thing they did say – the rent for the space in the rink was a very good deal as retail space goes.

I was very appreciative of their candor. Great Outdoors has been in business a long time and I have a lot to learn from them. So I trust when they say it’s not a good location for their market. Robbie, on the other hand, was pissed. Later, he said he would never eat at Great Outdoors ever again. This was the first time Robbie showed me his resentful side. I had no idea how vindictive he could be, but I would find out later.

Robbie obviously didn’t understand that you want people to be honest with you in business and help you be successful, not sell you something just because you said you wanted to buy it. Great Outdoors saved us a lot of money. Pierre and I knew it was time to start looking at pizza and burgers. I was a little disappointed, but glad we dodged an expensive bullet.

My mistake here was continuing to partner with someone who clearly did not understand business. However, I wasn’t looking to him for business experience. He was young, so I was hoping more for hard work and support from him. He could learn more about business.

Early Red Flags

I have known Pierre since the early 2000s. We probably crossed paths at skating events 3 or 4 times each year and had dinner once in a great while, usually in a group. I think I had met Robbie before, but didn’t really know him. I was unemployed, Pierre worked for the corporate offices of the skating rinks, and I think Robbie worked for a tire company. In our meetings, Pierre told us his plan was to quit his job at corporate around the end of the year and cut his coaching down to one afternoon each week. That way, he could partner with us and he would have plenty of time to market the restaurant. I would work the cafe full time and Robbie would work part-time until we made enough money to pay him a salary to quit his job. The current food service company would be vacating the space on January 1, 2015.

Meanwhile, Robbie and I were the only ones talking to the rinks about renting the space. We weren’t sure if Pierre’s partnership could be considered a conflict of interest so we didn’t want to tell anyone he was involved until after he quit his job. During his time at corporate he had seen many companies rent space, so I trusted Pierre when he told us the rent was a very good deal.

In November, Pierre and I met for lunch at Prairie House. He told me he quit his job in October, but still wanted to remain invisible. That’s when he dropped the bomb. He had spent the better part of the last year preparing to adopt 3 children. That’s a big deal; adopting children whose formative years were spent in an environment so bad they had to be removed from their home and sent to foster care. I really felt he should have told us that from the very beginning. We might have decided not to open a restaurant. But by this time, I was hooked and chose to believe he would still make time to market the cafe. Besides, adopting children is a great thing.

And Baby Makes 3

Pierre wanted to bring in a third partner. I was fine with that. Robbie joined us for several lunches and discussions with the rink and Great Outdoors. He was young and I thought that would be our ace in the hole. We needed someone with more energy and the ability to do the heavy work I couldn’t do.

Pierre, on the other hand, would do marketing and only work in the cafe in emergencies. We knew we would have to spend a lot of time reaching out to the neighborhood because no one thinks to go to an ice rink for a good bar and grill. We had to build some outside business along with the skater families who come to the rink regularly in order to have a thriving business.

Robbie had $12,500.00 to invest, so we decided we would all invest that amount. At this point, I was feeling pretty confident in our endeavor. Even if it didn’t work out, I could recover from losing $12,500.00. And I really thought we had some great ideas to make this restaurant a success.

Now, I’ve made several mistakes. Restaurants are known for a high failure rate and I dove in anyway. I didn’t have a strong restaurant background so I relied on Pierre and Robbie for that; and of course we would get some excellent training from Great Outdoors. I have a very high work ethic and I assumed career skaters had the same work ethic or they wouldn’t have gotten where they did. At this point, I’m totally screwed. I just didn’t know it yet.

Show and Tell

Pierre and I met at the McKinney rink on a Saturday – the busiest day of the week. Everything Pierre had said was true. The rink was busy and the snack bar was not open. When the employees finally came in, they started making pizzas and then went into the bar and played on their phones. They didn’t open the cages. I don’t know why they would be there and not open the restaurant. Our guess at the time was they had some parties in the party rooms that had ordered pizzas in advance and they didn’t care about serving the public. I don’t know if they opened later on, but why not make money while you’re already there and paying employees. It’s no surprise this was not a lucrative restaurant. It looked like there was good potential for making money, despite what the financial reports indicated.

Pierre and I met for lunch at Great Outdoors. It was a weekday afternoon because we didn’t want to take up a table during a busy time. I don’t remember if he had eaten there before, but I wanted him to see how good the food was. Not only is the food fresh and tasty, you can actually see the meat on your sandwich. I always laugh at other sandwich shops. It seems like you get a lettuce sandwich and they kind of wave the meat over the sandwich to try to add some meat flavor. With Great Outdoors you get good value for your money. Also, most of the sandwiches can be purchased as a salad. I love Great Outdoors.

Pierre and I met at the Bedford rink for a tour of the kitchen. It was a Wednesday because Pierre always coached there all afternoon on Wednesdays. One of the rink employees gave me a tour. He said originally the rinks handled all the food service and he had loved working in the kitchen. Then Corporate had decided to hand off food service to a food service company and just charge rent for the space. That’s when the big food service company took over and the restaurants were hardly ever open after that.

My mistake here was not researching the financials and maybe even talking to the employees or the company that had contracted the snack bar. I was told the company had wanted the food contracts at the big arenas, but the only way to get that contract was to agree to handle the food in all the skating rinks in the area. I was told this big food service company just wasn’t interested in building the business in the small rinks and I chose to believe it. After all, Pierre was a successful business man with a lot of money. Why wouldn’t I believe him?

An Idea is Born

In 2008, I looked into buying a franchise in The Great Outdoors Sub Shops. Great Outdoors has been one of my very favorite restaurants for many years. I was a burned out IT Developer and needed a change. The more I looked into it, the more it appealed to me. In November, I was 1 contract away from a big loan and getting started when the stock market took a dive. Everyone involved knew this would be a bad time to open a restaurant and the dream was gone. Back to the computers, I went.

Fast forward to 2014. My friend, Pierre, took me to dinner on my birthday. He started talking about wanting to open a business. He had several ideas including a restaurant and a limo service. Well, I jumped right on it. Here’s another opportunity for a sub shop. It felt right. Pierre started telling me about the cafes closing in the local ice arenas – not the big arenas, the local training facilities with 2 sheets of ice. The McKinney rink was the newest, nicest rink and it had a real cafe and bar area, not just a corner counter. He went on to tell me how busy this rink was and the previous food vendors didn’t do well because they didn’t offer decent food and were never open. Pierre suggested we would both invest $35,000.00 to start a restaurant.

It was worth looking into. I was excited. That was probably my first mistake. It’s hard to remain unbiased when you’re excited. This is a business, a risk, and you must look at it with both eyes wide open.

In the next few weeks, I will tell you my story. It’s all true. I feel so stupid and part of me wants to stay silent and hide my embarrassment, but I want to share my experience so no one else will make the same mistakes I made.