Tag: kind

That’ll Be 25¢

In the beginning, we truly believed we would win customers by providing good food at reasonable prices and by being kind. Our food tasted good. We had healthy choices. And we gave people anything they wanted.

It was heartbreaking to see people come in with food from other restaurants. Then to have them want free stuff from us, was like a stab directly into the heart. People didn’t seem shy or embarrassed at all to come over and ask for free ketchup, free plasticware, free cups of water, free plates, free napkins, or free sugar and cream because they forgot to get these at the restaurant where they bought their food. And we gave it to them because we thought it would encourage them to buy from us next time.

When we first opened, we put all the condiments on a table in the lobby so people could help themselves. We quickly learned that was a horrible idea. Kids were left in the arena for hours. Some kids would open all the packages and mix them together on the table just to have something to do while their siblings skated. (Have I said some parents don’t watch their kids very well?) Some kids would flat out eat the sugar and cream or use the lemon packets to make lemonade. Either way, they would leave huge messes everywhere. This is a big expense when you’re a small business, but everyone assumed it was ok because the condiments were free. If I brought the mess to the parents attention, some of them would clean up the mess, but not one of them ever offered to reimburse us for the condiments wasted.

So we moved everything behind the counter and forced people to ask for such things. It didn’t deter them from asking when they brought outside food, but it did save us a ton of money in waste. We continued to hand out condiments to non-customers for several months, but it was obvious it was still affecting our bottom line and needed to stop. We just couldn’t afford to be that kind, so condiments and plasticware became customer-only provisions. I can’t tell you how many people chewed me out in anger. Especially people who brought in 10 pizzas and then wanted free setups for their birthday party. We charged $5 for about 20 plates, cups, and plasticware when the food was not purchased from us and people were mad.

The biggest anger issue though, was the cups. The styrofoam cups cost us about 16¢ each. We had to pay the State of Texas 2¢ tax on a 25¢ sale, so we made a whopping 7¢ when we sold a cup for 25¢. So many people went absolutely ballistic when they asked for a cup of water and we said, “That’ll be 25¢, please.” Some even told me to go ‘f’ myself. Really??? But I have to tell you, it saved us a ton of money. Like I said kids were in the arena for hours and they would come get a cup of water. 30 minutes later the same kids would ask for another. When asked where their cup was, they would answer they threw it away. And it wasn’t just the kids, parents would grab 10 or so cups right off the counter without even asking, because they forgot to bring toys for the little ones to play with while their siblings skated. That’s why cups went from free to 25¢. There were 2 water fountains, free cold water, right next to the restrooms. Stop costing us money. The side effects from this, some parents would want to charge 25¢ to their credit card. That would be a ‘NO’, use the water fountain. I don’t remember what the credit card fees are on 25¢, but I’m not going there.

What was my mistake here? Can you be too nice to people? I think you can. If you don’t respect your bottom line, they certainly won’t. Like I said before, we had some hockey dad’s who really respected that we were a struggling new small business and did everything they could to help us, but many, many people did not.

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.