Questions

Pierre seemed interested in buying me out. I was shocked. Why would he even want this restaurant? He never helped do the work. In fact, as I found out later, he never got his TABC certification, never got his Food Manager certification, never even got his Food Handler certification. Clearly, he had no intention of being involved. Pierre never put in his seed money, never stood up to protect our profits, never fully engaged in marketing our bar. Why in the world would he want to take over ownership and management?

Millions of questions started bouncing through my brain. Was Pierre a con man? Did he lure me in with the idea of having me front the startup costs of the cafe and bar? Was Todd actually his partner in a good cop/bad cop game to get as much money from me as possible as they pushed me to quit? Was Max in on it, too? Am I the biggest idiot on the planet? Do I have an ‘idiot’ sign taped to my forehead?

Cyber Monday, I went to the bank and took Pierre off of the cafe checking account. After all my stupidity, I didn’t want my story to end, ‘then Pierre emptied the bank account and disappeared.’ For once in my life, I did something right.

So Much for Starting Over

About a month after The Intervention and Todd’s promise to work together, I got to see Todd’s idea of working together. It was a Monday. I had some business to attend to, so I arrived to open the cafe a little later than usual. The parking lot was packed. I was shocked because Mondays were never that busy, even on school holidays. I went in the rink and there were people everywhere. I had no idea what was going on, but I was pissed. I saw people leaving when I was pulling in, so I knew the unknown event was about over. Someone should have told us there was an event that day so we could plan to be open.

As I was opening the cafe, one of the nice parents came over and warned me that we were about to get very busy. I thanked him, but I figured we had already missed out on most of the business as people were leaving. We had missed out for sure, but the next thing I knew I was slammed with lunch orders. If I had known ahead of time, I would have opened about 3 or 4 hours earlier and had Kyle come in to help – and we would have had the bar open, too.

One of the really nice women that worked at the front desk came over later and told me she would be glad to open the cafe for events if I couldn’t make it. I told her I would have been there if I had known there was an event. She was shocked no one had told us. Turns out, the hockey franchise players were holding a practice at our rink and signing autographs. All these hockey stars were in the building and we knew nothing about it. And why didn’t corporate order food from us? You know the locker room had snacks for all those athletes and the crew. If the local hockey team is going to rent out space in their arenas, they should support their tenants’ businesses.

The next day, Todd walked into my kitchen to inform me he had talked to Damon and they had decided it wasn’t Todd’s job to inform us of upcoming events at the arena. So much for starting over and partnering. So much for our success is good for the arena. So much for me being nicer so they would be good to us and treat us right. I told Pierre what Todd had said and pointed out the betrayal of Todd’s words from our meeting. This was definitely a time for Pierre to go to corporate to discuss the meaning of support and business partners, but he did nothing.

The Intervention

After 18 months in business, Pierre, Todd, Kyle, and I were meeting to air out our differences and ‘start over’. Little did I know, I was walking into an intervention. First, Pierre and Todd talked about how important it was to have a good relationship. As usual, Todd went into his little speech about our success was good for the rink. I just smiled, swallowed my skepticism, and tried to overlook the fact that he had been saying that the whole time he was sabotaging our business. I didn’t want to undermine the chance to make things better. I needed the stress of bad landlords and bad rink management to dissolve into dust and blow away.

Next, we talked about Max telling all the parents not to buy from our cafe and bar. Todd’s response was that Max was very loyal to him. What does that mean? Max only badmouthed us because he liked Todd? Was it Todd’s idea? How does that fit into ‘our success is Todd’s success’? Does that mean Todd is not going to make it stop?

Kyle brought up a few points about the bar. Each time I tried to talk, either Pierre or Todd would cut me off and go on with something else. Here I am, the one with the most to say, not getting to talk at all. I’ve been robbed, threatened, and sabotaged and I don’t get to let any of it out before we start over?

At one point, Todd brought up our hours so I explained how our open hours came about. Todd decided to be offended at what I said – I don’t know how anyone could be offended at our choice of hours. So Kyle jumped in and explained that Todd’s reaction wasn’t what I was saying and went on to talk about our hours. Todd was then ok with our explanation. It’s ok if Kyle says it, but not ok if I say it. Kyle was the only one who defended me during the entire meeting. The rest of the time, Pierre and Todd just cut me off.

Todd needed to leave but he wanted to clear the air on some things that really ‘bothered him’. Once again, he repeated his same petty grievances. After 18 months, can he not just get over it? That’s what they’re asking of me, after all. Todd reiterated our huge business mistake of not listening to him and frying our French fries. Todd, the food service expert, who allows his employees to stick their dirty hands in the ice machine to get ice for ice packs. The same ice we use to serve beverages. We’re supposed to hang on his every word and do his bidding? How in the world can someone hold a grudge against you for not frying French fries? Does it get any more petty than that? Is that the biggest control freak move on the planet? And then Todd had to hurry out for another commitment. I guess we have wiped the slate clean and are starting over. Really? One good thing did come from this meeting. Before Todd left, he assured us our success was important to the rink and he intended to partner with us to keep us informed of events and make things better.

I was devastated. The air was perfectly clear to me. No one was going to listen to me, ever. Nothing was going to change. Pierre, my partner, was not truly a partner and did not have my back. My retirement money was almost gone and there was no light at the end of the tunnel, not even an oncoming train to put me out of my misery quickly. I went home and cried.

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.

What is Marketing?

The dictionary says marketing involves promoting and selling goods and/or services. Pierre told me over and over that he was Marketing. When we first opened, Pierre spent some time taking free pizza to the businesses around us to let them know we were open for lunch and dinner. Since we were in a relatively undeveloped area, that didn’t take much time. Pierre gave free coffee to coaches and parents to let them know our coffee was good and encourage them to buy from us. That was definitely a good start. After that, we saw little evidence of him doing anything.

Our building was right next to a bunch of baseball diamonds. I took pizza to the owner one day and told him we would like to advertise to their teams. He invited Pierre and me over for a tour and gave us 3 options – give him flyers to put in the tournament packets, pay to put up banners, or take over their food stands. Pierre never did any of these. We did get a little business eventually but not much. I also researched online and found a list of local clubs with their phone numbers. I gave it to Pierre and asked him if he would call one a day to let them know we could do club meetings and parties. He said he would call at least 2 a day, but I don’t think he ever called any. He did bring in 1 private party in 2.5 years and he paid for a bunch of his friends to come watch a football game once.

We finally got our liquor license in October, 2015. Kyle was all gung-ho to get the bar hopping, but not much happened. Kyle got Pierre to spend about $200 on some signs, but Pierre never got the city permits to hang them. It was clear Pierre’s idea of marketing meant to doing nothing. I got the sign permits in less than 2 weeks. Kyle and I partnered with the Allen Americans so our name would be on the banner during their games. Kyle and I started finding places to list our bar online. Kyle and I started contacting groups to let them know we could hold meetings and parties. But it’s hard to do all the day-to-day business and marketing too. Pierre could have done all of this from the comfort of his own home at times convenient for him and yet he did almost nothing.

Every once in a while, Pierre would man the cafe so I could do something else. If I came in that day, I would find him sitting in the bar talking to students and parents. He didn’t set up for business by turning on all the machines and prepping the stations. I guess he made a few sales because people would come to me later and say they needed to pay for some food because the cash register wasn’t working when Pierre was there. Who knows how many people didn’t come back and pay, as Pierre made no list or notes. Nothing was broken, Pierre just didn’t want to remember his training on the equipment.

Pierre told me over and over, that we just didn’t understand his role. He was Marketing. Obviously, that didn’t involve sales. And if you ask me, it didn’t involve promoting either. I partnered with a guy who didn’t put in his seed money, didn’t work in the cafe or bar, and didn’t promote our business. Mistake, mistake, mistake. I’m an idiot.

Baby, Bye Bye Bye

I can’t read minds, so I have no idea what Pierre and Robbie were thinking when we were planning the restaurant. Now, it sure seems like they both thought we would stock the restaurant, hire a bunch of people at $10/hour, and sit back to rake in the dough. So it’s no surprise Robbie decided he wanted out not too long after we had our fight. I was pretty disappointed because I thought sure Robbie was our ace in the hole. He was young and had the energy to really make things happen.

Robbie didn’t say much to me, just that he thought working more hours would make him feel burned out and he didn’t want that. It was Pierre who told me Robbie wanted out. Of course Pierre’s idea was for me to give Robbie his $12,500 back and I would become 2/3 owner of the restaurant. He thought that was fair because I was doing most of the work and would reap more benefits when we started making money. So, I gave Pierre a check and he got Robbie to sign away his partnership in the restaurant for the return of his money. I went along with it because I thought our finances would turn around when we got the liquor license and eventually I would make my money back and more.

That’s when I learned how vengeful Robbie could be. His friend, Dawnell, had already quit. Another friend, Dan, had just started working every other weekend. After Robbie left, Dan didn’t show up for a shift and then said he was quitting because he was only working to help Robbie. We owed Dan about $150 and he wanted to come by and pick it up in cash. I told him he would have to turn in the payroll paperwork so we could take out withholding and report the earnings. Dan never came back. Robbie said some mean things to me because I didn’t pay his friend. I had every intention to pay Dan, I just wanted to do it legally. I don’t know why Dan didn’t want to get a regular paycheck. Before Dan quit, Robbie sent me another friend and her daughter. They didn’t show up for their interview, so I called the Mom. She said Robbie told her not to come because the restaurant was closing. Their family really needed the money and we really needed the help but Robbie made her feel like a traitor if she were to take the job. Really? We didn’t do anything to hurt Robbie and yet he sure wanted to hurt us.

My mistake here was refunding Robbie’s money without question. We had a fight and Robbie quit, Pierre attacked me verbally, Pierre hadn’t put in his seed money, and I was killing myself working all the time. Restaurants fail even in the best of circumstances. With all this crap, we didn’t have a chance.

I Am the Stupidest Person On the Planet.

While we’re talking about money, let’s go back to the beginning for a minute. Before we opened, I paid for the Hunt Brothers startup out of my own pocket – over $4,000 for the new oven and supplies. I also paid some City of McKinney fees, $500 to open the checking account, and some other needs itemized on an expense report with receipts.

I told Pierre and Robbie I planned to deduct these expenditures from my $12,500 seed money and deposit the difference into the checking account. Pierre suggested I talk to the CPA before I did that, as the CPA would probably want us to deposit the entire $12,500 and then get reimbursed later. I called the CPA and he said to put in all the seed money. So I did. And I reported his wishes back to Pierre and Robbie.

Robbie deposited his $12,500. Pierre put in NOTHING. Not one penny. Yes, Pierre bought the fancy coffee machine – which was under $5,000. Pierre also supplied the Keurig, but he got that back once the fancy coffee machine was hooked up and working.

So here I was, a few weeks into opening the restaurant. One of my partners has not deposited his seed money and had to be pushed to give us our unverified credit card money. Looking back, I am the stupidest person on the planet for staying. It’s embarrassing to think I still thought we would be successful and make some money. You will see as we continue on with the story, Pierre never did put in his seed money. He always had some excuse when I asked him for it. After about 1 year in business I told Pierre we needed money for payroll – it wasn’t the first time I told him that. He deposited $2,000 into the checking account. Two weeks later, he wrote himself a check for $2,000 and took his money back. I just feel so stupid for trusting him.

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.