I have to close my bussiness. I am angrier than I am sad.

reply to post by theabsolutetruth


no no, thank you.

I have. What I find works is working good quality food at a low cost. A hearty portion for a moderate price. People have become bargin hunters. I have tried and successfully marketed large "pinchos" (little sandwiches). Everybody has them but mine are more like "bocatas" which are large sandwiches.

I have the only accredited "espresso" in the whole city. Accredited by all the Italian academies of coffee due to the grams set by the grinder per charge, pressure in the machine, particulars when toasted, ect. I sell that angle allot too. It seems to work.

I eliminated the high cost lunch menus in favor of a simple quick dishes which seems to work best. The area is mostly offices and banks. They have little time to sit around. I cater to them by offering very fast and competent service. They order whatever and I will not mess it up and have it served within 5 minutes. That gives me a good turn around and I need it, since I dont have many tables and the bar is not that big.

I have also reduced the amount of products I have to have on hand by using the same stuff for the "pinchos" as what I have on the menu. It has saved me allot of money.

What I can't help is the amount people are willing to spend. I can't raise prices globally since they come here with exact change sometimes. Yeah it's like that.

What I can do is modify quantity and renegotiate with my providers. I am their biggest pain in the ass. I am not a jerk, but I defend what is mine. If they want me to sell their product.....then they have to compete and I have made it a point to learn what each offers and who has the best prices.

Another thing I find that works is gossip.lol. I studied the area and found out that most of the residents are elderly women. So I make it a point to have a steady source of gossip magazines on hand for them to come have their coffee and talk trash about the royal family....lol

Then I saw that allot of people value having their own newspaper in the morning. I have 2 each of the most read and one sports paper, and a commerce paper. Seems to bring its own crowd.

I think what I might be lacking is more advertising. Like posters like you said. It is just that I think allot of businesses ruin their image with signs everywhere. The decoration is sheik and modern. I can't throw signs around but I could use a few more...you are right with that.

I tried having fresh fruit slushies, the machine just sucked up electricity like I was powering a nuclear reaction in there. I ended up drinking them myself, which was cool, but not the point.

Whatever I do from now on, I cannot increase operating cost. Some things are a catch 22, like changing the lighting for a more low cost system...that takes money, like 2 thousand Euros in all for the whole place....I would save allot a year....but I need the dough first.

It's a war of attrition. Fight overhead and learn whatever needs to be done so as to avoid more bills.

Like for example my cash register crashed and I lost my POS program. What I did was learn how to crack another from a couple years back and installed it myself. It took 2 days without sleep, but I saved myself 500 Euros for a technician to install a new one.

I don't know, there is allot I can do but I can't spend anymore than I have and do. That is how the rest have closed around me. My next door neighbor will be closing and it is because she went nuts advertising, adding products to her menu, ect....She has like 5 cafes throughout the region. She can afford to throw thousands of Euros around.

I can't. So I just have to hold it down with what I got. All in all, I am liking the KISS theory. Keep it simple stupid.

But thanks man. You do have a few good points I could work on.

reply to post by TheProphetMark


Life is made for joy and woe,
and when this we rightly know,
threw the world we safely go,
joe and woe are woven fine,
a clothing for the soul devine

I had to close my business 4 years ago, I started to work for other people and got laid off on the 2 jobs, both companies closed. Im work from home now making less but more stable.

The only job that WILL NEVER go sour is healthcare. I worked for a pharmacy for a few months and I must say they make money like crazy. When a pill cost them $1.00 they charge to your insurance around $60 per pill, and if its for you without insurance and paying cash they sell it to you around $45 each pill. They are other pills that are cheaper and others more expensive but the markup is huge.

Hey, if you work by heart you will find another job in your same vocation. It´s a pain in the ass. I´m in Portugal with a biz and feel the same way regarding being a bankrupt biz owner with only €300 a month salary or less with 2 nbabys to feed .

reply to post by BIHOTZ


Sounds like you are doing practically all you can there, and you know your market and are selling good food fast with good service, trust me that's something practically every cafe and restaurant here in the UK could do with learning.

I worked in restaurant and hotel / nightclub management for years in my 20's during a recession here and it was tough so I know the stress.

I have also worked in graphic art and advertising and marketing and keeping it simple is the best way. Creating something that catches the eye simply, with a simple clear message, is the best kind of advertising. Something catchy, like quality, fast and I would advertise that coffee with a nice poster, something chic and contemporary, maybe on trend colour blocks with a nice contemporary font and a cup or the coffee brand. If it's possible, advertising with cards in elevators or at reception desks in the local offices or getting someone to stand around flier advertising to people coming out of offices or just shopping.

On the drinks thing, iced tea infusions, like fruit or camomile, with mint, orange, lemon slices is inexpensive, again you maybe already are trying these.

I do hope the world economy improves, until then maybe roughing the storm is the best way, keeping afloat and awaiting calmer sailing.

reply to post by theabsolutetruth


wow I hadn't thought of advertising Iced tea fusions. I have a pretty good selection I don't get out the way I would like. I have blends that no one else has....good idea..

thanks!

reply to post by BIHOTZ


You're welcome. Hope they sell!

Speaking of taxes; In Canada its one of the worst places on the planet for that. Been that way for years. The elites enjoy watching us work as slaves and struggle all our entire lives just to scrape by. I'm at the breaking point. Most people are at the breaking point.

I say its time to turn the tide and watch the Elites struggle! They've been doing this to us for hundreds of years.. perhaps thousands. We have been blessed to live in a time where we can either break the chain or become even worse slaves than all of our ancesters combined were. I dont wanna see the rase card either. White people were slaves just as often as any other rase if not more were througout history. If you dont recognize that fact; read up on history. Rome didn't discriminate on the color of skin. They didn't care. If you were not Roman, and you were not annexed into their military, you were a slave living in ghettos. The difference between then and now is.. its going to be far worse for us in this generation if we dont stand as the 99% united to defeat the 1%.

/ end rant

Originally posted by solongandgoodnight

Originally posted by Skywatcher2011
reply to post by BIHOTZ

 

Quit your bitchin and whining and do something about it. Of all places to start a business you go to Spain???? WTF?! If you wanted to start a business NY is where you should have originally done that. Yeah costs were cheaper in Spain and the girls are hot there, but seriously you cannot make a good living in Spain unless you deal with the cartels and drug dealers

That said, go back home to the US, and work like heck. You have to. You will not win the powerball lottery. Military leads to potential death and unemployment when you get back from service abroad. Might as well find friends that can help you establish your cafe here and reward them for doing so when you are doing well in the future. Forget all of the crap that is going on which is outside your control anyways and take control of your life instead.

That's all I have to say. Best of luck in all your endeavours.

edit on 2-8-2012 by Skywatcher2011 because: (no reason given)

spain may not be a great choice, but i think you're missing the big picture.

this is a global problem.it's a freight train and it's heading right for the US also.

There is a global problem, I agree with you. But you are missing the point. Those countries which do not have a stable system to begin with in the first place (Spain) will be the first to be hit the hardest. Hence if you want to start and run a business with long term growth, then you start investing into the country that can withstand global crises the best. Spain would not be at the top of the list.

Pretty amazing that when life is supposed to be getting easier and more comfortable is when no on ecan afford a #ing thing! What an oxy-moron economic lifestyle we live in this world!
I've been tired for too long scraping by for 20 years or so, hell I got told that i had to leave This one pizza restaurant because I work too much, I don't like to stand around and bull#, its too immature for me, so I'd make sure the store was spotless. One day the owners wife slips on the floor I just got done mopping, so I had to leave for cleaning too much. And get this, unemployment would even help me as they refused to 15 years earlier even though I've had jobs where I made 13-17 dollars an hour, but no, cant get a measly 125 a week to help on what I contributed. Even though there were people making 500-700 dollars a week from the #ing # years ago, guess they have priority over the lower class! I still to this day wanted to mail the unemployment a package of # for that! Sorry #ing system only works for their kind and not your or our kind. Just remember that! The lower class will always be low no matter what here!

Honestly these days I'm tempted to say # it and go live in the mountains and forrests and build my own cabin far away from their crooked, corrupt , pansy bull#! ..And we still have to pay for their mis-appropriated expenditures , no wonder I refuse to stand behind their system or their constant lies!