Isn't it possible that if he was aiming at creating a brand aimed specifically at upwardly mobile people who always have a card on them (ie, you will never find me without my card, but 95% of the time I am cashless)? If I see a company that doesn't accept cash, to me it instantly signals quality.

Don't get me wrong, I think it increases his risk in a risky industry, but I feel intuitively like it could possibly work if the location and target audience is right.

Point taken about the cashless system, appreciate the clarification. I'll trust your experience on this issue, I guess I'm underestimating the negative impact this could have, so I think I should just implement all the advantages I have in mind with the cashless system but accept cash as well.

My location is on a two lane road in a great location but my parking is limited because of my lot size. I was trying to think of ways to grab quick sales a for breakfast and lunch as people go to work and on their lunch break so I was daydreaming about a valet service (for lack of a better word).

How it works is buyers could place their order online and pay for it. The system would auto que everyone and assign a number (perhaps their license plate). The pos system could print off the receipt with this number clearly visible that could be attached to the To go bag. A runner (aka valet) could have a sidewalk location where the food could be quickly passed (no need to accept cash or CC-in this instance it would be a no cash system) to the customer without slowing up traffic or clogging up our parking places. Perhaps ambitious but seems do-able.

I've got the E myth book, I'll go dust that puppy off and look for the other book you mentioned

Thank for another fine response!

I don't really follow your logic on this, help me out. Do you think that running 100% plastic is a positive attribute to a particular brand or that the segment you speak of somehow looks favorably upon establishments that don't trade with cash? I think the entire market generally assumes you accept both & does not draw any conclusions from the acceptance of both. However, they will likely draw some negative conclusions about places that refuse cash or require you to jump through some hoops withit. Isn't the most balanced approach to accept both?

The only place that I know that does not accept cash is the Apple store..are there many more I don't know of?

From a behavioral perspective, I don't know that I want my customers to open their statements & see 16 line charges for lunches from Taco Bandito. I don't want to be top of mind when they are thinking about cutting back their spending. "oh man, I ate there 16 times last month, wtf" Do you think they will consider at that moment the 20x they spent cash at Starbucks or just torture themselves with the evidence in front of them.

If I see a store that doesn't accept cash, then I know that it thinks it has a great product. They aren't chasing every single sale. They are definitely targeting people who think it's normal to not carry cash. All those people are upwardly mobile and hip. To me, that says something significant about the brand.

Edit: Obviously you need to make sure all customers know that cash is not accepted and never will be.

I guess subconsciously I was thinking of this type of customer. I know I'm infinately more impatient than I was pre Internet so speeding the transaction time and not having to deal with some idiot that's more than likely going to screw up my order is appealing to me.

Like Joe Pesci said in Lethal Weapon:

They always **** you in the drive-thru

I would like it more if you pursued the rallys/checkers store type & had a double drive through set-up, with a small store footprint that was fully customized to push out good food really fast. Is your entrance signalized or at least easy to get in & out of during peak service times? Will the zoning allow from drive through windows? Look into it.

I really wish you would focus your energy away from being so clever with technology & towards executing a good short menu very, very fast. You can increase the throughput for plastic transactions by contracting with a merchant services provider that allows for no signature for card present transactions..just swipe n go. That's really enough. The drive through model is well known to everyone & works really well.

Give it some thought.

VERY good point! I hadn't thought of that and thats what would happen in my case since we think a person could get fed for $10 or less and I'd obviously want them to make us a consistent habit.

Seriously, are there that many places that don't accept cash??

i'm not everyone, but i think this all just goes down to your product. if your product is that great, then I think it could work. If not, it won't. I mean, every other line on my credit card statement is Chipotle/Freebirds/Mission Burrito (the latter are Texas burrito joints) and I don't regret it in the slightest.

Anyway, just my two cents. I'll shut up now, and also I acknowledge that for 99.9% of concepts accepting cash is absolutely mandatory.

If you had a restaurant that only accepted cards, you would need to have big signs up front at your store and/or have the waiter inform your customers. This would be tacky.

It would almost be more annoying if a place only took cards, because unlike a place that only takes cash, I can't run an ATM.

This is coming from someone who uses a card 95% of the time.

We're on the same page, I definitely prefer a double drive thru. The problem is my limited lot size, the required turning radius and parking spaces required.

For a restaurant, I must have one parking space for every 100 SF

For a general merchandise (that can sell food but customers can't sit), I must have one parking spot per 200 SF.

The city rounds down when calculating space requirements if your not past the midpoint

Examples:

Restaurant that's 500 SF can get by with 4 spots 1 is HC)

Gen. Merchant that is 900 SF needs 4 spots (1 is HC)

make sense?

So when I try to do a double drive thru, it kills my parking, so I can only pull off one drive thru and still have room for the required parking while still having an adequate sized structure.

I hope to do one drive thru and one bike-thru/walk thru. I'm 100 yards or less from a VERY popular walking/biking trail (Katy Trail in Dallas) and there is no place within miles for someone to get something quick to eat or drink.

I want to emphasize the urban lifestyle and encourage people that live nearby and walk the trail to bike and walk instead of drive. I'm allowed to put outside tables without any additional parking required.

Some of my ideas are born out of the limitations of my lot while still trying to maximize it's function and profitability

If the concept was placed in a strip center, most, if not all of my limitations would disappear.

I just feel like my lot has many advantages to offset it's limitations and would be less risky that potentially having to commit to the type of leases you've mentioned and I feel like it would be a great location to test and fine tune the concept at a much lower cost.

Like I said, this ain't happening tommorrow, so there's plenty of time to consider various options.

Point taken about the technology, I enjoy finding Internet based solutions but as I learned in my construction biz, they can turn into long rabbit trails

Hey, please don't shut up, I want to hear all perspectives. I'm like you, I charge almost everything. However, I used to go to this taco stand every morning after my workout and spend 6 bucks on some egg tacos. I was reviewing my statement and realized how much I was spending and decided to start making my own tacos at home.

Then again, I like to cook and have an accountants penny pinching mindset, so hopefully I'm not par for the course.

I'm leaning toward not limiting my options to start, I can always convert to no cash if my records show that 97% of my customers pay with CC already. Seems like a decision better made with more info

If you wanted to purchase a sports bar & grill type place how would you go about it? What are some good ways to figure out that an operating business is actually operating at the level the owner says? I would only be interested in currently profitable places.

Ps.. The menu is very short, 5-10 entrees. 2-3 deserts and a variety of bottled healthy and organic drinks. Local and organic ingredients ,where possible and cost effective, assembled with a gourmet touch.

We were thinking breakfast and lunch only

I'm playing with a design where the bldg also acts as a 24/7 vending machine where people can buy our drinks anytime to increase revenues while we're closed. It would integrate with the design of the building and hopefully add to peoples curiousity and draw people in (obv depends on costs to build and maintain). Something much nicer looking than this built into one of the exterior walls:

http://www.johnnyjet.com/images/PicF...INGMACHINE.JPG

I leave everything on the table when I'm in the daydream stage and slowly whittle things down as the analysis defends or supports the idea

apocalypse_fives,

Thank you for the awesome thread.