Quote:
Originally Posted by ninetynine99
Holy Crap Yim!
The combination of your design/construction sensibility with your foodie creations would pretty much blow up this thread.
I'll be looking forward to you making it work… or at least following along as you try to make it all work!
Thx, but I have to warn you I'm a very slow methodical plodder and will analysize this to death before I pull the trigger so the content will trickle in slowly but I can pass along some of my thoughts and designs along the way.
I purchased the property so I will get a return via rent regardless, what I am currently contemplating is which of the following should I do:
1. Be a landlord only but try to get rent plus a % of revenues which can be as high as 6% of Gross revenue plus they pay all taxes, insurance and maintenance. Why kill myself if people that have been doing this their entire lives can do it better and I can get 6% plus a base rent?
2. Be a Landlord but also be an investor in the concept. If I become an investor, I'm going to invest my sweat equity by doing the design and construction management for "free" in exchange for a large % of the biz but still lean heavily on the people who have ran restaurants to do day to day operations, etc. If the concept doesn't work, the building reverts back to the landlord (which is me), not a bad downside.
3. Design and build the concept and put together a team from the contacts I've made over the last three years of working at a restaurant and not have to deal with any partners. Even if its a home run, I'm going to have to work my ass off and be married to the biz, I'm not sure I'm up to for that at my age (49 and basically retired, why kill myself?)
The property is adjacent to an old railroad track that has been converted to a hiking and biking trail 1/4 mile from the best lake in the heart of Dallas (white Rock Lake in Lakewood), so people can bike and walk from the trail right into my back yard.
The concept I'm leaning toward is a large outdoor venue with indoor as well but roll up garage doors (with glass) that allow the place to open up in good weather (or close in bad). The food will be simple and we're leaning toward BBQ where you walk up and grab your order (no wait staff or silver ware and plates, serve it construction paper, everything goes in the trash after for less clean up, etc). Maybe a micro brewery from a small company that currently brews their beer in a garage right in the neighborhood. A ton of people hit the lake on the weekend so we also want to have a good brunch on saturdays and sundays. We will also look into doing chef dinners once a month for a more formal price fixed dinner. A rotation of food trucks on site is another option I'm looking into (this would be in addition to the food we serve). The money is really made on beer, wine and liquor sales so the more people we attract the better.
I might also lease space to a coffee concept and a home made pie and ice cream concept and just rake a % of their revenues since they would be using my point of sale system. I'm thinking incubator/investor when it comes to those two aspects where I can find talented people without resources to do it on their own and be their shark (tank) investor that provides them the capital, location, etc so they can focus on delivering a high quality product that meshes with our primary concept BBQ/beer/liquor. The trick is getting everyone to cooperate while still being independent.
Below are some pictures of concepts that are inspiring the design. These are indoor/outdoor casual concepts where people hang out and eat and/or drink in a great atmosphere. I also have a billboard on site and we think we can wrap the back side with a white vinyl tarp. Its visible to where everyone will be sitting outdoors so it would be a huge TV like an old fashion drive in theater where we can show movies, sporting events, etc
These outdoor seating areas are made out of shipping containers with plastic water tanks turned into lighting:
This is an outdoor band stage made out of old wooden pallets:
Thats all I got for now, but don't hold any punches on feedback, criticism or suggestions, i like hearing as many perspectives/ideas as possible