Any name that can name is not a true name(language)

[dispatch]

Dispatch has returned to CS, and he has learned many things in his absence.

In the area of romance...
my long term girlfriend left me, I felt bad, then angry, so I left the house to go pass out flyers downtown. During this process I happened upon a wedding party wandering the city's summer arts festival. This got me all choked up as I had just been re-classified as "single" the night before.
I became frustrated at prices of everything from parking to lemonade and the apparent lack of interest in the event I was flyering (so much for the citizens of Omaha actually supporting art) and I went to leave. As I drove past one of the theaters downtown I spotted the afore-mentioned wedding party gathered on a street corner getting ready to release a mass of balloons (they weren't red, so I didn't bother counting them) and wouldn't ya know it! the light was red so I was stuck watching this happy couple on steroids having their perfect day of marital bliss for a full 3 minutes...I couldn't let this go without voicing my opinion on the divorce rate in this country.
As luck would have it, the light was changing, so in the interest of time and clarity I rolled down my window and bellowed "IT'LL NEVER LAST, YA FUCKERS!" and took off up the street. Cowardly? maybe. Tactful? of course not! Did I feel better? in an evil smirking revenge sort of way, yes!
4 months later I met an amazing young woman who has since found reasons not to keep me around, but that turns out be a good thing, because I'm using all the fuel from that whole incident to get out of the call center business for good and open a bar! Yes, it is fun being this crazy!

Education-
Dropped out of private university and am currently perplexed at how hard it is to give their bill collectors money (yeah, I thought that's what they did, too, but apparently not) and found a program at the local community college that is teaching me exactly what I want to know; business entrepreneurship.

Employment-
still kicking ass in legendary fashion, but something clicked about a month ago and the more I think about it the more it makes sense; I can't do this shit anymore, my soul is already too weak because of it. Call centers and cube-farms are like cemeteries for dreams and dammit I'm not happy with where my plot is!
Something that this last breakup made me realize is that if there's a time in my life to be selfish and wildly ambitious it's right now. I'm young, no wife, no kids and no one else but me to worry about if I fall on my face and go into massive amounts of debt or bankruptcy.

Last year I bought my room mate a placard with a quote on it that's been ringing in my head lately; "Life is not about finding yourself, life is about CREATING yourself". Cheesy, I know, but it's the simplest shit that kicks you square in the ass at the right place and time. Since I've started researching businesses for sale, commercial real estate, Nebraska state requirements for licenses, permits, and codes relevant to bars it has felt like a new beginning of some kind. Every day I wake up and I get this feeling like I'm standing on the verge of a life changing event, this is a good thing!

Thankfully, I have a business partner in this and we have set the goal of having the location in our possession by March 1st and being open no later than St Patrick's Day. A little sudden? maybe, but I'm ok with that. There is no time like the present, and my empire isn't going to build itself while I'm sitting my ass in a call center.

Oh, brave new world with such people in it!



So, uh, how was yall's new years?

PS; I finally got my first tat

[Plaidman]

Well first off Welcome back. Glad your kick starting your life. Owning a bar huh? Are you going have any art there?

In anycase, um. YAY You!

[Ree]

Glad you got things together, but what a shitty thing to do to that happy couple.
They weren't responsible for your unhappy situation, why crap all over their special day, just because you were unhappy and your own relationship didn't work out?

[Shards]

Yeah, I have to agree with what's been said, good on you and all that, but seriously, dude, it was a wedding. Yes, the divorce rate is ridiculously high, but that doesn't give you the right to spoil the most important day of another person's life just because you were depressed.

[Sunsetsky]

It's nice that you got your life but together but I'm going to have to agree with everyone else in here. Yelling at the couple was uncalled for. They were just trying to enjoy their special day.

[Jester]

I won't comment on what you did to the wedded couple. Enough has been said (correctly) about it.

I am going to comment about the bar.

Be prepared to be delayed. Do not stress if you are delayed, as this is normal. In other words, don't be dead set on the dates you have set. Have some patience and flexibility. Remember, it's better to get it open RIGHT than to get it open ON TIME.

Also understand that when you do first open, there will be many bugs that you need to work out. And I mean in both the figurative and perhaps even the literal kind. In whatever budget you guys have, build in part of it to reflect unexpected expenses, as you WILL have those. Not just when you open, but throughout the life of the bar.

Be open to constructive criticism. Even if you've owned a bar before (and I don't think you have), you have to be willing to adjust to changing realities. To quote Gordon Ramsay: "Change....or die."

Speaking of Chef Ramsay, watch yourself several episodes of "Kitchen Nightmares." It is very educational, especially if you are opening up a bar. Pay attention to some of the finer points. Especially when he talks about not cheapening the place. There is a difference between running specials and making the place a joke.

Also understand that you may, probably will, have to fire someone eventually, perhaps often in the beginning. It sucks, it blows, but it is part of running a business. Remember that. It IS a business. And while you may like someone, if they need to go, they need to go, and you need to send them on your way.

Depending upon the size of the bar, you may want to hire some managers to help run it. The more reliable they are, the better. However, it will still be a full-time job, especially early on. And your business partner and you should set up ahead of time a hierarchy, delineating who has what power. Because there will be things you disagree on, and you should have in place a way to decide things when that happens. For example, my friend Popcorn and I talked a while about opening a bar in Mexico. I was going to handle the staff and entertainment, he was going to handle the nuts and bolts, the administrative stuff. It never happened, but we knew what our roles would be.

Study the bars in your area. Not just the good ones, but the bad ones. Figure out why a place is drawing people in, and why another place isn't. Learn from the successes and failures of these places. Remember that not everything they are doing to succeed or fail will be on display for you to see. You will have to read between the lines a lot.

I could go on and on (and often do), but you get the idea.

Good luck.

And CHEERS!

[dispatch]

I really do feel bad about the wedding party incident and have tried, unsuccessfully, to locate persons involved with the wedding to make a formal apology. One of these days I should at least throw something out there on craigslist and send them a bottle of scotch to make amends.

Jester, your advice and support never fails to impress me! Many things have been discussed and agreed upon already, including duties, hiring/firing procedures, and the fact that we are both going to have to be on site every day for at least the first year, one local bar owner that's been in business for 40 years told us we should be there daily for the first 5 years. Either way, it's going to be a lot of work, but I'm excited about it.

[Jester]

I disagree slightly.

ONE of you should be on hand or on call every day for a while early on. But EACH of you needs a day off, at least one day a week, just to decompress. As long as one of you is on hand each day, you should be fine.

Also, once you get the managers in place that you want and trust, it is good to give them the responsibility of running the place without y'all there.

But you DO need to take days off, not only for your own personal sanity, but just so you can see the bar in a fair light. If you are both there every day, a lot of things will just escape your notice.

And thank you for the kind words. I'm just an idiot beer-swilling bartender trying to help.

[dispatch]

...and your help is much appreciated, sir! I know we have our differences in style and opinion, but I do look up to you on a number of levels.

That is a good point on the days off issue. My cohort is married with 3 kids, so while I would be comfortable sleeping at the place, I know he is going to have issues requiring his attention on a regular basis. Among other things, we have made a list of things that we will need the approval of both owners on (hiring/firing, monetary issues over X dollars, etc) and areas that one or the other of us specialize in, but this is going to be a fairly small place so we're going to overlap in several areas.

What I am amazed at recently is the speed at which knowledge and connections can be made if you just start looking for them. I don't know if it's that I have an ear for this or if information is just out there, but it seems like everywhere I go I'm finding people who have insights and experience that they're willing to share.

[Jester]

I know we have our differences in style and opinion...

I have style? When did this happen?

I do look up to you on a number of levels.

Height probably not being one of them.

it seems like everywhere I go I'm finding people who have insights and experience that they're willing to share.

That does not surprise me. People are always willing to share their opinions, even if they are ignorant or wrong. Just remember that just because someone is willing to share with you doesn't mean that they know what they are talking about. Always keep a grain of salt on hand for such things.....

[Ree]

We have a lot of members who are upset by the part of your post where you admit to shouting an obscenity at a happy couple on their wedding day.

You have admitted you feel bad, and that you have attempted to make amends and would, if given the chance.
That's great to hear.

Unfortunately, it has really touched a nerve, and I fear, no matter how many times we mods will ask people to move past it, we're going to continue to have heated posts on that subject, rather than focusing on your plans for your new career path.

I'm going to close this one.

Feel free to repost about your new venture and perhaps the members can give you advice and encouragement in that thread.