Owning my own bar and lounge

by Ronnie
(Tyler, Texas)

I have been involved in the service industry for over a decade now. I started as a waiter in a slow restaurant and have progressed to the level of general manager. At my peak, I oversaw and participated in the sales of a club doing over $4 million dollars a year.

My passion is to own my own bar/lounge. In my tenure, I have developed the working knowledge of all aspects of this venture. I have already devised a full prospectus including a 1, 3, and 5 year plan. There is a C.A.D. drawing showing the layout in full detail. Clauses have been built in to franchise when the opportunity arrives. My problem is, I have had difficulty finding investing partners. As well, I do not have the money to go at this venture with my own assets.

I am well aware that you are not in the business of venture capital. Nor, am I asking you to become an investor. My problem is that I live in Tyler, Texas. There are only 2 bars in this city that even come close to comparison of what I have been trained for. I see vast potential in becoming the third. I would prefer not to move. However, as mentioned there are not many opportunities for me to excel at the level that I would like in the field that I am given without owning my own business.

I am 30 years old. I have never been in any other field. If the goal of having my own business does not come to fruition in the next 6 years, I fear that all of my hard work and dedication will have been in vain.

My questions to you are......

Can you help me to either find a new career that I would be equally successful/passionate about?

If not....

Can you point me into the right direction to find the funding that I need through your networking contacts as a recruiter?

Response from Carl: Thanks for your submission Ronnie. I worked mostly as an IT recruiter so the roles I tended to work on were mostly IT related and tended to have nothing to do with money people unfortunately, the type of people you need right now!

I'm hesitant to point you in the direction of a new career because it seems like you are very interested in starting up your own bar and I'd hate to be the guy to tell you to do something different especially as we don't even know each other and I'm hardly a person who could comment on how you should live your life. You do strike me as someone from your comments who is realistic however and since you're only 30 you're still a young guy.

Are there opportunities to work with your local bank to get the money rather than going the venture capital route? Can friends and/or family help out? Can you work for awhile longer and save money on the side to help you eventually reach the dream of owning your own place? I'm probably not offering up any advice you haven't thought of yourself but based on what I'm reading about you, I can only really offer basic suggestions since my expertise is more along the lines of more traditional job searches and career management.

The only the other thing I could suggest is going outside your immediate town - since I doubt the two local bars would want to help since you'd be their competitor! - and contact some bars and lounges, get the owner on the phone, and ask them how they did it. Pick their brain and ask them to tell you how they got their start, how they got their funding and how their business got started. You might get an idea or two you hadn't thought of, you might get a better idea as to the industry (and whether or not you really want to be part of it) and might also pick up a few contacts too. I always think that going to the source is the best way to get an answer ie. go speak with people who have already done what you want to do.

Perhaps another visitor might have some more information regarding how to reach your goal.

Carl