FIRST MONTH

So, yeah, first month is over. We made it this far. I am just figuring out how much I owe in sales taxes and withholding income taxes, and also federal and state unemployment taxes. It is coming out to about $3,500 due in October. I am looking forward to being able to write the check! We are also opening on Friday and Saturday nights until 3 am! This is gunna be awesome cos all the bars in the area close at 1 am. So we will be doing well there, plus, we are advertising football trays for Sunday's and Monday Night Games. A tray of Italian Beef for 95 bucks or a tray of 20 Chicago Style Hot Dogs with a tray of Cheddar Fries for 55 bucks or a tray of Caesar Salad for 35 bucks! Sunday is my slowest day, so this will make it worth staying open until the end of January!

We are really doing well! The blogtv thing is also a bit gimicky, but it keeps all the employees on their toes as far as keeping their cursing to a minimum. Everyone who tunes in online will be able to see us just operating live! Go ahead and check it out if you want. www.blogtv.com/people/hawt_dawg If you have an account, if I am online and looking over at the computer I will say, "hi!" Otherwise, we will just do the same thing every time. Stay busy!

I need to keep my employees happy with their hours. And so far they are really good at doing all they can to keep up with everything. They are really committed to the success of the restaurant. But they are counting on me for their livelihood. So I have to keep working every day on the best ways to increase our sales so that I can make the payroll work for us. Right now we are at about $5,000 a week in sales, which is like 25% more than I had figured in my business plan! So that is AMAZING! Once we get open for the bar rush and start doing these football trays, I am hoping to get to $7,000 a week or better.

Not to mention our catering orders! We have had a couple party trays go out already, and that was exciting as HELL! We need to keep that up! Everyone has been really positive all throughout the town. Like, EVERYONE comes in and tells me that the food is GREAT! They come in from friends referrals and tell me that they have heard nothing but good things about us, and it is all so humbling. I get choked up when someone comes in EVERY DAY and tells me that my food is GREAT! EVERY DAY I get more and more compliments. And we are doing it all really right!

The last two guys who had this place did like 1/3 or 1/2 of the business volume that we are doing. And we have room to make it even better. We will. Thanks for all of those of you who have been praying for my success. You are all really cool for giving me positive reactions during my planning and development phase. We are finally coming together and we look like we pretty much know what we are doing. It really is rewarding to own your own business. But I am quite tired. I am working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. And it isn't like my pockets are bursting at the seams yet. I can barely pay my own rent. But it's coming together. Stay tuned to updates. Love you all!

SOOOO BUSY!

We have been open for like three weeks, and I have been sooooo busy! I have 6 people working for me now, so I depend on them for so much! They are really committed to the success of the restaurant. And people LOVE my food! I have had a LOT of regular customers who come in EVERY DAY! It has been absolutely THRILLING!

Someone told me that I couldn't afford to buy an IPOD itouch, cos I needed money for silly things like "Bins!" Believe it or not, "Bins" are not my biggest concern, but rather my payroll! My employees all need to get paid, then there is taxes, for payroll, medicare, and social security as well as unemployment insurance, state and federal, and also workman's comp insurance. INCREDIBLE how much and how fast it all comes and goes every month. We are doing really well tho. Despite me working from 7 am til 11 pm every single day. Gyros, fresh cut fries, homemade au jus for my italian beef sandwiches, chicago hot dogs... fresh soups made daily, salads, appetizers and just a bunch of really great stuff on my menu and nothing but compliments.

I love you all, and I am sorry for not having been online in a while... and yes, the bins are bought, but the IPOD is still coming, I just need to make sure I can pay my payroll first! Patience! :-)