Took a trip to Dallas on Monday. Went with my brother in law, Josh. We were only there for an hour and it felt like saying hello to a long lost friend and then leaving immediately. It felt really weird! I thought for a second that I might have been homesick for Dallas, but remembered that I really love the Austin area! We went up there because he had won some items in a restaurant equipment auction. He got some really great stuff! I am hoping to bid on some things coming up in September....luckily those items will be in Pflugerville, which is only 50 or so miles away.
Big push to try and open by Wednesday. I would love to say we opened on 09/09/09! Getting some help this weekend and hopefully we can at least have our health inspection done by Tuesday. The biggest problem will be the plumbing....and the tankless water heater.
Got the logo done! That's one thing accomplished. Check out www.franksrocks.com to see it! It took me a while because I had to learn a new graphic manipulation program. It took me about 4 days, but the end result came out pretty good. I actually like it better than my first idea of a cartoon hot dog. The idea came to me in a day dream....I was sipping white tea while riding on a fluffy cloud horse named Antonio......just kidding. The idea came to me while thinking about decorating the inside with guitars. I thought about using my guitar collection and putting them in cases inside the building. Not sure I want to do that. I would be afraid that someone might decide to "borrow" one of them and not bring it back. Guess I will try to find some cheapy guitars to put on the walls.
I ordered one shirt to see how the new logo looks when printed and ordered 3D business cards. The shirt is black (of course) and has the regular logo on the front and then has an additional logo on the back that has the website address. It will probably look cool except that my long hair might get in the way. The new business cards are really cool. You basically move it back and forth and it shows the logo and the website address. I only ordered 40 of them because they are expensive. I will use them for special customers and when trying to get new catering jobs.
Working on rebuilding the website. I think that might happen once we open. Instead of the simple site we have now, the new one will be a full flash site. I need to learn that program also before the site can be relaunched. That should take me about 4 days.
Went and looked at some equipment today. I would have bought the ice machine, but it would have required us to drill holes in the roof and mount the condenser on the roof. That would have been a pain! Plus we would have had to upgraded the electrical box that also handles the air conditioner because it is also on the roof. So a $600 ice machine would have cost me around $2500 total. I'll wait and buy one where everything is built into the unit.
I did buy a new table for the outside customers. It is a tall pub table that is black metal and can handle an umbrella. We are going to put it out front for the "eat and run" customers. I got it at Home Depot for $64. It was like $150 new and they had it on clearance @ $99 for about 3 months. They finally lowered the price and we bought it! It comes apart real easy and we were able to put it in my little car. Would like to have more, but that one will do.
Speaking of tables, we found the coolest tables at the restaurant supply store. They are brushed aluminum/chrome and really personify the "Rock and Roll" attitude that Frank's Franks will be known for. They were $100 each, so we will have to wait. I could see us using those and the black tables we already have....black and chrome always looks good together!
Gonna try something weird on the hot dog front. Found out about something called "The Louisiana". Was curious about it, so I contacted someone who actually sells them in Louisiana...kinda had to, couldn't find anything online about it. Here is how it is made: Beef Hot Dog with Onions, Red Beans, and Tabasco. Sounds kinda weird, but it is really good! This guy doesn't use chili, but just uses the red beans instead. He said that sometimes they put rice on it, but only his "diehards" do that (red beans and rice dog?). Will have to work that into my specialty hot dogs in the future. I know of several native Louisianans that live in Bastrop and they would probably knock down my door to buy one!
Got a couple of my catering gigs sealed up. I hope that ends up being a HUGE part of the business! There is lots of guaranteed money in it where as the daily business will never be as consistent. Hope to seal up a third event real soon....that event will give me tons of local exposure.
The hot dog eating contest is being moved to the spring. I have bigger aspirations for the event and want to make it more than just a eating contest. Will be working out the details in the next few months and will set a date. Needless to say, this will definitely put us on the map! I will post more info once we determine what all is going to happen.
"Antonio".... bwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe logo looks good, Frank