My parents decided they wanted to start a cafe business in a small town in Texas. The whole process has been a nightmare. Everything from improper planning to day-to-day operations. I was not supposed to be a part of this business at all since I already had my own career. I figured I’d help them come up with the menu, branding, and drink recipes because I have barista experience from my college days. Once the business was about to launch, they ended up selling our home, forcing me to move to Texas. I could not afford Boston rent so I had no choice but to quit my job and go with them.
We’ve been open for 6 months now and business is not doing well. We barely make enough to cover rent and utilities. My dad is also spending more money by investing in equipment to expand our menu. He invested about $150,000 so far and we profit about $200 at the end of each month. I understand this is how most small businesses are for the first few years. It’s starting to take a toll on me because I do all the bookkeeping, planning, drink-making, customer service, etc. I work about 80 hours a week with no pay and had to sell my car just to have some funds to cover my student loans.
They are also clueless when it comes to using the POS or making drinks. I can’t even use the bathroom without them yelling my name when a customer walks in. My old man doesn’t even know what’s on the menu.
I don’t even know what to do anymore. I’ve been telling my parents I want to go back to work in my career field. I’m not sure if we should hire a business consultant or just ride it out until the wheels fall off.
I’m a restaurant cafe owner for 6 months too. Like you and your family, I didn’t bring home money for the last 6 months. The part that sucks is I even need to pour in more money without income when the business is not breaking even. I used up all my savings, and my wife’s too, and had been relying of my wife’s income for the last 6 months.
I’ve decided the testing period should stop now, and I’m focusing on getting a second job. The bright side is the restaurant cafe can run by itself now with minimal supervision. It just needs money to survive. In worst case I’ll close it down, but I still have hopes it will prevail.
The thing is cafe is oversupplied in my community. People draw to the vibe and the expensive coffee, thinking it’s high profit margin. It’s low entry barrier business. Truth is this is a bad year to start a cafe. The fast rising costs, labour and rental. There is really hardly any margin. Given the chance again, I’ll rather invest the money in real estate than to quit my job and like your parents spending 200k to buy a job without income.
My advice is find a job while still keeping the business going. Hire people. It’s low skilled labour business, it shouldn’t be hard to find someone to replace you. Help out when you can, but get another job to at least have some income for yourself.
Man it’s a bad time to start most businesses and considering that Walmart is saying we’re in a deflation and right around the holidays it’s going to get much worse. Deflation was the big event we needed not to happen because essentially once we fell into deflation there’s no chance of coming back now. Not trying to be discouraging but trying to be realistic. I would definitely be planning for long term to get through what’s coming.