Our first business venture - The Red House

Caporegime
Joined
29 Aug 2007
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28,594
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Auckland
You know about the signage, you need to get a sign up at sheepworld...

Sheep World is unironically rad. I thought it'd be very weird and/or boring but we had a blast :) I'm not sure on the legalities of putting signs up. I wonder if you can just put anything up anywhere (within reason) or if you need some kind of approval from the Transport Dept or something similar? Regardless, it's a great idea to get one up if you can. I bet you five dollars you'll be more busy again in the next two weeks once people get out of holiday mode.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
11,292
Location
Matakana New Zealand
Awesome, also saw that dumb review sometimes people are just idiots and the internet lets them have an opinion. Dont let them grind you down!

Jen said that perhaps you need to focus on the place having one crowd, the toys in the corner and the family fun days are pushing one way and perhaps the live music etc is going another. Not sure myself, but she is sometimes good at thos stuff.

Yes, that review! The guy that left that is a relative of our waitress, they were part of the 1st birthday party we had yesterday! Even the waitress was gobsmacked lol. I clicked that the review last night was yours too. Cheers @Beren
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
11,292
Location
Matakana New Zealand
Awesome, also saw that dumb review sometimes people are just idiots and the internet lets them have an opinion. Dont let them grind you down!

Jen said that perhaps you need to focus on the place having one crowd, the toys in the corner and the family fun days are pushing one way and perhaps the live music etc is going another. Not sure myself, but she is sometimes good at thos stuff.

I get what Jen is saying, but we don't get many evening drinkers in and it's a market i want a share of. It wouldn't affect our daytime trade, i.e families. No harm in trying anyway lol
 
Soldato
Joined
16 May 2004
Posts
6,116
Location
Derby
Not sure if it's been mentioned but restaurants in general will be quiet in January and beginning of Feb. I work in a big chain of pubs restaurants and the big wigs put up 40% off for Mon-Sat for the first 2 weeks of Jan and 30% off the third week and 20% off 4th week. It's great for footfall but for us in the kitchen it's hell.
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Jul 2010
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25,657
Don’t forget to push Valentine’s Day with some deals, known aphrodisiacs and stuff like darker room with candles, heart shaped food etc. Offer a free meal to anyone who proposes on the night etc.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
11,292
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Matakana New Zealand
Hi, things have been steady for the last couple of months, though we had our quietest week last week, which was a bit scary, but that may be because this week is a long weekend. Yesterday and today have been fantastic days for us, i've cooked over 200 meals on my own in the kitchen today! That was extremely hard work! But worth it in the end. Sundays are normally our busiest days, but they can be weather dependent, and tomorrows weather isn't looking too flash. Long story short, we're getting by, paying all the bills and we've reinvested into the business quite a lot. We bought a whole PA system to host open mic nights, and for private parties etc, i've jsut invested in a commercial vac pac machine and sous vide to improve recipes, and to make life a little easier for me.

However, the next 3 months are going to be a huge test as it's winter, we've got plenty of ideas though to bring in trade throughout the winter though, we've started a gold plus card discount for OAP's and dropped flyers at retirement villages. We're planning a weekly quiz night, but making it into a league with the winner at the end of 12 weeks taking home $500 prize, hopefully that should pique interest. I'm planning a big 80's disco complete with LED dance floor and loads of 80's relics for decoration for the end of July, which coincides with my birthday, so secretly a birthday party for me :D. We're looking at a mid winter xmas night, open mic nights, and we have a karaoke night on every month already which is great. We've got a couple of 'meet the brewer' tap takeovers planned too. We've also had a couple of enquiries about wedding receptions, though no set bookings yet.

I just can't wait to get this winter out of the way though, because next season should be bigger and better, now that we're settled and have a bit of a following. For our first birthday (4th October), we're having an Oktoberfest party. So plenty to look forward to, but plenty to worry about too haha!
 
Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
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25,020
Location
Godalming
Sad as it is, the thing I'm looking forward to the most in kiwiland is tasting your lovely sous vide steak you're gonna cook my wife and I :D


Glad it's all going well, I love reading your updates!
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
11,292
Location
Matakana New Zealand
Sad as it is, the thing I'm looking forward to the most in kiwiland is tasting your lovely sous vide steak you're gonna cook my wife and I :D


Glad it's all going well, I love reading your updates!
Start salivating ;)

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