hahaha here's the Reader's Digest Condensed Version :
The original Vera was a woman who opened up a small burger shack on the beach many years ago in Vancouver. By the time we got in on it, it had become franchised and Brian was head of the commissary for all 20+ locations. I bought one location and loved it, especially the cooking, but also because it was little, and in a family neighborhood; I loved meeting and getting to know so many regulars. When Brian was diagnosed, the doctor suggested getting rid of any stressors in our life, so the restaurant was the first to go. I didn't find it stressful, but he really did because he at that time still had his other job; I was able to take a leave from teaching to play restaurateur for a while.
Because I taught high school for so long, it's the thing that I offer up first when asked "what did you do for an occupation". Running a restaurant was something Brian and I both had always wanted to do, and of course he found out through his job that one was up for sale, so over a pitcher of beer, we made the decision to buy it :) That should tell you a lot about the way we are both wired :)
Not such a condensed version, but there you have it; the story of Vera's :)
Well, cool. It sounded like a good opportunity for the both of you. And it also sounds like the two of you were able to make the decision to get in together and also to get out when the time came.
My wife has wondered aloud about opening up a restaurant a few times. I told her that food restaurants (new ones without even the benefit of being a franchise) need a lot in their first few years to succeed, and we've never had that kind of money. We'd have to bootstrap it, run it out of our house during evenings if the neighborhood/city laws and our home insurance would allow it, and then see if we couldn't do more with it after that. We'd probably have to get into something like catering or take home food, so that we could be spending more time making money. Then, of course, at the time, I would have needed to keep working and then help her when I was done with that. And we'd have to hope no one got sick or majorly dissatisfied with the food or the service and create a social media disaster.
I told her if she wanted to break into that industry, the best thing to do would be to create frozen versions of the dinners she was wanting to make and then get them into local grocery stores (smaller ones first) and then work up, where we could go from our home to a commercial kitchen set up somewhere. I still like that idea the best.
Now, though, having a food truck would be the most popular and least expensive way to go, although, that still costs money and still has the potential for everything else I said.
People do it, obviously. You did. Congratulations. Especially since you enjoyed it. That's a not so common thing—to have your own business that you also enjoy.
It was relatively easy, being a franchise because the training and support was all included in the start up fee and initial sale. They of course want each franchise to succeed because it's a reflection of them (the franchisors), who by the way, were ex-BC Lions Football players and friends of ours. I have always been a good cook and years of experience teaching kids really helped with the hiring and "dealing" with employees, who were mostly young adults. I of course became "mom" to many of them and are still in touch with them today. I do seem to find the strays wherever I go :)
You are right though; it's not easy to start something from scratch. Farmer's Markets are a great place to start to see if there's any interest for your ideas too, and there's less red tape attached to that. Of course your health standards would be the same, because let's face it, no one wants to be responsible for an salmonella outbreak anywhere :)
We chalk it up to yet another little experience in our life together. Neither of our ex's would touch the idea, so it was certainly meant to be in my mind.
Oh, true. I'd forgotten about Farmer's Markets, and there's always the festival or fair during the nicer months. Participation fees in the two latter ones can get to be spendy though, so the exposure versus the cost would be at play.
Well, how cool is that. BC football players! Any of them American, since quite a few of our players end up there?
I'd definitely say it was meant to be. A love for cooking and good at it, the spouse that wants to do it, and friends with some franchisors. Cosmic tumblers aligned!
I have a couple of friends who started out at Farmer's Markets and then got a real little niche in Vancouver with their food. It's worth a try, but in the end, it's a labor of love I think.
The stars did line up for sure on that one.
Nope, good ol' Canadian farm boys I think :) Who like their beef haha