Post #15361 by Tiki Chris on Wed, Dec 4, 2002 1:40 AM

here are some ideas i have swimming around in my head. good luck!

location:

i think what is most essential is finding out about your location - & the people in & around that location that will most likely come to yr establishment.

will they be working class? yuppies? singles? families?

the main thing is that you'll want to figure out what their values & expectations are. meet their values head on & strive to always go beyond what they are expecting.

food:

i presume y're going to serve food. since y're a chef, that's probably a good consideration. does roy yamaguchi have a restaurant in chicago?

http://roys-restaurants.com

if not you may be able to tap that market (hawaiian regional cuisine) & get some loyal customers before they do.

would you really serve all the food you were describing to gecko? it made me hungry!!! but what evidence do you have that the people in yr potential location will want that? how expensive will it be to ship some of those ingredients to chicago?

trader vic's & other bars:

how will you differentiate yrself from trader vic's? as an alternative for people that would normally go to tv's? as a more local tv's? as more upscale or more affordable than tv's?

why should people go to your bar rather than other existing ones?

yr financier:

what does s/he know about tiki? how did you convince him/her that opening the bar is a good idea? do yr ideas about what constitutes a 'cool tiki bar' mesh w/ his/her ideas?

what knowledge does s/he have of the area? why does s/he want the place to be in chicago?

will s/he be a silent partner?

advice:

i think y're really doing yrself a big favor coming to tc to ask for advice.

have you thought about asking tc members who make money w/ tiki-related businesses for more specific advice?

also, consider checking out

http://www.score.org

as well as

http://www.sba.gov/

as gov organisations they are legally bound to give you free advice. & should be able to hook you up w/ a (free) counsellor best suited for yr needs.

sba.gov has a ton of excellent advice about writing biz plans, etc.

take care & please keep us posted.

tiki chris

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2002-12-04 01:43 ]