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I retired from my 27 years at the Kennedy Space Center (I am ? after all ? a rokkit scientist) just over a year ago and was the happiest retired person in the known universe. There weren?t enough hours in the day for me to do nothing (much to the consternation of my lovely wife). Welp, part of the ?nothing? I enjoyed doing was visiting my local cigar tavern and enjoying a nice stogie, a light libation, and some brilliant conversation with like-minded friends. I?d been going to this place for a couple of years and had gotten to know many of the ?regulars? and, of course, the owner.
Turned out, the place he was in had just been bought out by a new landlord who wanted him out; raised his rent and made it known that he was no longer welcome. We were casually chatting about how much he?d like to move to a better location, plus add liquor to increase revenue, except that he had no available cash. Coincidentally, I?d just been doing a bit of ciphering on my financial position and deduced that although I had enough to scrape by, I wouldn?t exactly be living in the lap of luxury and was contemplating how to augment my position without actually doing any work. So, I happened to mention that I had a bit of a nest-egg saved up and that if he was seriously considering moving and upgrading, p?raps I might be able to join in as a financial partner (since I really knew nothing of matters business).
Well, one thing led to another and next thing I knew we were looking for locations to move our new joint venture to. Found a place that we both fell in love with and began negations with the landlord. We were -->this<-- close to closing the deal, only haggling a couple of percentage points, when alluvasudden the landlord said, ?Ahhh, never mind. The deal is off.? (Found out later, he had received a complaint from one of his existing tenants who didn?t want us there and he figured better a bird in the hand?)
We were heartbroken and despondent, but resumed our location search. Our broker told us about a place that had recently gone out of business in a location we?d looked at before, but which offered only bare-bones storefronts and didn?t impress us. The newly available place; however, had been a restaurant and had a number of features which made it very attractive. The original storefront that we?d tried to rent would have been a very good location, but was unimproved. We?d have had to add a rest room and build it up from scratch, a very costly proposition. The new place had a counter which could be easily converted to a bar, plus already had men?s and women?s rest rooms, a lovely wood floor, and was larger. Location-wise, it was at least as desirable (if not better) and had easy access, plenty of parking, plus was very close to where I live! Negotiations ensued and next thing we knew we had a signed lease.
Now the work began in earnest. I had no idea how complicated it was to start a business. My only frame of reference was my dad who had owned a number of businesses as I was growing up (the grass always being greener doing something different) and needed little more than a name, a shop, and some inventory. Now, however, the bureaucratic obstacles confronting the poor, little businessperson are overwhelming. I won?t detail the incredibly complex and overwhelming process (complicated, of course, by obtaining a liquor license), suffice it to say that I got the last approval certification less than half an hour before we opened our doors for business.
But I am now the proud owner of Ashes Cigar Tavern, the only such in Brevard County, Florida that serves liquor, not just beer and wine. I will be posting some pictures once we have the place fixed up to our liking, having had to exchange opening as quickly as possible to generate some cash flow in lieu of holding off until all the niceties were completed.
Needless to say, I am very excited and also more than a bit nervous; any new enterprise in these troubled financial times is a risk.
At the moment, our website is rather sketchy, other necessities having a higher priority. But if you check back, it will become more robust, complete with pictures: http://ashescigars.com.
And it goes without saying that any of you who may happen upon my little part of the world (although Melbourne, Florida may not be a prime tourist area, it is only 45 minutes from Orlando, which is) are not only welcome to rokkitsci George?s establishment but will be drinking and smoking on the house!
Turned out, the place he was in had just been bought out by a new landlord who wanted him out; raised his rent and made it known that he was no longer welcome. We were casually chatting about how much he?d like to move to a better location, plus add liquor to increase revenue, except that he had no available cash. Coincidentally, I?d just been doing a bit of ciphering on my financial position and deduced that although I had enough to scrape by, I wouldn?t exactly be living in the lap of luxury and was contemplating how to augment my position without actually doing any work. So, I happened to mention that I had a bit of a nest-egg saved up and that if he was seriously considering moving and upgrading, p?raps I might be able to join in as a financial partner (since I really knew nothing of matters business).
Well, one thing led to another and next thing I knew we were looking for locations to move our new joint venture to. Found a place that we both fell in love with and began negations with the landlord. We were -->this<-- close to closing the deal, only haggling a couple of percentage points, when alluvasudden the landlord said, ?Ahhh, never mind. The deal is off.? (Found out later, he had received a complaint from one of his existing tenants who didn?t want us there and he figured better a bird in the hand?)
We were heartbroken and despondent, but resumed our location search. Our broker told us about a place that had recently gone out of business in a location we?d looked at before, but which offered only bare-bones storefronts and didn?t impress us. The newly available place; however, had been a restaurant and had a number of features which made it very attractive. The original storefront that we?d tried to rent would have been a very good location, but was unimproved. We?d have had to add a rest room and build it up from scratch, a very costly proposition. The new place had a counter which could be easily converted to a bar, plus already had men?s and women?s rest rooms, a lovely wood floor, and was larger. Location-wise, it was at least as desirable (if not better) and had easy access, plenty of parking, plus was very close to where I live! Negotiations ensued and next thing we knew we had a signed lease.
Now the work began in earnest. I had no idea how complicated it was to start a business. My only frame of reference was my dad who had owned a number of businesses as I was growing up (the grass always being greener doing something different) and needed little more than a name, a shop, and some inventory. Now, however, the bureaucratic obstacles confronting the poor, little businessperson are overwhelming. I won?t detail the incredibly complex and overwhelming process (complicated, of course, by obtaining a liquor license), suffice it to say that I got the last approval certification less than half an hour before we opened our doors for business.
But I am now the proud owner of Ashes Cigar Tavern, the only such in Brevard County, Florida that serves liquor, not just beer and wine. I will be posting some pictures once we have the place fixed up to our liking, having had to exchange opening as quickly as possible to generate some cash flow in lieu of holding off until all the niceties were completed.
Needless to say, I am very excited and also more than a bit nervous; any new enterprise in these troubled financial times is a risk.
At the moment, our website is rather sketchy, other necessities having a higher priority. But if you check back, it will become more robust, complete with pictures: http://ashescigars.com.
And it goes without saying that any of you who may happen upon my little part of the world (although Melbourne, Florida may not be a prime tourist area, it is only 45 minutes from Orlando, which is) are not only welcome to rokkitsci George?s establishment but will be drinking and smoking on the house!
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