The Bar & The Fear.
 

Hey all,

I've been away for a bit, not that any of you lot have noticed. We opened the bar on Friday. It was a big night, a lot of girls, good music and they spent a lot. A good way to start but there is still a hell of a lot to do. The last month has consisted of my partner and I putting in 16 hour days to renovate the place and get it open on time for the summer season which has just kicked in.

The reason we started so late is that the papers and licences and all that crap took so long to come through, as is the Italian way. But we've got it open in time and it looks good and now all we have to do is make it work. Easy, right?

Yesterday I woke up with, The Fear. I've never encountered this before. I really don't want to feck this up, and there is the possibility for it to go wrong in so many ways. We have to strike a balance between keeping the locals happy so we can survive in the off-season, and giving the tourists what they want. And I'm only just realising just how tricky this is going to be. In the last six months, all I've been focused on was getting the bar open. Well, it's open and now I have to run the thing. We also have a thousand people in our ear telling us how to do this and that. If we listen to them, then we'll go mad. So we have to stick to our vision and hope we can pull it off.

It's scary stuff. So if any of you have been here, done that, or have similar experiences of your own, I'd really appreciate you throwing them down here to give me a branch to hold on to.

ads.

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

ads,
I know what you mean by the fear, though mine has usually been related to music performance or gaming. Actually I think most really really successful people have learnt how to channel this, since usually how i feel is just 'well, if there is a way to succeed i will just have to work so hard that i find it'.

Sometimes this is like 'wake up from nightmare after 4 hours sleep, go back to 10-12 hour day of whatever it is i have to succeed at'. Funnily enough, without this motivator, I am actually quite a lazy carefree person, so I guess it is good in some ways.

Oh edit for encouragement; usually when I go through these phases I dominate whatever I do, probably because it seems like other people aren't motivated in the same way and it's pretty hard to work really really hard if you aren't afraid of mediocrity.

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

The only known cures for The Fear is time or a Xanax, if you don't feel like waiting.

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

I haven't been following this. Where is the bar, so I can show up and give you some hard-earned cash?

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

ads,

"We have to strike a balance between keeping the locals happy so we can survive in the off-season, and giving the tourists what they want."

Some more details on the types of things locals vs. tourists are looking for.

I have a lot of experience w/ neighborhood bars where you have one crowd Sun-Thurs and a completely different crowd Fri/Sat. Your profits come from Fri/Sat, but you need the regulars to stay close to breakeven the rest of the week. It's definitely a tricky balance.

Your kind of fear is super natural anytime you are taking a big risk on an ambitious project. There's really no way around it. You just have to keep making smart decisions and the more and more you succeed, the less fear you'll have. But I think just about any business owner has that sort of fear of everything blowing up and your business going to hell.

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

(any chance you are close to milan?)

i think sponsoring a local sports team (made up of members who like to party) is a great way to get some 'during the week' support.

italian equivalent of kickball or softball?

i really hope you make it, i plan on drinking at your bar in about 3-5 years, when i venture to italy to find me a wife! good luck!

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

One thing that I remember from the meetings Ive been having with my uncle as of late, is that when you stop fearing failure, you are most likely going to (in teh restaurant biz).

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

I think THE FEAR is often a product of the size of our world. I know when I have most of my eggs in one basket, the pressure mounts as the walls close in. When we have options, when we risk less, it easy to not take things too seriously.

On a side note, if you want a handsome, charming, go-getter to help recruit for the bar, or help bartend whatever, I am desperately looking for a change of scenery [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

My Italian is spotty, but I did live in Florence for six months. . .

Good luck with the Bar Ads.

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

Are there any pictures online, or that you can put online, of your bar?

Re: The Bar & The Fear.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Are there any pictures online, or that you can put online, of your bar?

[/ QUOTE ]

ditto this. Also, fear is healthy, and how you respond to it is what determines success/failure imo. GL with everything.