I did a presentation to my employees on the progress of the charity and it was nice to tell everyone that we've raised £3k from my home games. As part of their employment contract, every employee in the new poker business will also have to donate a minimum of 1% of there basic salary to the charity aswell (the total amount raised will then be matched by me). People get full tax relief on the donation so is costs them less than 1% in reality. This should raise another £25k per year to help disabled people.
Theres lots of interest at sf group in the club aswell, mainly because we will be using the hospitality facilities to entertain our employees and clients - one of the reasons why the club needs to an "exclusive" and "upmarket" place. When I picked the £11,000 bar bill up at the end of the night I couldn't help thinking it would have been easier to get my credit card authorised at my own club!
We now have a full floor plan for the club, Nick emailed it to me this morning and it looks great and utilises the floorspace very well. I just need to send a copy to the owners of the building to get it officially authorised but they have already told me that will be a formaility.
Everyone who is helping me seems very motivated and after a lot of groundwork I know we are putting in good foundations in all areas. When I looked at the floorplan it gave me the bigest buzz so far since we commenced the project.
Its nice to work on something that you are genuinely enthusisatic about, I've never been scared of hard work, but I've not always been passionate about some of the business ventures that I've been involved in. I'm very conscious that this should remain fun for everyone involved and not become a "real business, I don't think I could cope with that pressure again.
Have a nice xmas everyone. I'll be doing my shopping tomorrow last minute as always. Some things never change.
