We are just finishing the re-fit of my pub, I've renamed it "The Nuthall", and the opening night is this Saturday August 11th 2007, I'm gonna have a little party, most of the DTD guys will be there, so please feel free to come along for a couple of beers. Its on Nottingham road, just off J26 of the M1, and was previously called "The Browtowe". The common view is that I've made a bit of cock up with the pub, as I am currently over £300,000 in the hole after the re-fit, but it looks good, and I can really see the potential! (to eventually scrape to break even).
My Group Finance Director, Rebecca, who has been with me for over 10 years, just doesn't understand my mentality sometimes, DTD has really hacked her off, every month she pays the bills and gets little revenue in, and hears me tell her "it will come good.......blah blah". This worked for the first 6-9 months, but after over 2 years of shelling out, its hard to keep telling her "keep the faith".
I am sure there is a point when I have to say "enough is enough" for DTD, but I do not know when this will be, I think I may just wake up one morning and say, "that's it, I've done my best". Who knows? This is just the way I am, I work day to day, change my mind freqently, and will make U turns following a dream that I had the previous night. This is the way I do things, but I never feel scared or worried, as long as I can pay peoples wages, and look after my family, I'm pretty happy to follow my insticts, wherever they take me.
I have been reading my birthday present, a book called "Tycoon" , by that plonker Peter Jones (who made his money in IT and mobile phones), off the TV programme, Dragons Den. What a load of crap IMO, he tells people that the way to be a successful entreprenneur is to "unlock your imagination", "realise your potential", "write down a list of your dreams", "lie back and imagine being rich" blah blah blah. He forgets to mention the biggest and most important factor - "be lucky!"
Have I been lucky in business? Yes, massively to date, until DTD, where I believe I have had some elements of bad luck. If I had just built a poker club, opened up, charged what I wanted, I probably would have a chance that I would still be trading and in a much better financial position, but I would always have the stress of being shut down when the September 2007 Gaming Act comes into place (and the worry about 80 peoples jobs).
I decided to do avoid this "uncertainty", and go through the pain of trying to be legal, which of course meant breaking the monopoly of the big 4 casinos (who have 87% of the UK casino market). I admit, it has been tougher that I thought, things have not gone exactly according to plan, so it is time to use all my business skills and experience ie."be lucky" lol
Maybe see some of you Blondites in the "Hunt the Pros" comp tonight on DTD, I love busting that donkey MPOWER
Cheers Rob
"tomorrow is a new day"
