Robyn Alton
Port Richey, FL (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal
Chubby Subs Deli and Catering
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Startup
Location:
Port Richey
Industry:
Food Service/Restaurant
Year Founded:
2007
Number Employees:
1-10 people
Description:
My partner and I bought a small deli that had changed owners several times over a period of 3-4 years in September of 2007. Over the past 10 months we have been consistent in growing our business and drawing in new customers.
My partner and I are both Le Cordon Bleu trained chefs and are able to offer much more to the public than just great sandwiches, such as upscale and down-home catering services, party planning, take out dinners and dinner parties and hosting local events. We began offering the best deli products we knew of from the first day and all of these products have been so well received, customers come back just because we have these things that the other local places don't have.
Unfortunately, since March of this year we have experienced a marked drop in business. It's a strange thing, because we haven't lost customers and are still gaining new ones but at the end of the day, the cash register tells the story- our steadily increasing profits from the first seven months are gone! Our daily business is at a consistent level, but it's much lower than we can afford to keep. Because of the amazingly positive customer feedback, I can only assume that our woes are due to the unsettled economy. It's simple math, the people that were eating lunch with us every day are now down to two to three times a week and the change is going into their gas tanks.
I know that we can wait this out and things will turn in our favor before long, but our business is so new that we do not have the reserve cash built up to weather the current storm. With an inflow of cash, Chubby Subs would have the ability to pay our bills, keep on providing awesome and unique services and begin to advertise our business to draw in even more new customers and increase our daily sales. Yes, you read that last part right- we've had NO budget for advertising and all our initial growth was sheerly through word of mouth!
Once our current financial crisis is stabilized, we'd like to focus on expanding our products even further to include more baked goods and specialty items like salsas and sauces with our brand on them. This will require the purchase or lease of a few items we don't currently have such as a large mixer, a range and a larger cooler.
I think that we are a worthwhile investment because there are two people here who have put their heart and soul into this business and are willing to do whatever it takes to make a success of it. Even though times are rough for us, we have still consistently drawn in new customers and repeat customers in an economic environment where many of our competing businesses in the area have already gone under. We jokingly refer to the movie "Forest Gump" and say that if we can hang on until this storm is over, we'll be set up like Bubba Gump Shrimp!