Hey guys! I know a lot of people have been wondering why I sold Beach N' Boba when it was doing particularly well. A lot of loyal customers were devastated at the news and I wanted to definitely explain myself to all of the BnB loyalists.
First of all, BnB was almost exactly what I wanted it to become. It was a place to do homework on slow nights, a place to hang out with friends and grab some food/drinks on the way to the beach or after a long week of school and work. The customer support was amazing and the staff always went above and beyond which will always be appreciated.
So what led me to sell? I was exploring the option after the new year when I had bought out my business partner; I threw it out there and there were a few takers. I continued to run the business while talking with potential suitors who were amazed at what we had done with the property within a little over a year. If you didn't know what was there before, it was a Chinese American diner that was doing a miniscule amount of business. We took over the property and made it into a destination spot all the way in the Outer Sunset far away from most other businesses. We built a brand in a very short time and our customer support and loyalty never wavered.
So onto the list of reasons to sell:
1. Price: I was offered a very good price and it was a win-win proposition for both of the parties with regards to the payout structure.
2. Cost: Even though Beach N' Boba was making a fair amount of money, costs were continuously growing. The minimum wage hit hard...the first month of the wage going from 11.05-->12.25 I paid about 15-20% more in wages! Not only that, the increased cost of rent, insurance and inventory was slowly decreasing the amount of money I was making every month.
3. Space: Honestly, I felt like the amount of space I needed to make BnB exactly what I wanted. I wanted an actual walkway for customers to get to the cash register and then have a space to wait for their to-go drinks. I wanted many more tables that would allow as many people to play cards and board games as long as they wanted to stay. I wanted more space for my employees to be able to work and be able to walk and talk with my customers. The limited amount of space definitely hampered my ability to make BnB what I wanted it to be on an even larger scale.
4. Time: When I opened my business, what I wanted to do was eventually establish a place that would produce residual income for me without me worrying about it. Even when I got to a point where BnB was almost completely running itself during our open hours and I rarely worked, I always had to do behind-the-scene things. I still went to buy inventory twice a week, manage and handle paychecks and staffing, deal with government things relating to taxes among many other annoyances. I still dedicated many hours to BnB even though I may have rarely stepped foot inside. You may ask, why didn't you hire someone to do those things? It again reverts to cost. If I had paid someone to do all the things that I did in the background, I would probably not be taking any money home, especially after the minimum wage went up.
5. Growth Ceiling: What I mean by ceiling is the ability to continually make money while other costs increase. In terms of price point, I was already very close to the maximum that I was going to be able to charge for my drinks and food. While the prices were pretty reasonable, I didn't believe that continually raising prices on items was a sufficient nor feasible way to continue to run the business. It would drive loyal customers away while turning new customers away as well.
Overall a lot of very important factors played a role in my decision. I am so happy that Beach N' Boba inspired such strong loyalty and played such an integral role in the community. I couldn't have asked for a more dedicated staff or a more devoted clientele. I will try to continually write in this blog and I would love everyone to continue following my thoughts and ideas here!
-Wilson
