Yes! (pause.. reality sinks in...) uh, wait, I change my mind?!?

Last big idea was starting the restaurant, right? Well.. to start research on that I had contacted the commercial realtor. Received a call back and set up an appointment to meet and ask questions about starting a restaurant.  It was just my luck, I ended up speaking with a realtor who has been in the Hawaii Restaurant/Real Estate biz for over 30 years. He's not only a realtor, but also a restaurant consultant and a part owner in multiple local restaurants. If there was anyone who I needed to talk to about opening a restaurant, it was him. :)

I met him at Starbucks yesterday morning and he answered a whole multitude of questions and also provided some insights on things I hadn't even thought about.  I won't get into all the details, but basically, after I was done with the meeting, I realized I was way in over my head.  Restaurant biz, difficult I understood, but going at it solo is pretty much impossible.   I would need help, and money too, a lot of it.  So, my dreams of starting a restaurant are not totally unrealistic, just bad timing for now. I need to find a job/or start a biz where I can make $$ now.  With a restaurant, it will be months of prep (finding location/getting funding (loans), getting supplies, employees, etc., which is something I can return to later in the future. 

What to do now? With that thought I set off to Home Depot via the bus to buy drapes for my bedroom. :) The bus is great, but its also a time killer. My handy dandy iPhone says the bus will arrive at 315. Perfect, I reach the bus stop 10 min early.  315, no bus, instead I watch helplessly as not 2, 4, or even 8 - I watched 13 buses drive by that were "Not In Service". Finally at 343 I see my bus in the horizon, but he doesn't stop. As he's driving by I see he's at full capacity. :(  Eventually I catch a bus close to 4, get off downtown to change to a diff bus and reach home. *sigh* Oh well.. Its not like I have anything important, like a job to get to in time. Yet. :)

Ah, so yes, here's "uh wait, I change my mind" bit.  I reach home and my roommate tells me the landlord had called for me. Hmmm.. I wonder what's up?  I give him a call back and he tells me he wants to hire me for a catering job! YES! He says 25 people, Indian food (his daughter is going to India for a few weeks/month for a volunteer project).  At first, I'm beyond excited - my first "gig". If I can do this, he'll help spread the word. More people will find out and thus, more catering opportunities.

However, instead of jumping for joy, I felt like a bag of bricks (is that the right analogy?). Anyhow, what I mean is, I started thinking of what he wants, what I have, what I'd need to get, the time to do it, can I do it?, do I want to do it? Yikes, I was overwhelmed and all I could think of was, my boss was right. I cook because I love to. But now that "have to" is a part of the equation, all the excitement and joy is gone. Yikes! Thank goodness I found out now! Ha!  Time to call the landlord and say no can do (just being honest, I don't have the facility, the cookware, the serving dishes, etc. - this one gig (even if just to be polite) will cost me more than what its worth) so.. I'll offer to make some of my specialty "pakoras" as a gift and be done with it.  :)

On to the next project/idea...  There's lots of tourists, lots of wealthy tourists.. what kind of service/product can I provide that will involve them?  Or maybe not them, not the tourists, but perhaps the business clients that come to Oahu and are wined/dined/entertained.  I wonder if there are any casino party rentals in the area?  A great majority of the tourists are Asian - and everyone knows they love to gamble. :)  There's no legal gambling on the island, but what about casino parties?  They get all the fun of gambling even though there's no money involved.. I see a potential market/need. I'm going to explore it. :)