These past couple of months we have learned A LOT and there is no doubt there’s much more to follow.
First of all, although we’ve only been working on finally starting Aroha (pronounced Uh-Row-Ha, in case any Americans were wondering!) for the past two months, we had drawn up our business plan notes over a year ago. So in some ways, we already had a majority of the ideas done and out of the way. However, there’s a lot that goes into starting a restaurant. To say the least, we’ve been busy and we’ve been moving fast.
At the very beginning of February, after Gwith left his last job, Gwith and I decided together that it was time to start Aroha. After years of working endless hours for other people and barely seeing each other, we decided that if either of us were going to work long hours, it should at least be for us and with each other. We’ve always seen eye to eye with our management styles and as long as he cooks the food and I taste it, we’ll be fine. Me cooking on the other hand would be a terrible, terrible mistake. Crockpot, anyone?
On February 4th, I was already drafting up the entire 16 page business plan and our projections for the first three years. It was done by the next day and we were ready to start scoping out properties. Amongst our search, the one thing we were certain about was we did not want to be in the heart of Los Angeles for two reasons. One, LA’s restaurant scene is very trend based. What’s popular is popular (such as the current gastropub scene), what isn’t isn’t, and by next year, it will all flip to something else. The other reason is traffic. We didn’t want to commute on the 101 or the 405 for three hours every day. To us, this only meant one thing, moving further from LA and more towards the coastline.
On February 11th, we brought a broker on board but continued to search on our own as well. We were primarily looking for turn-key operations or locations with the basic restaurant equipment and plumbing included. Amongst our search, we set our sights on Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. We saw a lot of locations. Some of them were in fantastic spots (and were already taken) like the spot next to The Melting Pot in Westlake. Some of them were in questionable locations, like the one in an industrial park that we couldn’t quite figure out why anyone would travel there for dinner. Then there were the restaurants that just have you scratching your head: like the one in the beautiful town of Santa Barbara that looks run down and is somehow on the only street in Santa Barbara that doesn’t look taken care of.
By February 19th, we had set our sights on one location in particular. Of course, this location wasn’t exactly what we were planning on. It’s an empty shell. What does that mean? It means there’s literally nothing inside. No bathroom. No grease trap. No ceiling. Of course, that also means this location can be turned into anything we want. Our vision can be created. In terms of the spot, this place couldn’t get any better. It’s in the first center off the freeway exit on Lindero Canyon and it’s surrounded by notable restaurants including burger restaurant chain The Counter and Westlake’s #1 restaurant Lure, as well as plenty of surrounding businesses. Upon visiting this location with a friend of ours (a residential real-estate agent who lives in Westlake), we became ecstatic about the space! He mentioned to us that just up the street, Westlake is building the largest Target west of the Mississippi. In other words, any one going to this Target, will be driving past this restaurant location. Did I forget to mention that this restaurant space also has the corner spot and is the first place any traveler will see walking or driving down the street?
After balancing out the pluses and the minuses of this location, we realized we had to go for it. While discussing the lease for the past month, we’ve been meeting with everyone from contractors, food company reps, insurance agents, to permit lawyers. As of this week, we have finalized the lease and we’re ready to move. Our business cards are complete, our website is almost done (although you won’t be seeing anything other than the Coming Soon page until we open), and our social networking is just beginning!
Our amazing contractor Ashour (Ashour Construction) had a completed floor plan for us over a week ago and we are excited to be working with him. We will be starting construction within the week and we are excited to share the process with all of you.
