ANSWERS TO THE  MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What stage in the process should I be at to get the most out of this seminar?

We've had individuals at each stage in the process attend our workshops. Participants have ranged from having a complete business plan and retail space identified to just the seed of an idea. All found the workshop to be highly beneficial and relevant to their needs. We believe the earlier in the process the better. The information and hands-on experiences provided can guide the concept basics. Participants will also take away the resources and contacts to continue to learn and apply their knowledge. People have even used this experience to decide that this was not what they wanted to do! That is wonderful to hear from our perspective. We save those people a lot of time, effort, and financial investment that can now be devoted elsewhere. The practical human resource, safety, training, financial and other information we provide will benefit participants no matter what they end up doing with their professional life. Another participant who manages two operating family restaurants also found the workshop immensely helpful. Because of the depth and breadth of information we cover, there truly is something for everyone.

I have lots of restaurant experience, or no restaurant experience whatsoever, is this seminar for me?

Our team has a uniquely balanced approach to restaurant management that we feel will be of benefit to people with almost any level of expertise in the industry. We believe even the smallest of businesses are best run with the support structure and systems often only found in large corporations. That's why we've created our details human resource, training, safety, operational procedure and other manuals. Unless you've worked in upper corporate management before, our experience tells us you will learn a lot! We are primarily designed for the non-industry professional. That's why we offer such a broad, hands-on intensive workshop. We want to help the "little guy" succeed in this tough industry and again, get you started on the right foot!

I'm not developing a café, but a (play space/music venue/theatre/or something else) with food. Will this seminar still be useful?

Many of our workshop attendees have been developing business models that only have a food and beverage element, such as a "pay-for-play" business model where the main revenue comes from admission. We also have experience with athletic clubs, theatres, hotels, entertainment centers, golf clubs and other business models where food service is simply a component of a larger business model.  Making a profit through food service can be more challenging than it seems. We believe this seminar will be useful to anyone considering serving food and beverages in any business model.

Can you tell me how profitable my business model will be? Do you share actual Peanut Butter & Ellie's, or other restaurant financial information?

The financial success or failure of a restaurant depends heavily on location, concept, and management. We also want to be useful for people with a wide array of conceptual ideas. Between our entire team we have experience in literally hundreds of different food service businesses. We share details about average ticket prices, average daily revenues and similar financial measures for our restaurants and others. We also provide information on how to determine this for yourself, including how to do a break even analysis, industry standards on expenses such as food costs, rent, labor, and other standard categories, and concept unique expenses such as organic and local foods, kid oriented facilities, and more.

Our workshop includes an entire session on construction and equipment purchasing with individuals who specialize in building out and opening restaurants. Participants also benefit from the team's vast experience in opening everything from coffee kiosks to huge destination restaurants. Participants should leave the seminar with a strong understanding of investment ranges and the important issues to consider during the construction phase.

Do you limit attendance?  Will I be the only one from my area?

We do limit attendance in all our seminars to approximately 20 people depending on what is being offered.  We strongly believe in the benefit of communication, and being able to respond to individual needs and questions.  We also include several different opportunities for one-on-one discussion with our seminar leaders.

We do not limit the number of people attending from a certain area.  We believe strongly in the benefit of collaboration.  We also find our participants come in with so many different business models, or at so many different stages in the process, that it is simply not possible for us to address competition for each of our participants.

If attending the Kids’ Café workshop can I use the Peanut Butter & Ellie's name, menu or other copyright and trademarked materials? What about the materials from another of your concepts?

No. This seminar is designed to educate would-be-entrepreneurs on how to develop and run their own food related business. Our experience in serving families, as parents balancing work and home, on being a novice and entering this field and our attitude, experiences and thoughts behind making P.B. & Ellie's Café what it is are shared throughout the workshop, both formally and informally.

We do develop full restaurant and child only Peanut Butter & Ellie's licensed menus under a separate agreement. These utilize our fun menu items, darling characters, and years of experience in this unique market. Please inquire if you'd like additional information.