Yay for Me

[Neuqua]

As I hinted towards in my Face the Board thread, for the past few months I have been in the process of acquiring my own business to run. I have spent the better part of the year doing my research in hoping to find a opportunity that would be beneficial for me. Originally the time line I had set for myself was sometime around 2009.

Well, that opportunity came along a year earlier than expected.

A couple of weeks ago I finalized the contracts and paperwork and bought a 7-Eleven about fifteen minutes from my house on a reasonably busy intersection. I have to attend training at a corporate store for six weeks in the city of Chicago starting November 12th and then I will have my grand opening the first or second week of January 2008.

I am both excited and extremely nervous about my upcoming venture. The main thing I am nervous about is this being one of my first big responsibilities in life. As some of you may or may not know, I am still pretty green at 23 years old and I am just hoping my youthful energy will be able to compensate for my lack of experience for the time being. Luckily my family has a history of entrepreneurship in it (though none in my field) so they will indeed be a great source of help over the next few years.

If any of you out there already have experiences as entrepreneurs or businesses in general, I would love to hear any advice and tips you all may have. I already have a ton of issues I am concerned about and figure when time comes I will probably come back to the FOFC community for some possible suggestions.

Anyways, I am taking the next couple weeks off to just completely relax and do everything I can possibly do before I take over my new store and my life pretty much comes to a halt.

I see grown-up life right around the corner and I'll be damned if I don't milk this life of no real responsibilities for as long as I can!

[MrBug708]

A 7-11? Way to fight that stereotype

Just kidding Sunny, good luck. What are the hours you are going to be working there? That wonderful 11-7 shift?

[Chief Rum]

OMG, Neuqua is APU.

Congrats, Neuq! If I lived in Chicago, I would definitely come check it out. Good luck!

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

A 7-11? Way to fight that stereotype

Just kidding Sunny, good luck. What are the hours you are going to be working there? That wonderful 11-7 shift?

Seriously? Another brown guy running one?

Congrats from a fellow dothead.

[Neuqua]

Hah, Kyle you were one of the first people who I knew would make a smart alec remark.

As per my business model, I have myself at the store for about 50-60 hours a week, pretty much every single day. And then when things settle down I will probably go ahead and give myself Sundays off or something.

[Buccaneer]

That's an amazing thing to be doing at 23. I wish you luck. How's the crime/safety in that area?

One of the key advices I can give you, from my experience in seeing young managers, is to be a good judge of character in those you hire. I knew a young manager that took over a Subway and quickly failed because he treated the place like a hangout and wanted to act cool for his friends. Customer service, ethics and responsibilities tanked and he was fired by regional after 2 weeks.

[MrBug708]

Is this a brand new store? Or is it one you are taking over as an existing franchise?

[st.cronin]

Good luck, don't be a stranger: Let us know how its working out!

[Neuqua]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

That's an amazing thing to be doing at 23. I wish you luck. How's the crime/safety in that area?

Thanks for the kind words Buc.

The city of Warrenville where my store is located is not too bad, but the particular stretch where my store is located apparently has had its share of robberies in the last few years. This is a big concern to me because obviously 7-Eleven require all their stores to be run 24 hours a day. I have had meetings with the Sheriff of Warrenville personally however and he has assured me that he will be sending cars out to my neck of the woods as often as possible (especially since it's the only 24 hour operation in the area) and I told him that I would let any officer have coffee and donuts on the house.

[Neuqua]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Is this a brand new store? Or is it one you are taking over as an existing franchise?

7-Eleven purchased White Hen Pantry (do you have those in California? I'm not sure) last year and my store is an existing White Hen Pantry which is going to be converted while I am training and will be a full brand new 7-Eleven by the time I am ready to take over.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

I told him that I would let any officer have coffee and donuts on the house.

You haven't even started yet, and you're already bribing the cops. Good job!

[Chief Rum]

Thank you! Come again!

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

7-Eleven purchased White Hen Pantry (do you have those in California? I'm not sure) last year and my store is an existing White Hen Pantry which is going to be converted while I am training and will be a full brand new 7-Eleven by the time I am ready to take over.

I did a little quick scan on 7-11 and saw that. 7-11 seems to be on a mission in Chicago so it looks like you will benefit from it greatly.

I'm guessing the acting is on hold for a bit?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by sabotai

You haven't even started yet, and you're already bribing the cops. Good job!

Good luck!

SI

[MikeVic]

Wow, congrats!! Here I am contemplating a house, and you're buying a business!

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

A 7-11? Way to fight that stereotype

Heh, that was my exact first thought...

Best of luck, bud. Try not to burn yourself out too fast, and piggy-backing on Bucc's comment about hiring, watch out for those sticky-fingered employees.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

7-Eleven purchased White Hen Pantry (do you have those in California? I'm not sure) last year and my store is an existing White Hen Pantry which is going to be converted while I am training and will be a full brand new 7-Eleven by the time I am ready to take over.

So is that going to happen all over Chicago? Weird.

Anyway -- congrats and good luck!

[Dr. Sak]

Congrats Sunny! Best of luck to you!

[Toddzilla]

Pro Tip: Don't hire these guys:

[Alan T]

Good luck neuq!

[DanGarion]

That is awesome Neuq!, good luck man!

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

OMG, Neuqua is APU.

I hate to say it, but that was almost exactly my first thought.

But great news, Neuqua, congratulations! I can't imagine running ANY business, much less one that seems as ubiquitous as a 7-Eleven. Best of luck to you!

/tk

[Coffee Warlord]

What's the address Neq?

My folks live very close to there. I could swing by easily sometime and say hey.

When it opens, of course.

[Neuqua]

Thanks again everybody for all the kind words, if you want to know why already I am awake at nights nervous, here is an example of a newspaper article regarding the previous White Hen owner which was given to me 5 minutes before my final interview with 7-Eleven corporate.

hxxp://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/wayne/news/x1822772992

[jackyl]

I was surprised to see that the previous owner was younger than you are (only 21) when she bought that White Hen. Is that somewhat common in the C-store world?

Either way, best of luck.

[Neuqua]

Originally Posted by jackyl

I was surprised to see that the previous owner was younger than you are (only 21) when she bought that White Hen. Is that somewhat common in the C-store world?

Either way, best of luck.

Honestly that shocked me a bit too, but it is a bit of a relief. I have no idea if this is some sort of common trend or not.

[Toddzilla]

Holy moley, thats quite a story about the White Hen. Neuqua, it may be a good idea to reach out to the loyal WH customers and let them know you aren't the big, bad corporation coming into crush the small guy. Let them know you want to be everything for the community the WH used to be - maybe talk to the old WH owner and see if there was anything special she in her store did that you can carry over. Could be a big marketing opportunity for you...

[Honolulu_Blue]

Congrats!

Good luck, man.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Holy moley, thats quite a story about the White Hen. Neuqua, it may be a good idea to reach out to the loyal WH customers and let them know you aren't the big, bad corporation coming into crush the small guy. Let them know you want to be everything for the community the WH used to be - maybe talk to the old WH owner and see if there was anything special she in her store did that you can carry over. Could be a big marketing opportunity for you...

Nice idea, and go a step further. Talk to the paper and see if they'd be interested in doing a quasi follow up article from your point of view.

[JediKooter]

Congrats! That's awesome!

If we show our FOFC card, do we get a free Slurpee?

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Nice idea, and go a step further. Talk to the paper and see if they'd be interested in doing a quasi follow up article from your point of view.

"" - Good call. The 7-11 that opened next to me had mailers that offered us a free coffee or slurpee for the first couple of weeks. Now, it was convenient anyway, but it was a nice gesture and it made me stop by - often. At this point, I'm a 7-11 coffee junkee (the French Vanilla Cappuccino - I know, I know its basically sugar, but I can't help myself).

Fyi, has anyone ever seen a 7-11 that wasn't run by an Indian/Pakistani guy? I'm racking my brain, and I don't think I can think of one.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Holy moley, thats quite a story about the White Hen. Neuqua, it may be a good idea to reach out to the loyal WH customers and let them know you aren't the big, bad corporation coming into crush the small guy. Let them know you want to be everything for the community the WH used to be - maybe talk to the old WH owner and see if there was anything special she in her store did that you can carry over. Could be a big marketing opportunity for you...

No kidding. Maybe talk to her and see if she's willing to come by a few times during peak hours the first week or two to help introduce you to her old regulars or something...

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

"" - Good call. The 7-11 that opened next to me had mailers that offered us a free coffee or slurpee for the first couple of weeks. Now, it was convenient anyway, but it was a nice gesture and it made me stop by - often. At this point, I'm a 7-11 coffee junkee (the French Vanilla Cappuccino - I know, I know its basically sugar, but I can't help myself).

Fyi, has anyone ever seen a 7-11 that wasn't run by an Indian/Pakistani guy? I'm racking my brain, and I don't think I can think of one.

Around here they are mostly run by hispanics or native americans.

[Neuqua]

--- Update ---

After a little under three months of sitting around and doing absolutely nothing, tomorrow I will officially take charge.

I have a staff in place and have been going in routinely over the past couple weeks to start getting the store in my sort of flavor.

Interesting thing happened last night, my newly hired overnight lady, who had been doing a great job last week, all of a sudden dissapeared this weekend. No phone calls or show up. So tomorrow, on my first day on the job, I will be in during the day, come home to nap for a couple hours, and then work the third shift.

Talk about getting your feet wet on the first day!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

Interesting thing happened last night, my newly hired overnight lady, who had been doing a great job last week, all of a sudden dissapeared this weekend. No phone calls or show up.

Hrmm... Perhaps you and Coffee Warlord should compare notes.


Good luck!

[Coffee Warlord]

Her name wasn't Cheryl was it?

[Flasch186]

do you have internet access at work? Perhaps updates during the day might be interesting....for awhile anyways.

[DaddyTorgo]

if I was renting a car while coming through Chicago this time I'd totally stop in!

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

I'm so there next week!

Where is Warrenville anyway?

Good Luck Neuqua!

[Coffee Warlord]

One helluva long way from the city.

Of course, Woodridge isn't exactly next door either.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

Interesting thing happened last night, my newly hired overnight lady, who had been doing a great job last week, all of a sudden dissapeared this weekend. No phone calls or show up.

I've heard that happening, like with CW. How does that work? I mean, aren't there payroll papers to sign/fill-out, last check to send, etc.?

[Arles]

Congrats and good luck!

[Neuqua]

So it turns out the dissapearing lady is in Kentucky grieving over the death of her cousin. She called today and said she'd come talk to me on Sunday. Ok, but still think it should have been logical to give me a call with some sort of explanation instead of no-showing the entire weekend.

Oh and I would so love it if any FOFC'er were able to stop by at any time. There are places to hang out all around the store and of course you all would never have to worry about slurpees.

[Flasch186]

eh, cut her some slack. This is a critical moment for you to be the understanding boss. She will likely talk to her friends and they will talk to theirs etc. etc. and it could help spread the word about the cool new stor with the cool new owner. You may have to get tougher later but the first step is important IMO

[terpkristin]

Good luck, Neuqua, as you enter this new part of your new life.

If I'm ever in the neighborhood, I'll drop in.

/tk

[Swaggs]

Good luck, Neuq.

[CU Tiger]

Good luck!
Not bad to be owning one of Entrepenuer' #1 franchise opportunity...

[lighthousekeeper]

How does a 23 year old buy a business? I didn't have a penny to my name at 23.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

eh, cut her some slack. This is a critical moment for you to be the understanding boss. She will likely talk to her friends and they will talk to theirs etc. etc. and it could help spread the word about the cool new stor with the cool new owner. You may have to get tougher later but the first step is important IMO

+1.

She's dealing with a death, which coming down on her would make you come off as a jerk in the first place, if other employees got wind of it.

Just make it clear that a call earlier would have been appreciated, but take it easy and definately cut her some slack.

[Passacaglia]

Damn Warrenville is far away. I do get down to Glen Ellyn and Naperville on occasion, but I rarely have time to kill in those cases. Hopefully I can make the trip someday!