Moving to the Island in Oct 2015 (Hilo, Kailua: for sale, renting, home)

[lazyriverjay]

Aloha all -

I just had a couple of questions regarding our move to the BI. My wife is a Certified Medical Assistant and should't have a problem landing a job. Myself on the other hand would be looking into a lifestyle change. I have been in warehousing for about 22 years. The last 6 of those have been in warehouse managment. I am 42. It is really all I have done. But....my passion is cooking. I really wanted to open a food truck or the sort, but on our visit this year (mostly on the Kona side) I did not see any. Are there any on the Hilo side? Also what is the feel for opening up a brick and morter restaurant? Is it frowned upon at all for mainlanders to come over and open up a business like that? I have spoken with a few folks about this, but would like to get a lot more feedback. Any help is appreciated! We would be renting at first and looking too buy after a year or so.

Thanks!!

Jay

[OpenD]

Aloha.

In general it is a big mistake to try to open a commercial food business of any kind unless you already have experience working in someone else's. Restaurants are very high risk enterprises, with high rates of failure. They can be very rewarding if you know what you are doing AND if you catch on with the public, AND if you have a good location and make good deals for supplies AND control costs and waste carefully, but that is not easy to do. Especially if you've never experienced the realities in a going concern.

Now, map that general condition, true everywhere, onto the Big Island economy, which is heavily dependent on the seasonal tourist trade, and you'll begin to understand why there have been so many restaurant failures in the last couple of years.

And yes, there are some food trucks around, but that's a tough racket to break into, too, for its own reasons. If it were easy to succeed at it, you can bet you'd see more of them. I recently talked to a woman who ran a shave ice truck for one summer season, then sold the whole package at a loss. She said that it seemed like a slam dunk business because the cost of goods is low and who doesn't like shave ice? But the most profitable sites are already taken and people have their favorites and were surprisingly resistant to trying something new and she wound up renting space in a parking lot for more than she expected, and the days were exhausting... long days, no breaks, physical discomfort, no business in bad weather, etc. These are all things she would have known if she had even spent a week working for someone else before she invested too much money in her own venture.

If you want to try something like that, you might do it as a sideline, on weekends, but I'd keep the "day job."

Best of luck,
OpenD

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Aloha.

In general it is a big mistake to try to open a commercial food business of any kind unless you already have experience working in someone else's. Restaurants are very high risk enterprises, with high rates of failure. They can be very rewarding if you know what you are doing AND if you catch on with the public, AND if you have a good location and make good deals for supplies AND control costs and waste carefully, but that is not easy to do. Especially if you've never experienced the realities in a going concern.

Now, map that general condition, true everywhere, onto the Big Island economy, which is heavily dependent on the seasonal tourist trade, and you'll begin to understand why there have been so many restaurant failures in the last couple of years.

And yes, there are some food trucks around, but that's a tough racket to break into, too, for its own reasons. If it were easy to succeed at it, you can bet you'd see more of them. I recently talked to a woman who ran a shave ice truck for one summer season, then sold the whole package at a loss. She said that it seemed like a slam dunk business because the cost of goods is low and who doesn't like shave ice? But the most profitable sites are already taken and people have their favorites and were surprisingly resistant to trying something new and she wound up renting space in a parking lot for more than she expected, and the days were exhausting... long days, no breaks, physical discomfort, no business in bad weather, etc. These are all things she would have known if she had even spent a week working for someone else before she invested too much money in her own venture.

If you want to try something like that, you might do it as a sideline, on weekends, but I'd keep the "day job."

Best of luck,
OpenD

I completely agree with OpenD, don't do it, you are doomed for failure. Please get a job in the restaurant industry first, learn the trade. Moving to a new place and opening a restaurant is a bad idea, a food truck is an even worse idea. I did the same thing, luckily... our landlord breached the contract significantly and we got out and moved back to my hometown and opened a new restaurant with significant improvements and better management. We are now doing well. What you are proposing is feasible eventually, but don't jump in so hastily. I believe the failure rate for restaurants is something like 3 out of 4 fail. Food trucks I have heard is higher. I would never consider a food truck on the mainland, but Hawaii is a unique market maybe food trucks do well there. But seriously consider getting a job in a restaurant first.

People on these forums offer great advice and have loads of helpful information, please consider what they say.

[hotzcatz]

There are other ways to get into cooking other than a brick and mortar (although in Hawaii, it's generally single wall & wooden) restaurant. If you had access to a certified kitchen, you could make sauces and can them up for sale. Cook soups and figure out how to can, freeze, etc., them for sale, etc. There are a lot of catered events in Hawaii and a lot of parties, that might be a great way to start. But, you'd need access to a certified kitchen somewhere.

How about doing catering on the side? Although you'd have to have a certified kitchen to prepare the food in, but if you were doing catering, the food would be sold before you made it and you'd not have to work as constantly as in a restaurant or with a food truck.

Personally, I think Waimea lacks a BBQ restaurant. That's the home of Parker Ranch and there's no BBQ? What's with that? There are the side of the road BBQ folks who set up occasionally, although that doesn't seem the same as a smoke shack sort of BBQ. That would be a less busy sort of restaurant. Big old smoker out front (preferably upwind of town), serve a real limited menu - BBQ on a plate or on a bun with a side of slaw or potato salad. Soda from the soda machine or in a can or water. Maybe coffee & tea, that's about it. A covered area with a few tables and that should about do it. Folks would order at the window, take their food to the tables. Two folks could run it or even one, I'd think.

There were a couple of folks running a fish and chips place in Pahoa, although they have gone because of the lava, I think. All they served was fish and chips. They had about three types of freshly caught fish, two types of chips (french fries). Folks would order, they'd fry the fish and chips, hand it to them on a plate, and there were canned sodas available. That was some really tasty fish and chips, too.

So, perhaps instead of a full on restaurant or a food truck, you could have the limited menu order at the window type of restaurant to keep your labor costs down, rents down, etc. If the overhead is lower, you don't have to work as much to cover business costs.

[Rust Never Sleeps]

[quote=hotzcatz;37165399]
Personally, I think Waimea lacks a BBQ restaurant. That's the home of Parker Ranch and there's no BBQ? What's with that? There are the side of the road BBQ folks who set up occasionally, although that doesn't seem the same as a smoke shack sort of BBQ. <

Brings back memories of a side of the road BBQ joint in Samoa years ago. They used driftwood to bbq, that was some truly nasty stuff.

[OpenD]

[quote=Rust Never Sleeps;37167129]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Personally, I think Waimea lacks a BBQ restaurant. That's the home of Parker Ranch and there's no BBQ? What's with that? There are the side of the road BBQ folks who set up occasionally, although that doesn't seem the same as a smoke shack sort of BBQ. <

Brings back memories of a side of the road BBQ joint in Samoa years ago. They used driftwood to bbq, that was some truly nasty stuff.

Big Island has a native Mesquite called Kiawe that is pretty good for doing good BBQ. It's not like pecan or oak or hickory for slow smoking, but it's good enough.

Check Yelp! if you want to chase the BBQ on the Big Island. There was a place in Puna that is closed now, a well regarded truck that is usually found in the Waikoloa area, and maybe a half dozen places in Kailua-Koa that claim to have BBQ. Somebody should try them, and let us know what you think.

[Jungjohann]

[quote=OpenD;37167582]

Originally Posted by Rust Never Sleeps

Big Island has a native Mesquite called Kiawe that is pretty good for doing good BBQ.

Kiawe is about as native to Hawaii as I am.



Uuurrrpppp

[Rust Never Sleeps]

[quote=OpenD;37167582]

Originally Posted by Rust Never Sleeps

Big Island has a native Mesquite called Kiawe that is pretty good for doing good BBQ. It's not like pecan or oak or hickory for slow smoking, but it's good enough. <

Frankly, I think folks are a little weary of slow smoking, particularly around Pahoa.

Check Yelp! if you want to chase the BBQ on the Big Island. There was a place in Puna that is closed now, a well regarded truck that is usually found in the Waikoloa area, and maybe a half dozen places in Kailua-Koa that claim to have BBQ. Somebody should try them, and let us know what you think.

That guy died!!!

[OpenD]

[quote=Jungjohann;37167716]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Kiawe is about as native to Hawaii as I am.

Uuurrrpppp

But wait... weren't you born in Hawai'i, and used to live at Ala Moana Mall, but now you're stuck in Lodi, California, again? or was that some other dude?

Ahh, yesss... I see that you are correct. Kiawe is naturalized in Hawai'i, but not native, originating in South America. But if you go far enough back, nothing is native. Once upon a time this was all just pahoehoe and `a`a, and then after a few million years one coconut washed ashore, and took root, and provided shelter for the cockroach that had been riding on it, and... well you know the rest.

Anyway, enough philosophy for one day. Had breakfast yet? Spam musubi, or does that give you flashbacks? No? Bloody Mary or Screwdriver? My treat.