A Follow Up on …. $400,000 A Year To $10 An Hour … This is getting REALLY PERSONAL….

I went for a job interview this past Friday…

It was set up by a really good friend of mine who thought this would be a perfect situation for me…

I am a GREAT Chef …. GREAT Manager … a SUPER communicator …

I build really STRONG, POWERFUL TEAMS

I create HUGE LOYAL CUSTOMER BASES  because of the VALUE  that my team and I deliver to the marketplace….

In short …. everything that  the owner of this store is looking for ….

The gal that is currently the manager of the store is 6 months pregnant…

She is having a scheduled C-Section in 3 months … and will be taking off 8 weeks to heal…

She just finished spending Christmas in the hospital …

Collapsing after working a 16 hour day …and rushing home to take care of her 20 month old and her husband…

She has been working 16 hour days, 7 days a week for the past year ….

She has done an amazing job with this store..

Business is BOOMING….

The customers love the store…the products…the service…

The staff loves her …

The owner recognizes her for all of her hard work…

Her compensation package is based on the profitability of the store…

She is being paid well…

She is currently looking to hire a person that she can train to replace her when she has her baby…

So..when my buddy told her about me…she asked him to setup an interview with me because she is looking for just the right person to fill her shoes…

I got there around 9:00 am….

The store was slamming…busy..busy..busy…

People sitting everywhere chatting, reading the morning paper..having coffee and breakfast…

Lines of people waiting to buy coffee to go….bagels and cream cheese…muffins…croissants…scones…

Food was FLYING off the shelves…

The culinary staff was setting up for lunch….

Sandwiches…Pasta….Prepared Foods…Salads…

Enough food to feed all of the Upper East Side….

The manager grabbed a hold of me…and asked me to help with the lunch set-up…

She would have time to speak with me in a couple of hours…

Lunch time was really busy….everything was replenished twice…

The customers were raving….throwing cash and credit cards at the checkout girls….

It was alot of FUN to be a part of this big bustling crowd….

By the time I checked the clock….it was 2:00 pm … WOW… time flies when you are busy…

Time to setup for dinner….So I helped the crew with that….

5:00 pm rolls around….the owner came into the store…tells me he will speak with me in a few minutes…

6:30 pm…the raging dinner rush has slowed down to a steady stream…

The manager and owner are busy getting the inventories done…placing orders for the weekend….

We are cleaning up and restocking the shelves…getting alot of prep work done for the next day…

8:30 pm…FINALLY…we get to sit down and talk…

Here’s the DEAL…

Staff REALLY likes you… We really like you and the way you work….

Ohhhhh…did you have anything to eat today…???

No…we are hungry too…let’s get something….

Food comes…. my stomach lurches inside of me… I forgot to eat because I was so busy….YIKES

The food was delicious by the way…

Here’s the DEAL…

We are looking for someone to come in and treat this store like it is their own…

What that means for us is someone who is willing to work 7 days a week….Open to Close …

5:30 am to 9:30 pm Monday through Friday…Saturday 6:30 am to 7:30 pm and Sunday 6:30 am to 5:30 pm

We really need someone with great people skills…someone that can see the big picture…interact with the staff and the customers professionally…handle the ordering…the scheduling…the necessary compliance issues…the delivery people…that knows how to work each persons job so that if someone calls off of work that spot can be filled…build our catering base…drive product sales….help with marketing…create new recipes and menus so that we have some really exciting menu items…really build our reputation and the business for us…

So…here’s the DEAL…

We are offering 1 week of paid vacation every year and health benefits …

We will also give you one meal a day….you can drink whatever you want to drink…

We are paying $1,000 a week…

We KNOW that you need to have some time to think this over…to make the right decision for you…

We would love to have you come and work for us…

We have a couple more interviews that we are obligated to honor…

So… we will talk to you on Wednesday…

You cannot imagine my shock when I heard their proposal….

My mind was like… $1,000 a week ….!!!

I sat in the subway train mulling the whole conversation over in my head…

I was REALLY tired…the commute from my home to the store is one hour each way…

Means getting up at 3:30 EVERY morning … 4:30 on the weekend…

Getting home at 10:30 pm EVERY night IF the subway cooperates…

I would not be able to go to church on Thrusdays any more… Sundays would be ok..I could leave right from the store and get to evening services on time…

My FEET and my KNEES were KILLING me….forgot to bring the Advil with me….

I was totally BOGGLED…

I finally got home…

Sat down on my bed…took my shoes off…and woke up the next morning at 5:30 am…still dressed from work the day before…EWWWWWW…

I made some really strong coffee to help clear my head…and I pulled out my calculator…

Bottomline…this offer represents a 50% paycut with a 50% increase in work hours….

HMMMMM….

All to build someone ELSES’s business…to build someone ELSE’s dream….

Decisions…Decisions…Decisions…

Deal or No Deal…???