Now the good...

OK. The good news is, we have a plan, in three parts;


Phase 1. Get a job

Phase 2. Pay the bills

Phase 3. Concentrate on increasing business at the school in the time between working & sleeping


Phase 1 is complete.

Phase 2 is ongoing

Phase 3 is the way it always was. And it's going OK, despite the lack of time & marketing budget;

We continue to get enquiries & interest & feedback from customers is brilliant, so I know the totally hands on concept is the right one.

We had a couple of classes that were hosted by Manju Malhi & Ursula Ferrigno, both of whom have taught at plenty of other schools & both of whom said Just Cook is the best set up & equipped school they've taught in, which was nice.

They also confirmed that we are the most hands on school they know of & both of them really enjoy making sure everyone gets to do as much as possible, which is more confirmation we are on the right track.

So it's good news all round, really.

And first the bad news...

So, it's been a while since I last posted an update. How very remiss of me, I will attempt to rectify the lapse.

First the bad news. Money, or rather, lack of it.

I knew I had overspent. I knew that things had cost more than first quoted & that the unexpected had happened, costing more money. I've even mentioned it in previous posts. But I hadn't ignored the fact. Actually, I thought I had resolved it. There is this scheme run by the government in conjunction with all the major banks called the 'Enterprise Finance Guarantee'. It used to be called the small firms loan guarantee scheme, but after those same major banks screwed us all & needed bailing out, Gordon & Alastair revised it & changed the name.

Essentially, it is a way of the government getting finance to people & businesses who really need it, but don't have the normal security that the banks require. There is even a part of it that says it is inappropriate for a bank to take a charge over your principal residence. Sounded like just what I needed, so I had a quick chat with my bank, who said, "Yep, should be fine. Finish building the school, sort out a cashflow statement, business plan etc & we'll have a chat, but should be no problem."

So, I did all that, met the bank guy at the school. He looked suitably impressed & sounded comfortingly positive. He took my figures & went away, said he'd be in touch. A couple of weeks went by, then a couple more. I started to get concerned so I gave him a call. No answer.

Rang again, left a message. Tried once more, eventually got hold of him. He said "Yeah, sorry, been a bit busy. Anyway, we like your idea but we want to see 6 months trading history & some sales growth before we do anything."

What? Have you even bothered to look at the cashflow forecast? "Of course I have" (this was said a little bit huffily, as if to say how dare you question me?) So I said, well if you've looked at the cashflow forecast, how do you expect to get 6 months trading history when we clearly show a need for funds in the next 6 months? How do you expect any kind of sales growth if we aren't spending anything on marketing, which we won't be able to, if we haven't got any money? What the hell use is this EFG scheme if you aren't going to apply it the way you're supposed to? And why the hell did you get bailed out by the taxpayer, ie me & the rest of the British public, if you aren't going to hold up your end of the bargain & start lending us OUR OWN MONEY? (In case you're wondering, I was feeling a trifle peeved at this point)

Anyway, long to short, the bank weren't forthcoming. Neither were the Government owned bank next door. I'd already wasted 5 weeks waiting for a call that never came, so I thought it would be a good idea to waste another 5 weeks trying to persuade them that I was right & they were stupid. Not a great plan, in hindsight.

I needed a new plan and quick. My wife, sharp as a pin & cutting like a knife said "You don't need a new plan, you need a new job. And quick. Becasue if you get one, you can use whatever is left after you've paid the mortgage & a few other essential bills, to invest in marketing to build the business."

Sounds like a plan to me.

Kids in the Kitchen

Last week we ran our first children's cookery class. The idea was simple - give the kids a couple of hours of cooking time & their mums a couple of hours of me time.

I persuaded Ursula Ferrigno to run the class, I was on hand to run around clearing up & provide drinks, the room was set for the first task - making pasta. All we needed was the kids.

10 of them duly turned up at around 10 to 1, aprons were issued & mums told to come back around 3. Then we were off. Making pasta, kneading the dough, making pizza, kneading the dough, making a mess, chopping tomatoes, making a mess, rolling out the pasta - the time flew by. So fast in fact, we ran out of time & were still waiting for a couple of pizzas to come out of the oven when the mums returned. And my word, what a mess!

But, everyone had a great time. The kids really impressed me with their attitude & aptitude. All of them turned out some great food & I have heard from a few mums that the kids haven't stopped cooking since the class.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Anyone know Jamie?

Some of you, the ones who have followed this blog from the early days (& thanks for doing so), may remember that I made a promise. In writing. If you head back to January's posts you'll find it, within the entry titled A Vision. Or you could just click HERE.

Anyway, I had promised that when the Just Cook Cookery School was up & running, I would write to Jamie Oliver & offer him the use of the place, for free, because his Ministry of Food project is a great idea & I agree that everyone should be taught how to cook.

Except I don't know him, or where to send the offer so that I am sure he will get it.

I've emailed Dan, the webmeister who looks after all that stuff for Mr Oliver. I've even tweeted @Jamie_Oliver, but 140 characters isn't really enough to express myself. No wonder I've not heard anything yet.

So, if anyone knows the man, tell him to get in touch. There's a free cookery school up for grabs.

Something in the ether

I get a call, out of the blue, from a very nice American girl called Shana (say it Shay-na). She works for the BBC, producing the Dave Monk Radio Show on BBC Essex. Do I want to go on the show & talk about why men are cooking more these days & what's caused this shift in attitude?

Brain stops working in a moment of blind panic. Me, on the radio? What if I make a fool of myself, don't know the answers or swear a lot, goes through my head.

"Umm. Sure. When we're you thinking?"

"Tomorrow, about 10.30."

"Err. OK. See you then"

So, I'm going on the radio. To be the 'expert'. I'm settling down a little bit now, maybe it will be OK, or at least not bad. And I'd quite like to see the inside of a studio & find out how it all works. Quick bit of research on the net & some scribbled notes about what I must mention (website, phone number, courses that are coming up) & I'm set. I tell the wife. She says she always thought I had a face for radio. Nice.

I get there, bright & early. Good job too, because there's nowhere to park. Eventually I chance it in the BBC car park, in front of a sign on a door that reads, loud & clear, "Do not obstruct this door." Oh well, they invited me.

I go in, introduce myself to the very nice receptionist & have a coffee, while getting more & more nervous all over again. This is a long way outside my comfort zone. She tells me not to worry, Dave is really very nice. Shana comes down & says Hi. She's really nice too. Olly comes along and stops for a chat. What do you know, he's really nice too! Except all this niceness isn't helping. I'm in a feedback loop - all these people telling me not to worry is just making me worry. Stop it!

Then I'm left to sit for a bit, because I am early. Apparently that's unusual, but then this radio fame lark hasn't gone to my head yet. Some other parts of me for sure, but not my head.

I try to make some notes, or read my old notes. But in the end, I just sit there wondering why on Earth I agreed to do this. Then, it's time. I'm on. Shana takes me in to the studio, introduces me to Dave who is manning a desk with hundreds of buttons & lights all over it with the skill & speed of a teenager texting, while also talking to his invisible listeners, taking instructions from Shana & scanning his emails. Who said men can't multi task?

Everyone's right though, he is really nice. We have a little chat, he plays some music, then we have another chat, but this time I realise we're on air. Then that's it, it's over, I'm shaking his hand & leaving. Wow, that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. In fact, I was pretty good.

Except as I leave, the nice lady at the front desk is on the phone to someone who has called in because we didn't read out the web address, or the phone number, or what classes we had coming up. Oh bugger.

Reality Bites

Now we've delivered our first classes, got some great feedback & some nice pictures of classes on the go to put on our website. I feel like we should lift off like a rocket now, only we don't.

I am not sure why, after all, I've just proved we're bloody good at this haven't I? Except we're not really selling that much. Oh, sure, we get a few orders for olive oil, balsamic & truffle honey. We've even sold places on classes in August & September & some gift vouchers, it just isn't performing like I had imagined.

Time for a reality check;

It's a great idea, we deliver a great experience, offer great value & have had great feed back. It's all great except for our sales. Which aren't. Why?

I ask around, I go to seminars & networking events. I talk to copywriters & designers, ad sales people & the one journalist I know. Consensus is that we are actually doing pretty well by some measures - 30 odd places sold from less than 300 contacts is pretty good, I'm told. But by other yardsticks, we've barely got off the ground. Take that 300 contacts. 3 months & "how much money?" to get 300 registrations on our website is quite poor. In fact, it's really really poor. You can't just place an ad & expect it to work, there's a science to it. I should have been gathering names since I first had the idea, before if possible. This is a numbers game & you need a bigger number than 300. Well, when you put it like that, it's obvious.

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the simple things. To miss the wood because of all the trees that are in the way. And sometimes you are so distracted imagining the magnificent forest that you forget all you've really done is plant a few acorns.

Now I need to water & feed them. That means looking at the marketing, which I clearly don't know anything about because what we have tried so far hasn't worked. I need to learn a lifetime of marketing in about a week & become a PR guru even quicker.

Anyone know Matthew Freud?

We're cooking on gas!

Oh boy, that was fun!

Finally, after all that went before, we got it done, dusted & (almost) finished & held our 1st class. & our 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th.

And what a blast they were. I had fun, Tracy (our chef) had fun, but most importantly, all the customers had fun too. We got some some 'whoop de doo' feedback, which you can read about HERE & some great photos of people having a ball while learning something they can use for the rest of their life.

More importantly, we proved the concept works;

• We can deliver the course format in the time limit
  
• Everyone gets enough attention from our chef to be able to create the days menu
  
• We can send our guests home with a fantastic 3 course meal for 4, within the class price
  
• Everyone, including the already good cooks, learnt something to make them better
  

Now we're cooking!