I am up early today, and I can't help but be pre-occupied with this restaurant idea of ours. The word overwhelming is likely a gross understatement. As I run through the checklist of things to get done before the likely closing date of July 1, it seems daunting. Restaurant licenses, food handler's certificates, leases, insurance, taxes, inspections, remodeling, creating the menu, hiring employees, and countless other details still need to be addressed. Most of these tasks amount to little more than filling out some forms, or sitting through a training session, but there is one item on the list that we seem to go around and around on.
Where are we getting tripped up? It is a seemingly insignificant, yet monumentally important issue of the business name (I love a good oxymoron in the morning). I make no secret of the fact that I do not like the name of the restaurant we are looking at buying. It is pedestrian, it lacks imagination or wit, and it isn't reflective of the food that is being offered.
I would love to change the name. This place; however, has been in continuous operation since 2004 (no small accomplishment for a restaurant in Madison), and it has garnered a small but loyal group of customers. If we change the name will our repeat business suffer, or will people see it for what it is; a small change designed to refresh the business?
In the past 7 years countless eateries have come and gone from the Madison area. Most of them had what I thought were good names, but in the end it didn't do them any good. I am probably putting way too much thought into this. When it comes down to it, the food and service are what will matter above all else, but I still hate the name of the place.
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