Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Fullam. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I had been trying to buy my own bar / create a bar since 2017. I was six months into the process of buying my first bar when I had to abandon the location due to environmental reasons. This was a costly attempt, costing me about $10,000 between lawyers and environmental testing. It just wasn’t meant to be. My next attempt was in late 2019, we were 6 weeks away from closing on a bar that I thought was perfect, when I was unexpectedly let go from my full time job as a restaurant manager. Without proof of employment, my loan could not be funded. This second attempt cost me around the same, $10,000 between lawyers and a deposit that wouldn’t be refunded. I was devastated. Fast forward two months later and the Covid-19 Pandemic hit hard. I truly don’t know if that second bar would have financially survived the shutdowns and Covid regulations. I really dodged a bullet on that one! By the end of 2021 I was on the search again for my dream bar, when I got a phone call that would change my life. My favorite dive bar in the world, Gilligan’s Pub, wanted to sell… to me! This was a dream I didn’t even know existed. I had always assumed Gilligan’s would stay in their family forever, but by the end of 2022 Gilligan’s Pub was officially mine.

Looking back those other two bars weren’t “the one”. Even more importantly, I’m not sure I really would have been ready in 2017 at a mere 26 years old. I thought I was ready, but as they say “if I knew then what I know now”. After the second attempt was quickly followed by the Covid-19 Pandemic, it felt like a sign that the time just wasn’t right. Then buying Gilligan’s finally became a reality and all of the devastation, heartbreak, and lost investments ended up being worth it. Now, I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. In the five years between when I first started trying to buy a bar and when I actually bought my bar I truly learned so much about the industry. I was able to manage and open new restaurants with other people’s money, as well as work on the distributor side, which I feel provides me with a huge advantage. If I could go back, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Amanda Fullam and I am the owner of Gilligan’s Pub in Providence, Rhode Island. My first semester of college I was hired at a restaurant as a server. I ended up working there for about 10 years. This restaurant is just blocks from Gilligan’s and Gilligan’s quickly became our place of respite after a long shift. We started coming here on weekends after work, but after a few years my friends and I were here for birthdays, holidays, and the bad days too. Gilligan’s is one of the most special places in the country. It is it’s own community and family. It is a place people come to celebrate, mourn, and be together. The space has been a bar since 1933, originally a men’s only club, as all bars were back then. Through the years it has always remained a bar, becoming “Gilligan’s” in the fifties. There have been many owners over the years, but one thing has always remained the same, community. It’s an affordable place that neighbors can come meld together in a comfortable, welcoming environment.

My side job through college ended up becoming my passion, I loved bartending, hospitality, the people, the wine, all of it. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Photography, but I never pursued it. I joke to my dad that I have the best instagram a Bachelor of Arts can buy. Instead I pursued hospitality. When I purchased Gilligan’s in 2022 it came with great responsibility and big shoes to fill. The previous owner ran it for 30 years and he ran it well, but he was old school. It became my responsibilty to bring Gilligan’s into the 21st century while still keeping it that comfortable affordable place It has always been. From simple things like a POS system and social media to more complex things like inclusivity and a strict “no politics” rule I have worked really hard to bring a younger, more diverse generation of Gilligan’s “regulars” into the bar. I also created a really cool wine program, offering a large selection of natural wine from small producers. There aren’t many places you can watch the Celtics game on the big screen while you drink a bottle of Billecart Champagne or a limited Pet-Nat from South Africa.

A real neighborhood pub is few and far between these days. It takes real people, genuine conversations, and traditions, like watching Jeopardy with Kevin every night at 730.

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.

I bought Gilligan’s as an already established business. I went through the Small Business Association to fund the loan to buy the business and the building. I bought Gilligan’s both because of sentimental value and I believed in it’s potential to be profitable. It has been a bar for almost 100 years and I want to see it get to 100 more. Working with the Small Business Association for the loan was an involved process. I was unable to secure a traditional business loan because of the high risk of the bar industry, so the SBA was my only option. The pros of working with the SBA is that they did eventually fund my loan, when traditional banks would not. The cons of working with the SBA are that it took 7 months of paperwork to get the loan funded and the amount of background information and paperwork they needed to make it happened were excessive. I joke that they needed everything up to my great grandmother’s DNA to fund the loan. They also require an excessive amount of insurance on the building and the business in order to maintain the loan. Insurance is my largest expense for the business, higher than my monthly mortgage payment. That was one of the biggest shocks to me as a new business owner.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think authenticity and consistency are my biggest assets. We are who we are and we mean it. We are a neighborhood pub who believes in the community we are located in. We support the community however we can, whether it be fundraisers, community meetings, celebrations, or just a hug to a neighbor who needs it. We offer as many local products as we can like craft beer and spirits. We use our neighboring businesses as often as we can, for T-Shirt printing, window repairs, or whenever possible. We are also super consistent when it comes to hours, pricing, availability etc. I think this is huge because there is nothing worse than showing up to a place that says they should be open and they are closed.

Contact Info:

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