We were lucky to catch up with Rayme Rossello recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rayme, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?
The answer to this question is still unfolding as I write. . Having gotten through Covid with my team in tact and after having received every government assistance program / grant/ loan we could apply for, I thought the hardest part was over. After the shut downs came supply chain issues followed by staffing shortages, all of which we navigated in time. What I was in no way prepared for or anticipating was what has cone next. With costs having gone up almost 45% across the board, we were feeling the effects and dipping into our savings that had accumulated after Covid monthly. In order to get the bills paid we were using the saved PPP funds for what they were meant for, but not making any real changes in our pricing reflecting the ballooning costs. Everything, from payroll to food cost to business… everything costs more now. Part of my business model when we opened as a food truck almost 13 years ago was based on being affordable. We were selling “street food” and while everything was made from scratch using the best ingredients sourced from local sources we could find, we still did our best to keep costs down. Needless to say, I was really holding out to raising our prices, trying desperately to keep this model as a part of our core values. What I know now is there is simply no way to maintain that model in today’s economy and keep our doors open. And so, after getting through Covid without significantly making a change to pricing, I caved. As soon as we could we put out a new menu, changing both pricing but also format. Instead of focusing on little bites, we are offering larger plates that warrant a higher asking price. Both changes have led to an incredible uptick in sales and therefor dollars to our bottom line. And while we aren’t out of the woods yet, after making massive adjustments to the FOH schedule and adding me back in 5 -6 days a week, we are going from red to what I know will be soon black. Lessons must be learned fast in this business. Restaurant life is unforgiving and payroll taxes and rent never stop until it’s over. I am so grateful to be heading back in what is really the only direction, upward, onward and better every day,
Rayme, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started working in restaurants as a New York kid in High School over summer break. y first job was at a place down Columbus Avenue from our apartment called teacher Too. Teacher’s was a couple of blocks away… :). I told them I was 18 and got the job and worked brunches and lunch shifts during the week. And I loved it. I loved the pace and I loved the money. Once I was off to college, I stayed with what I knew would be a flexible work schedule and easy money. It wasn’t until I was 25 though that I realized service and hospitality were what I wanted to do forever . After managing a very busy restaurant for a really awesome man that I learned a ton from, I left to open a pizzeria with my then partner Pam Proto, called Proto’s Pizza. Together we opened 5 stores in 8 years and what I had not learned as an employee to others, I certainly learned after opening 5 restaurants. In 2008 Pam bought me out and I moved on to start Comida a couple years later.. Comida was started as a Boulder COunty Food Truck. What I didn’t know at the time was that in Boulder County, food trucks were illegal. So yeah, a bit of a learning curve on top of a fight there, but we survived and opened our first brinks and mortar in 2012. The lessons I have learned over the last 13 years of owning Comida have been non-stop. Through both growth and contraction, I have always been proud of what we do and how we do it at Comida. In 2017 I had 3 locations plus the food truck and over 140 employees. It was wild, and exciting and stressful! And at the end of 2017, I closed the first Bricks and Mortar as our lease ended. It was just not as busy as the other 2 now were, and I felt my time was best spent at the 2 busier spots. I think learning when to say when it’s been enough is as important as knowing when to grow. And over the next couple of years I got really good at knowing when to say mercy. When to shut it down. When to say thanks, but this isn’t working anymore. Now, with only one location at the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora Colorado, my time is 100% spent on making this place as great as it can be. We have 45 employees and are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, and that’s enough!
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
In 2010 when I was starting the food truck, we were smack in the middle of the recession and no -one wanted to give me even $20. Undeterred, I ended up getting the first $35000 from an intuitive I had been working with. She said she could see the future and Comida’s success in it, and I asked her to put her money were her mouth was. And she did. From there, as I grew the business, I took a more basic approach and got SBA loans. Over the 25 plus years I have owned businesses, there is not one cent I haven’t not paid back unless they forgave it beforehand. That was something I have always felt strongly about. I like sleeping at night, and owing people or not living up to a commitment is no way to get good shut eye or run a thriving business.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I always tried to set my businesses up so that my presence wasn’t the thing that made them go. I have tried to empower my senior staff to do their jobs well and to create relationships with our support crews and guests that make people want to stay and keep coming back. And I do believe this model worked for many years. I have had the pleasure of working with super incredible people, and still do. What I have had to unlearn, or re-learn though recently, is to accept that as the owner, the restaurant will ALWAYS benefit from my presence. And I suppose what I have had to come to accept, is that it should. When I think of the places I love to go to the most, hands down every single one of them is not just owned but run by the owner. They are there, on the floor, making a difference. Working with their staff, enjoying what they do and creating something that makes me want to return. And so my commitment to both myself and my staff moving forward is that I will be here. I will work alongside these awesome 45 people daily and hope to continue to create a spot that others want to return. And we will make money doing it!
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.eatcomida.com
- Instagram: Comida
- Facebook: Eatcomida