Buy? Rent? What one family did with a small business in Pittsburg, Kansas

On a Kansas State University/Extension webinar I did about my book, Pam Thompson shared about their small business in SE Kansas. 

Arggghh old buildings

My husband, Don, and I have been in business for over 10 years now. Last August, we were scouting around for a place to move his business to a better location. After looking for a number of old buildings to purchase, we just didn’t want to get into all the repairs that old buildings have. 

An opportunity arises

I saw a listing for a business for sale, The Corner Patio, a small cafe-style eatery. On second thought, it might have been both the business and the building for sale. I talked my husband into calling, and we met with the owners. On a whim, in 3 days, we purchased the business and rented the building space! With two businesses splitting the rent and all the utilities, that helped both my husband and daughter. 

The partnership was perfect for us and our daughter and her hubby. She’s the daily operations and social media guru. I care for her daughter off and on as I work from home full time. My son-in-law, Surgio, works for the city of Pittsburg. My husband is Don the Phone Guy, and he fixes phones.

Bingo, Bands, and Karaoke

Don built a desk that folds away into the corner so that we have more seating/floor space in the restaurant. We have games at each table, and we like bingo, bands, and Karaoke when we can, to bring people together. 

We love the community that the Corner Patio creates

 I taught a couple of English Paper Piecing hand sewing classes there, and my daughter Andrea organized a beading and keychain making day for Valentine’s that was a huge hit.  We have many more plans for a little corner. 

And we sell pecans for another entrepreneur!  We just added the Pork Rinds and the pecans a few months ago on a shelf in the hallway. Many folks meet outside for lunch and business. We have families and college kids and all of those young and old. Have lunch or a snack and get your phone fixed or just play a board game while you wait. It’s just the best place!!

“We’re trying to fill that need for people who want to be together again. That’s what we keep noticing, that people want to be together.”

We even had a bus full of basketball women stop by after searching online for a “different type of place” to eat. We loved that even more because they were from Minnesota which is where we moved from when we came here 20 years ago.

Funding Help

We applied, were awarded the Forge Grant, and purchased some new equipment and other items to help us build the business. We also decorated for the Chamber of Pittsburg City’s window decorating contest for Christmas. We won first place; the prize was advertising. (just what we needed!!)

Facebook pages: The Corner Patio, and  Pittsburg SEK cell phone tablet repair Don The Phone Guy Thompson.

 

Takeaways

Just because you’re a restaurant doesn’t mean you only have to serve food

• They started with bringing in Don’s phone business.
• Then they added fun, little events for the locals. Many of the workshops are in the afternoon during their slow time.
• Bands and karoake joined too.
• And why not share a tiny space with the pecan guy and pork rinds person?

Share your story

• It is pretty easy to share your story. This is about 500 words and the pictures came from their Facebook page.
• I asked Pam to send me an email about their business. I told her to just write, I can edit it. She wrote up this piece and gave me links to the Facebook pages.

Be a part of the community

• Pam and Don moved to Pittsburg 20 years ago from Minnesota. Those folks from Minnesota are a nice group of people. I can only imagine these two were involved in many activities in town.
• Once they opened their business, they found out what locals wanted to do for a bit of fun. They responded with workshops, activities and music.
• They also joined the Chamber. Your chamber won’t serve you well if you don’t get involved. Ribbon cuttings is a good way to start. Networking, events and workshops in your location are fun too. Let the Chamber know and they can help spread the word.
• Work with the other businesses. This could be a wine tasting tour. Or a beer tasting tour! You could share wall space with another entrepreneur. Ask a local home based photographer to put up pictures on the wall in your realty office. Cross pollination!

Next time you find yourself in the SE corner of Kansas, I recommend you stop in for a bite!