Our first business venture - The Red House

Associate
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28 Sep 2004
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Wanaka
Congratulations! Looks really awesome. Great part of the country and tourism is just booming. I own a food truck down in the South Island and myself I am lucky to call this country home after marrying a kiwi.

All the best and if you have any questions, or if you ever get time to come down south, then get in touch.
 
Soldato
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16 Nov 2002
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The Moon
What a great project and one i'll deffo keep my eye on. Something i've always wanted to do myself despite never coming from a hospitality background but the lure of running my own restaurant is something that appeals to me massively.

You'll kill it with the yurts and accommodation side of things too.

I'm only in Sydney and plan trips to NZ all the time so if i'm ever up the North of the North island i'll deffo drop in! Just got back from a weeks skiing in QT!
 
Soldato
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31 Jan 2004
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Matakana New Zealand
Thanks for reinstating my thread Mod team. I'm not after any business from here from it, i posted this thread purely as an ongoing project which has gathered a lot of interest, and it's a bit different from building a computer of doing a car up!
 
Soldato
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Joined
31 Jan 2004
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11,297
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Matakana New Zealand
Congratulations! Looks really awesome. Great part of the country and tourism is just booming. I own a food truck down in the South Island and myself I am lucky to call this country home after marrying a kiwi.

All the best and if you have any questions, or if you ever get time to come down south, then get in touch.

Funnily enough, we were about a week away from driving down to Wanaka at around the end of May for a few months until this place gathered momentum!
 
Soldato
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31 Jan 2004
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Matakana New Zealand
Update time.....

We got the keys on Monday to the building and had organised for power to be switched on that day, however, the power company only switched the meter on which is shared between 2 buildings, the ex brewery and my building, there was power in the brewey but not in my building, so i had to organise for an electrician to come but he couldn't come till Tuesday, turns out somebody had wired the added meter for my building up wrong! So all i could do on Monday was mow the beer garden - which took an age anyway as it was so overgrown, really need a ride on mower!

Tuesday, power finally switched on, but we went shopping for building materials and had to go to a real estate agent to sign our tenancy agreement for our new rental which is closer to the business (currently about 25 miles away). So Tuesday wasn't an eventful day apart from finding out that our bar fridge was scrap after we tried it, bummer! Got to sort a new one out now, more money we can't really afford, also, we have to pay for a building warrant of fitness and get a plumber to check the flowback and wastage systems on site. Seems like one thing after another at the moment, everyone wants our money lol.

Wednesday, we had a ton of meetings today, Coffee supplier, Insurance guy, Alarm guy to fix the alarm system, POS system guy and our main food supplier to sort pricing out, however, we also made some progress today with the refurb. My first job is redesigning the bar, and i'm doing it all myself. So this is the progress i've made today...

This is how it looked first thing this morning...

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So i stripped it all down....

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Added some more framing....

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Look at this place, it's a mess!....

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Whilst i'm doing the bar, my wife has been primering over that ghastly painting on the wall....

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Part of my ethic is using reclaimed materials, so we've been collecting and breaking down old (and newer) pallets....

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And finally, this is how the bar looks so far....

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So far, pretty pleased with how it looks, and with some strategic lighting the textures will look great. I'll keep this thread updated more often now as i'm on site every day now and i'm sure you'll want to see it come together, and knowing my wife and i have designed and built it ourselves will add to the satisfaction at the end of it, it's just a shame that things keep going wrong! I'm dreading the LPG gas bottles coming on Friday and discovering my gas appliances are knackered too!

My fundme page isn't doing to well either :(

Oh well, we'll get there! :D
 
Associate
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15 Oct 2015
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That looks absolutely amazing. I'm not in the restaurant business at all but even I can say that there is huge potential on those buildings and land. I really hope it turns out well for you and your missus.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Jul 2004
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2,836
Location
Auckland
The mini munchkin loves sheepworld... so we will definitely have to make an excuse to pop in when you are going to be opening... or if you need a menu test :)
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
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21,309
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
Looking great Wez

I must say, i actually thought the snake thing was quite a clever way to have hidden that pipe!

Sorry to hear about the fridge, hope the other stuff isn't knackered too. Presume there wasn't an opportunity to get it repaired?
 
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