Local Talent: The Entrepreneur’s Handbook Podcast - Episode 21



This week’s episode of the Local Talent podcast features a couple who took their dream and turned it into reality. A lot of people chat about their fantasy business venture all day without ever making it happen but Jaymie and Liz Mathis wanted a wine bar in their town so badly that they got out there, bought and renovated an old house, hired staff, stocked the shelves and opened up to the public.

During the interview, you’ll hear Jason quizzing Jaymie and Liz about the hoops they jumped through to get the 1908 Wine and Ale Bar off the ground and how they kept it going during the tough times of the Covid-19 pandemic. This episode also contains a lot of business insights such as how to hire staff, what adjusting your prices for inflation actually looks like and what the biggest misconceptions are around owning and managing a restaurant.

If you liked this episode and want to hear more interviews with some of the best business minds from Selma, Cibolo, and further afield, subscribe to the Local Talent podcast and follow the show on Facebook and LinkedIn.


Timestamps

[0:15] The elevator pitch for Liz and Jaymie’s businesses and how they got into the food and wine business
[3:49] How 1908 came to be
[8:24] Building on the vision for 1908
[11:35] Pre-Covid and post-Covid: How staffing a restaurant has dramatically changed since the pandemic
[15:35] “It’s the atmosphere”: How to keep customers coming back for more
[19:37] Jaymie breaks down the rules and regulations he and Liz followed to convert a house into a wine bar
[22:00] Keeping on top of inventory and balancing out food and alcohol sales
[27:00] How Liz and Jaymie manage 1908 to cut down on food and budgetary waste
[29:19] Pricing, inflation, profit margins: The strategy behind the numbers
[34:53] t’s time for…the Lighting Rounnddd!!
[40:04] How to hire and retain top talent in your restaurant
[46:53] What’s the one thing you wished you would have known before refurbing an old house into a wine bar?
[50:20] Will there be another establishment in Liz and Jaymie’s mini empire?
[51:33] The biggest mistake that Liz and Jaymie ever made
[53:15] “Location, location, location”: The best advice that Liz and Jaymie ever received and their business book recommendations
[55:00] How Jaymie and Liz build rest and relaxation into their schedule
[55:35] The big misconceptions that we have around owning restaurants
[57:10] What’s next for Liz and Jaymie and for Cibolo?
[59:45] Is owning a restaurant actually fun?
[1:00:54] The magic of “trailer park classy” food
[1:04:14] Where to go to find out more about Liz and Jaymie’s businesses


Highlight Quote
“We wanted to change the scope of what Cibolo looks like. We wanted people to understand that you can have a nice restaurant, you can have a nice glass of wine in Cibolo. You do not have to go to Boerne, you don't have to go to Fredericksburg. You don't have to go to these other places. That was what we set out to accomplish. Does that mean that we're done with Cibolo? No, we have multiple other properties that we're going to continue to invest in and pour love and everything else into. Are we done with the restaurant business? Yes, we're done. We accomplished the goal that we set out to accomplish.”
(Jaymie Mathis, Local Talent podcast, 50:43 - 51:20)

Links
https://www.1908houseofwine.com/
https://www.facebook.com/1908WineAle/
https://www.instagram.com/1908houseofwine/?hl=en
https://www.kindlingtexaskitchen.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kindlingtexaskitchen/
http://therootedforkcibolo.com/
https://www.instagram.com/therootedforkcibolo/

https://txlocaltalent.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/txlocaltalent/
https://www.facebook.com/txlocaltalent
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1tzUASELeq89GBm1yeHIkw/featured
https://open.spotify.com/show/7N1EFqBxTHi7oHUAWEqCOE