True story – I had purchased four fast food restaurants in 1988 and by the early 1990’s I was down for the count. I was losing money every week and had no idea how to stop the bleeding. Over the next several years I had sold off three of the four and the last one was in downtown Columbus Georgia. No pun intended; it was eating my lunch.
From about 1990-1998 I would leave home at 5am and drive to Columbus to check on the restaurants and then around lunch rime, drive to the Atlanta hotel brokerage office. That is what I did several times every week.
In 1998, we had just gotten home from our annual 4th of July family camping trip when my manager of the last restaurant called me. That is never a good sign. I answered the call, and he told me that on the night of July the 4th someone had shot a firework off, and it landed on the roof of the restaurant and caught the building on fire. The worst thing that can happen to a failing restaurant is to close for several months for repairs.
I remember exactly where I was standing when I took the call and I remember exactly where I was standing when I ask the manager the following question. I ask him, “how bad was the fire?” He said, “Keith, it was total loss.” I said, “ok Rudy, I will be there in a few hours.”
When I hung up the phone, I had mixed emotions……. Joy and Happiness! Ha.
See, the restaurant was fully insured, and I could not have been happier because I was finally out of the food business. KT