Living the Daydream
What happens when your wife catches you day dreaming? In my case, we ended up buying a mobile bar.
My name is Jason and I am one half of Roadhouse Saloons Ltd; the company my wife and I set up to buy The Ginslinger. I am, and always have been, something of a dreamer. My mind very often finds itself miles away from where it should be considering grand designs, cunning plans and crackpot schemes. It has caused me no end of problems during my working life. Then in mid-2021 I discovered why...I've got ADHD. That discovery made a whole lot of sense and it was why on the evening of Friday October 22nd 2021 I was staring into space when I should have been listening to my wife and stepdaughter.
"What's wrong with Jason?" my stepdaughter asks. Louise, my other half in both life and in business, responds that she doesn't know and repeats the question directly to me.
In my mind I had been at a massive food and drink show in glorious sunshine serving craft gins to thirsty punters from the shade of a converted horse box. "Just thinking." I replied, pulling myself back to a wet Friday night in Chorley.
Louise asked me what about and, after a moment's pause in which I could think of nothing witty to say, I responded with the truth. I'd had another "brainwave". Olivia, my stepdaughter, rolled her eyes and reminded me of the time I was going to concoct the world's greatest gin and the time I was going to build a Tikki Bar in the garden or....Louise interrupted. She actually thought it was a good idea.
Now whenever I have a "brainwave" I spend an inordinate amount of time doing my home work, costing, legalities, markets, all of it. By the time I decide I can't do it because I lack the skills/money/tools/space (delete as applicable) I know exactly what it is I can't do and why. Louise is the polar opposite and so the whirlwind began.
By Saturday lunchtime Louise had found half a dozen interesting looking horseboxes. Some were too expensive, others needed too much work and some looked ok. Then she found The Bubbly Box; a ready made business, the whole package. Perfect!
"It's a prosecco bar!" I objected, albeit half heartedly. I could see the sense but, I know my wife and I knew brakes would only be applied if I applied them. It was too late, this train was rolling and it was not going to be stopped.
On Sunday afternoon, less than 48 hours after I'd had the notion, we were in Billinge (a village wedged between Wigan and St Helens) not two minutes from where I spent the first few years of my life. Before us The Bubbly Box. An hour later after a brew and a chat with the previous owners, Rachael and Gareth, we returned to Chorley, making plans to acquire our new bar as we went. Another 48 hours passed and we had secured the funds to buy the business and there was some left over to buy a car capable of towing it.
Wednesday morning arrived and before lunch we had been to Blackburn and bought a motor, by early evening The Bubbly Box was being backed onto our drive and then, over three bottles of prosecco and a few beers, the deal was done.
If the first few days had been a whirlwind, they were nothing to what followed. Personal Licenses, insurances for Joe & Joanna Public and The Bubbly Box itself. Suppliers, printers, local advertising, Social Media, Temporary Event Notices, web domains and websites we got through the next week on about 14 hours of sleep apiece. Then January 2022 arrived.
Over the Christmas period, we found that the way we worked and the what we wanted to achieve was somewhat limited by the minimalistic interior of The Bubbly Box...and it had a leak in the roof somewhere.
"Well, while we're changing the inside, we might as well change the outside." I said, "I'll do it myself!" I added confidently.
Louise wasn't so sure. I rapidly ripped out the interior, leaving just the UPVC cladded exterior and set about buying wood to do the job with...except it was too cold by 8 degrees to stain the wood or paint the horsebox. Then it rained for a month. Day by day the months passed and my progress was slow due to poor weather, lack of space, lack of ready assistance and a fundamental lack of the requisite skills.
Three weeks out from our first booking of the year (It was now late April) panic gripped me and we found "The Local Friendly Handyman" aka Rick. In four days he, with his space, decent weather, eager helpers and actual ability, completely redid the exterior and found time to do the inside as well. We had ten days to go.
In a frantic week we had fridges delivered, Andrew the One Legged Sparky (he actually has two legs, he was just injured) got our power on, the sink went in and stock was bought. With two days to go, courtesy of Sign Dezign in Leyland, we had new signage for our new name. The Ginslinger!
So, at last, we landed in Higher Whitley in leafy Cheshire ready and raring to go and after many hours of serving beers and slinging gin we left the gathering well and truly lubricated and our bar was well and truly Christened.
We are incredibly proud of the bar we have and have big plans for the future but, those are stories for another day.
Thanks for reading,
Jason & Louise
My name is Jason and I am one half of Roadhouse Saloons Ltd; the company my wife and I set up to buy The Ginslinger. I am, and always have been, something of a dreamer. My mind very often finds itself miles away from where it should be considering grand designs, cunning plans and crackpot schemes. It has caused me no end of problems during my working life. Then in mid-2021 I discovered why...I've got ADHD. That discovery made a whole lot of sense and it was why on the evening of Friday October 22nd 2021 I was staring into space when I should have been listening to my wife and stepdaughter.
"What's wrong with Jason?" my stepdaughter asks. Louise, my other half in both life and in business, responds that she doesn't know and repeats the question directly to me.
In my mind I had been at a massive food and drink show in glorious sunshine serving craft gins to thirsty punters from the shade of a converted horse box. "Just thinking." I replied, pulling myself back to a wet Friday night in Chorley.
Louise asked me what about and, after a moment's pause in which I could think of nothing witty to say, I responded with the truth. I'd had another "brainwave". Olivia, my stepdaughter, rolled her eyes and reminded me of the time I was going to concoct the world's greatest gin and the time I was going to build a Tikki Bar in the garden or....Louise interrupted. She actually thought it was a good idea.
Now whenever I have a "brainwave" I spend an inordinate amount of time doing my home work, costing, legalities, markets, all of it. By the time I decide I can't do it because I lack the skills/money/tools/space (delete as applicable) I know exactly what it is I can't do and why. Louise is the polar opposite and so the whirlwind began.
By Saturday lunchtime Louise had found half a dozen interesting looking horseboxes. Some were too expensive, others needed too much work and some looked ok. Then she found The Bubbly Box; a ready made business, the whole package. Perfect!
"It's a prosecco bar!" I objected, albeit half heartedly. I could see the sense but, I know my wife and I knew brakes would only be applied if I applied them. It was too late, this train was rolling and it was not going to be stopped.
On Sunday afternoon, less than 48 hours after I'd had the notion, we were in Billinge (a village wedged between Wigan and St Helens) not two minutes from where I spent the first few years of my life. Before us The Bubbly Box. An hour later after a brew and a chat with the previous owners, Rachael and Gareth, we returned to Chorley, making plans to acquire our new bar as we went. Another 48 hours passed and we had secured the funds to buy the business and there was some left over to buy a car capable of towing it.
Wednesday morning arrived and before lunch we had been to Blackburn and bought a motor, by early evening The Bubbly Box was being backed onto our drive and then, over three bottles of prosecco and a few beers, the deal was done.
If the first few days had been a whirlwind, they were nothing to what followed. Personal Licenses, insurances for Joe & Joanna Public and The Bubbly Box itself. Suppliers, printers, local advertising, Social Media, Temporary Event Notices, web domains and websites we got through the next week on about 14 hours of sleep apiece. Then January 2022 arrived.
Over the Christmas period, we found that the way we worked and the what we wanted to achieve was somewhat limited by the minimalistic interior of The Bubbly Box...and it had a leak in the roof somewhere.
"Well, while we're changing the inside, we might as well change the outside." I said, "I'll do it myself!" I added confidently.
Louise wasn't so sure. I rapidly ripped out the interior, leaving just the UPVC cladded exterior and set about buying wood to do the job with...except it was too cold by 8 degrees to stain the wood or paint the horsebox. Then it rained for a month. Day by day the months passed and my progress was slow due to poor weather, lack of space, lack of ready assistance and a fundamental lack of the requisite skills.
Three weeks out from our first booking of the year (It was now late April) panic gripped me and we found "The Local Friendly Handyman" aka Rick. In four days he, with his space, decent weather, eager helpers and actual ability, completely redid the exterior and found time to do the inside as well. We had ten days to go.
In a frantic week we had fridges delivered, Andrew the One Legged Sparky (he actually has two legs, he was just injured) got our power on, the sink went in and stock was bought. With two days to go, courtesy of Sign Dezign in Leyland, we had new signage for our new name. The Ginslinger!
So, at last, we landed in Higher Whitley in leafy Cheshire ready and raring to go and after many hours of serving beers and slinging gin we left the gathering well and truly lubricated and our bar was well and truly Christened.
We are incredibly proud of the bar we have and have big plans for the future but, those are stories for another day.
Thanks for reading,
Jason & Louise
Life's too short to take it too seriously!
Managing Director, Louise is a 40 something nurse of almost 30 years experience, educated to Masters degree level. She is intelligent, practical and determined in addition to all the other qualities that have made her such a highly regarded nurse, outstanding mum and incredible wife. Louise is responsible for finance, bookings and Social Media.
Operations Director, is the fancy title Jason created for himself. Jason's has never found the perfect fit for his Hospitality orientated Business and Finance education...until now. His working background lies in customer service, sales and in the hospitality industry. Jason looks after the creative and administrative sides of the business along with moving large boxes and putting the kettle on.
Jason and Louise have been married since 2017 and have four children (two each) from previous marriages, they have rescued two lunatic German Shepherds and a pair of unimpressed cats.
Operations Director, is the fancy title Jason created for himself. Jason's has never found the perfect fit for his Hospitality orientated Business and Finance education...until now. His working background lies in customer service, sales and in the hospitality industry. Jason looks after the creative and administrative sides of the business along with moving large boxes and putting the kettle on.
Jason and Louise have been married since 2017 and have four children (two each) from previous marriages, they have rescued two lunatic German Shepherds and a pair of unimpressed cats.
The Ginslinger - Mobile bar
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