Worst year EVER 2010!!!!

[iconian]

I'm truly sorry to hear that, may God bless you for the following days.

 

[WeLuvDiz]

I am so sorry for your loss. Owning a pizzeria is a tough business because of all the compatition with the big chains. I wish you luck. I agree, 2010 was the worse year I've ever had. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier in the year and when the Dr. was removing it he "slipped" and severed me optic nerve on my left eye and now it doesn't open and I have double vision in it when I manually open the lid. On top of that, my wife finally found a job and was fired because she came to the hospital because I almost died and was in ICU. And to top all that off we lost our home because my landlord did not pay taxes in over three years and the house was sold at Sheriff auction(we found out 10 days before) so we, the 4 of us plus our dog have been staying at a hotel (we have no family,but us) and can't save for a new place when we are spending the money on the weekly rate. Well thank God we still have each other, just getting really scared that Christmas is right around the corner. Thank you to my Dis family for listening. Happy Holidays to all!!!

 

[Kim♥DISNEY]

To Weluvdiz ...

I hope 2011 is much better for you. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

Just to add my two cents with the pizza thing... so sorry for your bad year!

We have been basically forced to quit eating pizza here. Our favorite local place (sound like your place) has had trouble since Dominoes came in. We're a small town, half hour either way to bigger towns. They refuse to lower their prices at all though. They do have a $5 med pepperoni every Thurs from 4-7, always was a big hit and still is. Yes their pizza is a million times better than Dominoes (I can't stand Dominoes even with their "new recipe"), but they are very inconsistent. They really always have been, but at least it was always good, just not always GREAT. Now you often get a bad pizza, burnt, over done, sloppy. I'm not saying this is your problem, just ours. Then my absolute favorite, Papa Johns (half hour away), has had to do something to theirs different. We got 2 in 2 weeks and both had to be held with two hands or it dropped down and you couldn't eat it... they reduced their dough or something, not filling at all and a terrible mess to eat... not to mention the price increases.

So what I'm trying to say is:

1)no, my pizza habits would not have changed lately if the good pizza were around, probably 1-2 a month as always.

2) although you don't think anything has changed in your place, maybe you should ask customers what they think, why they aren't in as often, if they think something is different or if they just think the price is too high either vs. competitors or just because of the economy. If there is a problem, no amount of advertising or couponing will change that. I know if you asked our local guy (who is a family friend by the way) that he'd say nope, nothing is different, nothing is wrong, it's all Dominoes fault. They came in, people are just going there, we haven't changed a thing... And we've TOLD him why we're not there and that we won't buy from them anymore!

Just a thought!

 

[Kathi OD]

So sorry to hear of the loss of your parents. Adding the business problems has had to make this year quite stressful for your family.

Keep your head up. It seems like bad luck comes in waves. 2010 started out terribly for our family, and followed a horrid 2008 & 2009, but our luck began to change in June and it turned out to be a better year than we had had in a long time.

Hopefully 2011 will be the year your luck turns around.

 

[lukenick1]

I am so sorry for your loss. Owning a pizzeria is a tough business because of all the compatition with the big chains. I wish you luck. I agree, 2010 was the worse year I've ever had. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier in the year and when the Dr. was removing it he "slipped" and severed me optic nerve on my left eye and now it doesn't open and I have double vision in it when I manually open the lid. On top of that, my wife finally found a job and was fired because she came to the hospital because I almost died and was in ICU. And to top all that off we lost our home because my landlord did not pay taxes in over three years and the house was sold at Sheriff auction(we found out 10 days before) so we, the 4 of us plus our dog have been staying at a hotel (we have no family,but us) and can't save for a new place when we are spending the money on the weekly rate. Well thank God we still have each other, just getting really scared that Christmas is right around the corner. Thank you to my Dis family for listening. Happy Holidays to all!!!

OH MY GOODNESS...I feel terribly guilty even complaining about my situation whe yours is much much worse. I hope some good comes your way soon.

 

[lukenick1]

I agree 2010 has been the worst year of my life!!!!

I can not wait to kick this crappy year to the curb!!!!!!

On jan 11th I took my DS28 to the ER,he had a wheeze when he would breath out, turned out he had an enlarged heart and congestive heart failure!
He passed away on July 1st.

I am sending you hugs and more hugs.

When my dad died 16 yrs ago I felt like an orphan. My DM was still living, I just felt abandoned. I just can not imagine lossing both parents in the same year!!!!

We eat pizza at least once a week. It is cheaper than taking the family out to a resturant, i usually have leftovers for lunch the next day.

I have a card they punch and when i buy 10 i get a free one.

Advertize, give out coupons, make one thing better than anyone else.

My fav pizza place makes the best bread sticks in the world!!! My DS21 will eat just (all)bread sticks and have some pizza later.

You could do like a wear red and green on (slow night) and get free bread sticks.

Radio advertizing would be good, like if you do Customer comes in and says (radio station name or personality) get $2 off regular large pizza

Do you sell pizza dough?

Pizza already made that folks can cook at home.

More HUGS!!!

Hang in there 2011 is just a few days away

OMG...I am terribly sorry for you loss. I cannot even imagine losing a child.

No we do not sell our dough but have if someone asks. Not a bad idea though to advertise it

 

[lukenick1]

another deal that I loved when we ordered pizza is you could call on a certain day let's say at 5pm and you get the pizza for the price of the hour so $5 then 6:15pm you pay $6.15

Sounds like a good deal for the customer, but if someone called at 1pm? Selling a pizza for $1 would be a huge loss for the business. If we are already struggling, that kind of offer would definitely put us in the grave.
Thanks for the suggestion though...........

 

[lukenick1]

.

I've also seen fish bowls filled with people's business cards. I think there are drawings from time to time for freebies from the establishments.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! Not sure it will bring in "new" customers but I sure would like to thank an existing customer. Going to dig out my fish bowl now!

 

[lukenick1]

So sorry to hear about your horrible year. I can't imagine losing both parents, and esp. since they were a young age. It's always harder during the holidays too.

When my kids were in school we frequented the local pizza place that offered a % back on a certain night to their school. The school did the advertising and we felt good about supporting the school while having a nice meal that I didn't have to cook!

Is there a Costco or Sams close to you that sells pizza? If so they might be taking some of your business as I know Costco has a $7.00 super-size pepperoni pizza that you can take home or they can bake it for you in the store for the same price. I always see lots of people with that pizza in their cart as it's easy to just toss in with their other groceries vs. having to make another stop. I wish you the best of luck, and if I lived in CT I'd stop by and purchase a pizza from you for sure!---Kathy

Yes my poor parents were only 63 & 64. My Dad had dementia and was ready to go. It was a long few years of him just detiorating. Mom and him have been divorced many years so one had nothing to do with the other. Mom died suddenly of a ruptured aneurysm, less than 2 weeks after my Dad died. It was an enormous shock and I still cannot believe it.

I LOVE the idea of offering a certian % to a school. That is an awesome idea especially if the school will send flyers home to every parent. I'll have to check into that!

We do have a Costco in town and my husband has mentioned a "take & bake" pizza but that would require more refrigeration equipment and space.
Thanks for your advice.

 

[lukenick1]

To everyone else on here who has offered an idea or just a hug, it is much appreciated. I am hopeful that things will get better. They have to, a person can only take so much. I know there is much worse situations out there and that makes me thankful for what I do have. I wish you all a Happy Holiday Season.

 

[Anna114]

My bad year was 2009. I lost both my parents 3 months apart then was diagnosed with possible cancer and needed surgery in Dec. Turned out only to be pre-cancer but still had to have a full hysterectomy at 45 years old. Man was I happy for 2010

OP I am sorry for your loss. Obviously I know how you feel. I hope your business turns around.

 

[mjantz]

I suggest working your FB page to your advantage. Our local Mexican place does a deal every day of the week. Last Friday I didn't feel like cooking & they were offering free Queso with purchase of an entree. DH & I split an entree & had the free Queso & it was perfect. I just showed them the page on my iPhone & no problem.

 

[AndreaDM]

Sounds like a good deal for the customer, but if someone called at 1pm? Selling a pizza for $1 would be a huge loss for the business. If we are already struggling, that kind of offer would definitely put us in the grave

Any offers like this that I have seen do not start until 5 pm.

 

[lukenick1]

Any offers like this that I have seen do not start until 5 pm.

What size pizza were they offering????

 

[AndreaDM]

A large one topping.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Lots of great suggestions. Here in my city, we either do the "stimulus package" pizza deal from a local restaurant...one large one topping, special salad for 3, and a 2 liter, for $11 (tax included), and it's more than enough for our family.

Sometimes the kids want Papa Johns, so we get their 9 or 10 dollar pizzas.

Another idea would be for high school sports that run concessions. Our local pizza hut would offer reduced price pizzas for the concession stands to sell individual slices as a fundraiser. They would get the pizzas for $5 each, but would order an average of 4 pizzas per game, and the games can sometimes run all day on a Saturday or all evening on a Friday night. Just an idea.

 

[SDSorority]

Not only did I lose both my parents at very young ages and within 2 weeks of each other this year, now our business is going down hill. We own a pizza shop and business is getting worse and worse this year. Are people not eating as much pizza these days?? I need to start cutting back and have no idea where to begin. This year has been the worst!
Thanks for listening........

I think 2010 has been bad for a LOT of people!! Almost 2011!! It can only get better from here, right?

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Yikes. I'm so sorry about your parents and your business. We still love our pizza at this house if it makes you feel any better! People are just cutting back everywhere they can w/o thinking of how that hurts small business owners I guess

Can you get your business featured on Groupon or a similar site perhaps? What about partnering w/other small businesses? My friend owns a play place that does b-day parties and she is forever looking for a RELIABLE pizza place for her parties. You wouldn't believe how unreliable a lot of places are. Maybe you could go around to this type of business in your area and present your "party package" to them? I was there one afternoon when the man we now refer to as "super hot cupcake man" came in with a box of his beautiful cupcakes and a portfolio of his work. He'd heard that b-day party customers there are frequently looking for a place that makes custom cakes (true) and wondered if they would recommend him. Well, I've already recommended him to one friend just from that one day, and I've shown off his website to lots of people. His little trip to the play place probably got him several new customers!

 

[NewCrew42]

So sorry for the year you have had.

The local pizza in our neighborhood has started offering .99 cents a slice at lunch. It looks like the lunch crowd has increased there.

Our school does the "dough raising" one night a month where you order a pizza for take-out or delivery and a certain percentage goes to the local school. We usually participate in this. You may want to contact the parent/teacher organization at your local school to see if this would work out for you.