Starting Small

Hey y'all...Welcome back to Que-Licious!

When I set out on my little barbecue adventure 6 years ago, my plan was simple really. Buy a nice smoker, a canopy, a few packaging supplies, get booked at some popular events in my area, and cook for people. Turns out achieving simplicity is not easily attained. As I began contacting event organizers in hopes of setting up our little barbecue stand, I soon discovered several factors at play that I simply did not take into consideration. (Ignorance is not always bliss)

Most events such as local weekend festivals, county fairs, or even craft shows book their vendors at least six months to one year in advance. In addition to the advance booking, there is also the rule of being a preferred vendor...which means as a new vendor, you are offered a spot on their waiting list and generally have to wait until the preferred vendor is no longer interested in securing a spot in the event. Now I do understand the concept of not wanting to duplicate the food selections of event goers, but for the record, I am currently on waiting lists for almost every event within a five county area.

A recent follow-up call to one such event committee turned into a very enlightening conversation. Turns out there was an opening for my type of food! Please hold your applause and cheers of joy and jubilation...there's more. As I calmed myself down and began the process of exchanging information, getting the set-up fee and times, the voice on the other end of the phone asks me a very real and important question..."What would you say your feeding capacity would be per hour"? Darn good question. She then proceeded to let me know that during the course of the three day festival at any given time there are between 150,000 to over 200,000 visitors to the event who at some point will want to eat. My heart sank...and then it sank again. I had to remove myself from the list. My little pig cooker is amazing and we produce some of the best barbecue you have ever put in your mouth, but I did not have that kind of capacity. Not yet anyway.

I guess this conversation could be considered as my "ah-ha" moment. After spending about all of an hour being down and discouraged; I asked myself a question..."Why am I waiting to be set-up at some over-crowded event when what I really wanted to do was provide my food on a more personal setting"? Another darn good question...and one I knew the answer too. Life is a constant game of highs and lows. If we are not careful, we loose sight of what we really set out to accomplish in life and just become purposeless, lost, and desperate.  My passion for creating great food and being in the company of great people is the driving force behind Whiskey River BBQ & Catering. Somewhere during my journey I had allowed myself to get caught up in the "grandiose" of what Whiskey River might grow into and just wanted to come out of the gate like gang-busters! Very unrealistic.

For the past two years I have been trying to get my name out there in the fair and festival circuit as a food vendor and have come to the realization...that's not what I want at all. Well, not entirely. I would still like to setup at select populated events in my area, but to introduce our line of barbecue sauces, rubs, slathers, and other packaged food items while letting customers know we cater. That was my original goal from so long ago while talking over my idea with my family. For quite sometime now I have been needing to find my way back to the simplicity of that plan and start on a smaller scale. Instead of focusing on what I haven't been able to do I have decided to start advertising what I can do.

I have tapped into some very outstanding resources that I will be sharing with you during the next few days and I will be introducing some of our catering packages on our Facebook Page and Twitter Feed.

Keep cookin' y'all!