Today we’d like to introduce you to Bob Bernstein.
Hi Bob, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I moved to Nashville in 1988 to be a newspaper reporter. Initially, I thought I’d spend a couple years here and then move on to a “bigger” and “better” city and paper. However, after about a year I realized I had it backwards. Something about Nashville was darn appealing but I had realized journalism wasn’t what I wanted to do long term. I felt from an early age that I wanted to work for myself. So, a couple weeks before my 30th birthday and after three years as a reporter, I quit my job. I told my boss I wanted to open a coffeehouse. He looked surprised and amused and wished me luck.
I had worked in restaurants since I was 14. I started at a suburban Chicago hot dog joint, did a stint at McDonalds and eventually waited tables and bartended. I never thought I’d be in the restaurant business; it was just a way to make money. While waiting tables at a nice seafood restaurant in Oakland, CA, I saw the owner washing dishes on opening day and swore I’d never be in this industry.
Nashville was a different place back in 1992 when I quit my job. It was a rather sleepy place with big ambitions. There weren’t professional sports teams. There was one sushi restaurant. And there wasn’t a coffeehouse..
I had many business ideas before opening Bongo Java. A coffeehouse seemed the right idea at the right time. I may not have known anything about coffee. But from working in numerous restaurants and hanging at so many coffeehouses, I knew how to create a place people wanted to be. And that’s the biggest reason Bongo Java and the other cafes we opened worked: atmosphere.
I thought the hardest part would be raising money. I had about $12,000. I went to banks for a loan, but they basically laughed at me. “You going to try to compete with Krispy Kreme?” one banker actually asked me. Maybe I could have had family cosign a loan. But I was determined to do it myself. Getting investors was a compromise. Looking back, I don’t know how I opened that store with a total of $80,000. Yet, it somehow I did and it worked!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Bongo Java was profitable its first month in business. However, that doesn’t mean it was profitable every month. Nor does it mean each of my other stores had smooth sailing. Fido, our second place, took a year to be profitable. And each of the other operations had its own up and down story.
Over 32 years, we’ve dealt with a whole bunch of stuff: tornadoes, a pandemic, construction messes and more. Worst, we’ve had at least six employees die while with the company.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Bongo Java?
We started in 1993 and operate collection of cafes and a certified organic coffee roasting company.
We own Bongo Java, Fido, Game Point, Bongo East, Grins Vegetarian Cafe and Bongo Java Roasting Co. We also started and since sold Fenwick’s 300 and BOX: Bakery on 10th.
How do you think about happiness?
Hanging with the family, traveling and eating good food.
I was darn lucky to have had kids after my business was successful and I could afford to spend as much time with them as I could. While many entrepreneurs talk about how their family life suffered because of their business, I found that my business perhaps didn’t grow and thrive as much as it could have after I had kids. And I was perfectly fine with that.
As my son said when he was darn young, “Traveling is good for the bones.” It’s been an incredible privilege to have traveled so many places with my family. My kids have a different perspective of the world since they’ve witnessed the money crisis in Greece, the history of Israel and the natural beauty of Iceland.
My wife and I don’t have expensive taste. Food is the other thing we spend our money on. Yet, we’re just as happy with a dive as with a Michelin Star restaurant.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bongojava.com
