Rick Doering is a great example of how to utilize Fire Within’s resources. He purchased the business manual, attended our Wood Fired University, purchased a mobile unit, and is moving into a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
We use mobile units as a catering arm of our business. While we will continue to serve retail events such as wineries, markets, and concerts our focus will be on private functions such as weddings.
Rick talks about a recent event where he used his mobile wood-fired oven.
(We worked) the 122nd Fighter Wing Air National Guard Fort Wayne Air Show. It was insanity. We had a line 2 hours deep for 8 hours straight. We sold out three days in a row. It was wonderful and exhausting. There was a national vendor set up with an entire village of carnival style booths serving corndogs, elephant ears, and such. It was flattering that hundreds of people waited two hours for our food when there were other quicker options available and everyone said it was worth the wait. We were only supposed to be serving the VIP section, but the word got out and we got bombarded.
A storefront location has been in our 5-year plan from the beginning. As they say; luck is when preparation meets opportunity. We were approached by the development company representative who was an Alto Grado fan while we were serving at our local farmers market asking if we would be interested in a physical location as part of their latest project. The only answer to that question is; absolutely! And we were on our way. It also helps boost your confidence when every event has people coming back up with and empty plate asking where our store is located so that they can bring their friends and family. Now we get to tell them!
Our brick and mortar store will be supplement both natural gas and wood.
