By Rami Cerone ’95
Owner, Caffé Capri in downtown Bryan, Texas
http://www.theplaceforitalian.com/

I had a great resume. I had an internship. I was president of two organizations on campus and involved with several others. I had my management degree with an International Business certificate. I was ready and qualified to start interviewing. Problem was, I didn’t want a job.

My senior year spring break trip was a turning point. I met an uncle of my roommate who was an executive with Frito Lay. Perfect contact I thought to get my foot in the door. However, after talking to him, I learned that he didn’t really like his job, but he was too old to switch careers. He was just going to wait until retirement and hope he didn’t get laid off until then.

To me, that was a revelation. I did not want the risk of having someone else in charge of my future. The thought of having a family, bills to pay and living in fear of possibly not having a job the next day sounded miserable to me. The only answer was to do something on my own. There seemed to be no better time to try and venture out with my own business. I was 22, accustomed to living cheaply and had no one else to support.  Worst case scenario would have been that I would have failed, had lots of debt and then would have had to get a job.

Now the tough part: what business did I want to go into? I had waited tables since I was 12 years old—first in my parents’ restaurant and then throughout college. I also worked in car dealerships during my college summers. I have a passion for cars, but I couldn’t think of anything other than a used car dealership and I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life.

A restaurant made sense. I somewhat knew the business. I still liked living in College Station—many of my friends were still in school, the town was fun and at the time, the Italian restaurant selection was “blah.” My assumption was that if no one else came, at least my friends would eat with me.

The next tough part was where to come up with the money. A bank loan was possible, but I was just a 22-year-old kid—no collateral, experience, money, etc….all important things in the eyes of a banker. Plus, who wants to loan for one of the riskiest businesses out there? I could have asked my parents for money—but I would lose my independence. I wanted the freedom to make my decisions (and my mistakes) without having to explain my actions. My only other option was to max out my credit cards and take cash advances. It was expensive (interest rates ranged from 19 to 22 percent), but it was easy. Walk into the bank and walk out with cash in my pocket (or actually my backpack, but you get the picture).

Location was the next hurdle. I had been to downtown Bryan exactly once throughout my college career so naturally, I never even looked there. However, College Station building rents weren’t cheap. A friend talked to someone who knew of a great building that had just become available. The downtown Bryan Brewing Company had gone out of business in just six months (remember the risky business factor?). The building was already set up as a restaurant (important), had potential and more importantly, being in the not yet revitalized downtown, was cheap. A few signatures later and the lease was mine.

I worked for two months getting the building ready to go. Every time I thought I was ready to open, I’d call my dad and he would tell me what I missed. Then I would advance myself more money and continue working. Opening day was a blur—I hired some friends of mine to wait tables and started to learn how to run a business.    

After opening, I still needed to borrow from credit cards from time to time. I didn’t know anything about “working capital” (or my lack of it) but quickly learned as restaurant bills began to come in. The hours were long, but I didn’t mind the hard work. My head cook left about six months after I opened, so I got into the kitchen and learned to cook (quickly). I started experimenting with recipes and the menu started getting a bit more creative.

The restaurant didn’t “take off” for about a year and a half. That was when I started getting known around town, my advertising started to work, I had a good article about me written in The Bryan-College Station Eagle….a combination of everything came together. Within three years, I had paid off my credit cards completely.

Now, it has been over 11 years. The restaurant has won numerous awards (Best Italian, Newman Top 10 fastest growing businesses in B/CS, Aggie 100 fastest growing Aggie owned companies in the world). I still work in the restaurant daily (albeit my hours are not as long as in the beginning). Many people ask why I don’t open another restaurant—my answer is always the same. Restaurants can become a “life consuming” business. I am comfortable with one location. I don’t have stress in my life, I still have free time and I make a comfortable living. Yes, I can probably make more money with more locations, but to me, going home to my wife at night, getting to relax, not worrying and doing what I want to do is much more important.