LUTZ, Fla. -- The ultimate comfort food might be even more essential now since the world is in distress.
- Pizza shop owner takes out $50K loan to pay employees
- Wood Fired Pizza Wine Bar is now completely take-out
- Owner wants people to remember there are brighter days ahead
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“Everybody is hurting, so they need comfort. So we like our chances of being successful because of that,” said Peter Taylor, owner of Wood Fired Pizza Wine Bar in Lutz, Florida.
Taylor has found a way to give the people what they want, despite the challenges we are facing with stay-at-home orders in place.
“Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, came out that Friday at at 2:15. By 4 o’clock I held a team meeting letting everyone know no one is going to lose their job. We’re going to fight with this as a family,” Taylor said.
Taylor says 80 percent of his business was dine-in, and only 20 percent was take-out. So to make up for it, he took out a $50,000 loan to ensure his employees were paid.
He also hired a consultant to make sure the take-out products were as good as the dine-in products, and with a lot of effort and bit of luck
“We’re ahead, and not by a little bit,” Taylor said.
For anyone wondering how he’s done it during such uncertain times, he says it really comes down to two things: Taking advantage of different loans, grants, and resources made available to small businesses in a time like this, and keeping your chin up until it passes.
“Business is going to be better than ever. Imagine all the people that are home that are unable to go out to restaurants. There’s going to be a surge. You need to be in business to take advantage of that,” Taylor said.
He wants to remind people that brighter days are ahead, no matter how you slice it.
“Don’t close your doors. Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up,” Taylor said.