Happy New Year all.
Where do I begin? 2024 was a rough year for Bar Car, Marianne, and me, but we’re looking forward to 2025. What I’m about to offer you isn’t an excuse, it’s an apology of sorts, coupled with an explanation. Not all of what I’ve written here is “great” news, but hey, it isn’t all bad either. This is sort of complicated, complex, and frustrating. It isn’t something that I can just jump into, so please, indulge me for the next couple of paragraphs.
Before you read on, I’ll ask you to try to understand a couple of things about me. First, I’ve always enjoyed writing. Over the years, I’ve found that for me at least, writing is the best way to be able to convey my thoughts, no matter where they land on the mood spectrum. By sitting down at my computer, I can take my time and think about what I want to say. I can choose my words, thoughts, and opinions carefully, and then express what’s on my mind, without ever having to worry about something being taken out of context by those with whom I’m speaking. When writing (or typing, as the case may be), if something doesn’t look or sound right, you simply left-click, highlight, and then click delete, with no one being any the wiser.
The other thing I’d like anyone reading to understand is that sometimes when the subject matter is “heavy,” I do my best to interject a little humor. I only mention this, as I don’t wish anyone to question my integrity. I certainly hope you’ll accept this as sincere, as that’s how it was intended to be. Some may construe this as whining. Make no mistake, the following is neither whining nor complaining, it’s an honest attempt to allow people a chance to understand some problems that we’re currently facing. Admittedly, there are some classic “Ken Rants” here and there, and since it’s been a while since I wrote one of my (ever-amusing) rants, I figured, “What the hell? We’ll kill two birds with one stone here.”
Care to Audition as Part of the Brain Trust?
If there’s one thing I’ve always loved about our customers and Facebook followers, it’s the never-ending stream of suggestions, advice, and recommendations, all intended to help us be the best we can be. To that end, as you read on, you’ll find that Marianne and I have found ourselves caught between a rock and a hard place, concerning Bar Car. I would appreciate input from those who’d like to contribute. Feel free to comment in the comments section of the Facebook post (attached to this link), or you can email me at allisonsbarcar@gmail.com. Just one thing – if you choose to leave feedback, please don’t be offended if your solution isn’t quite what we need. As I used to tell my father, “Dad, just because I don’t always take your advice, doesn’t mean that I don’t always listen when you’re offering it.” My dad has been gone just over 10 years now. I wish he was still around to offer me some advice, just one last time.
OK, the introduction is over; it’s time to get to the crux of the matter.
Help Wanted… None Found
Within a year of the time we opened Bar Car, it started getting big. No, not “Fortune 500” big, and certainly not “Ken’s getting a beach house in the Pacific” big, but we were growing like crazy. From nearly the beginning, we constantly battled running the business with minimal help, resulting in very minimal sleep and even more minimal downtime… So much so, that we finally hit maximum burnout in 2024. Note: With the addition of Allison’s Bar Bus and now Allison’s Roadside, it’s businesses -plural, as I’m apparently a glutton for punishment.
On a positive note, we somehow ended 2024 and began 2025 with some sort of renewed energy that just came out of nowhere. Don’t ask why, as I can’t explain it, but I have felt more motivated, rested, and reinvigorated over the last 24 hours, than I have in probably the last 24 weeks. Sad, but true. Who would’ve thought that beginning our fifth year in business (as of February 1st) would still see us reinventing and reshaping our business model? I certainly never saw that coming, but in fairness, I honestly never saw Bar Car becoming this big either. At this point, I’m not quite certain where or what to tweak, but I do know that it’s gotten too big for just Marianne and me.
Despite how this may be starting to sound, don’t panic. We’re not going to close the business, in fact, far from it. We are booked heavily throughout January and February, and we currently have reservations booked for as far out as September 2025. Bar Car isn’t going anywhere, but we’ve got to modify things somehow.
The problem is simple; the solution has been elusive. Despite our best efforts, it’s proven impossible to find regular, dependable, trustworthy help. I refuse to lower my standards when it comes to hiring drivers. Period. I’d love nothing more than to be able to hire three or four high-quality drivers, but much like most of the other businesses in the Northwoods, it’s almost impossible to find help that you can rely on, let alone trust.
This business won’t allow me to stick some “less than desirable” new hire in a “behind the scenes” type of position, just to fill a void until somebody better comes along. That might be OK if you’re looking to fill a spot flipping burgers or washing dishes, but that doesn’t fly when you’re dealing with people’s safety while driving a vehicle (quite often) in less-than-favorable conditions. Nope. I ain’t doing it. I’m not risking YOUR safety, nor am I risking my business or our reputation, not to mention risking everything else we’ve worked for when God forbid, that substandard hire decides to do something stupid, illegal, immoral, or just flat-out insane. Nope… ain’t Happening.
In four years, we have managed to hire a total of two “regular” drivers, neither of whom panned out. One was great… when she could work. The other (from about day number two) managed to grate and grind on every last nerve in my body, but… she came to work. Had it not been for the mild heart attack that Marianne suffered in June 2023, the latter wouldn’t have lasted three weeks. After Marianne came home from the hospital, she was still feeling the pressures brought on by the business. Here she was, three days removed from angioplasty surgery, and right at the start of one of our busiest months. If it hadn’t been for the driver alleviating some of Marianne’s stress by working some extra hours, I wouldn’t have bitten my tongue for so long. She wasn’t by any means “bad” with customers, and the best I could tell, she never stole from us or overcharged her customers. She just wouldn’t listen. For various reasons, Marianne and I started this business by making it a point to do things in a very consistent and methodical manner, and four years later, she and I still do things that way. Why? Because our system works for us. Our former driver? Unfortunately, not so much.
The one part-time driver we do presently have happens to work six (count them… SIX) different jobs. Much like us, he’s worn down to a nub from working morning, noon, and night, seven days a week, so anytime he can spare even a few hours for me, I’m grateful.
Welcome to “A Look Inside the Lunacy”
This business isn’t like getting tired of a 40-hour, five-day work week and needing to take those five vacation days sooner rather than later. To comprehend the problem, one must realize that this business is non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. When we’re open, the phone rings, and the text alert wails. When we’re closed the phone rings, and when we’re sleeping, showering, and eating (or at least while attempting any or all of the aforementioned) the phone rings and the text tone screams.
Facebook Messenger also used to “ding” us into insanity, however, we finally quit taking requests and reservations through Messenger, as it was impossible to field all of the different avenues from which the calls and messages came. Emails? Oh, brother, those are a double-edged sword. On the bright side, at least we don’t “hear” those come in. The downside? We’re so busy juggling phone calls, texts, voicemails, and missed calls, that I’m lucky to even be able to check the email on a bi-weekly basis before flying out the door to start fielding the calls that we somehow managed not to miss. We love doing what we do for this community but trust me, it’s brutal and after four years, it’s taken a toll.
To get some relief, in our third year, we elected to cut out being open on Mondays and Tuesdays (although, to this day, we still book and service some reservations on those days). Even taking a couple of days off a week, the phone calls, voicemails, emails, and texts continually pour in. Make no mistake, we are extremely grateful for that, but by the time we attempt to come back to life on Wednesday, we are so buried in missed calls, voicemails, text messages, and emails, it’s becoming increasingly hard (and often impossible) to catch up. Bear in mind, in addition to the demands of the businesses and trying to keep up with the housework, office work, and laundry (all of which are often an exercise in futility), we’ve also been dealing with a full-scale remodel since mid-March (thank God that’s almost done).
To show you just how maniacal things get, a few Saturdays ago, we returned to our home in Phelps at about 3:30 AM after running our calls for the night. At that point, with one finger swipe, the business phone went into “silent mode.” By 9:30 AM that same morning, Marianne woke up, looked at the phone, and saw a combined total of 16 missed calls, five or six of whom left voicemails, along with about a half-dozen texts. I’m all about serving the customers to the best of our ability, but 16 calls and texts during those hours? On a Sunday morning?
We never used to silence the phone, even during the hours that we were closed, but a few months ago, that policy also had to change. Because we ran Tuesday (New Year’s Eve), on a night we’re normally closed, we elected not to open New Year’s Day. Since getting home at about 4:00 AM this morning (New Year’s Day),
Since we started Bar Car, I couldn’t tell you how many people have suggested that we do some sort of ‘reality” something or another in the vans. First of all, it’s not like I can just call TLC, pitch them the idea, and have cameras rolling in the vans next week. Depending on the groups, it is a lot of fun some nights, but it’s not nearly as “juicy” or wild as people might think. Then again, even on a boring night for us, it’s gotta beat watching “1,000-LB Sisters,” but apparently those reality TV babes do have quite the following… so much so, that according to Google, they just started Season 6 in October.
In the likely event that TLC ditches the Bar Car Reality TV pitch and you just can’t do without Amy and Tammy, here’s your Season 6, Episode 10 snapshot. “The family deals with the aftermath of Amy’s meltdown; back home, Chris gets skin removal surgery; Amy has a risqué photoshoot; Tammy finds doctors who can do her skin removal surgery but some test results force Tammy to confess a long-held secret.” God, help me…
While I can’t offer you any “Taxi Cab Confessions,” I can give you a taste of what it’s like to deal with some customers. Now, before we get started, let me paint the scene… Don’t forget that you’ve been out running calls all night, that you never got a chance to eat dinner yesterday, haven’t had time to shower in two days, and now, after four hours of broken sleep, the phone begins ringing…
We get it. You (as the customer) are calling now because you need (or want) a ride “now.” That works in Chicago, Milwaukee, and maybe even in Madison or Wausau, but when you have a two-person operation it can’t always work that way in Vilas County, Wisconsin. We did our best to maintain that pace for over three years, and now we’re paying for it.
Most customers – especially our regulars – are more than understanding, while some – usually the out-of-towners accustomed to getting an Uber in 8 minutes – aren’t. The epitome of the unhappy and impatient customer can be seen when someone from way out of the Northwoods lands at Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport, without having made prior ground-travel arrangements. Stepping out of the terminal, they approach the curb, looking for one of the 50 taxis, Ubers, and so on that are always outside O’Hare, LAX, and LaGuardia. To their astonishment, there are only two taxis out there, and, would you believe, both are loading customers who actually thought ahead and made arrangements.
It’s then that our phone rings at 8:30 AM. The caller politely explains that he just landed at RHI and there were no taxis, then asks if we can pick him up. We explain that we can, however, it’ll likely be an hour, as we are located 42 miles from the airport. It’s at just about that moment that you can hear him taking in a deep breath, getting all of the air possible into his lungs. Yes, he is about to explode and you, my friend, are about to be the lucky recipient.
“What the hell do you mean it’ll be an hour? That’s ridiculous!” Maintaining my (outward) composure, while standing there half-asleep and completely incoherent, I politely apologize, again reiterating that despite his outward objections, we’re still 42 miles from the airport. As a bonus, I added that the hour wait is only an hour because we’re pushing the envelope with the speed limit while trying to get there.
[Shhhh… Listen closely… Can you hear it? My less-than-happy (potential) customer just took in his second deep breath… Get ready… Here it comes… ROUND NUMBER 2…] “I am not waiting a f*****g hour for a ride! I’ll call somebody else!” [Note, he doesn’t hang up, but instead waits, as if that statement was going to somehow magically motivate me to make it there in 15 minutes…]
Usually, I hold it together pretty well, even when dealing with unhappy and less-than-friendly types, but this gentleman was oblivious to a very simple math equation, and despite my best efforts to Fisher-Price the numbers for him, he just wasn’t getting it…
When he was finally done screaming at me about how ludicrous the wait time was, I calmly, yet firmly, finished the conversation with, “Sir, I understand you don’t want to wait, but please realize one thing… (He angrily replies, “WHAT?”) I’m not the guy who landed at Rhinelander Airport without a plan.”
Still Scratching Your Head?
If for some reason you didn’t take the time to figure it out, making the airport in an hour would have meant averaging 42 MPH from Phelps to the Rhinelander. Easy enough while going up 17 to 45, but then 5 stoplights in Eagle River, varying speed limits of 25, 35, 40, and 45 MPH through Eagle, followed by a death-defying left turn at the intersection of 70 and 17. Next, is the 45 MPH zone, intertwined with a 25 MPH school zone in Sugar Camp, and then a good stretch of 25 MPH roads coupled with 5 or 6 of the worst-timed stoplights I have ever seen in my life, as you traverse downtown Rhinelander. Now, only a few miles away, you encounter the roundabout at Kemp/US-8/WI-47 – which, by the way, NOBODY seems to know how to use, and finally the 3/8 mile drive into the airport. It’s doable in an hour, but it’s a challenge.
So, Now What Do We Do?
I’ve never lied to our customers and Facebook followers, and I won’t start now. If I discontinued running the vans today and only ran the two buses, it would not only be more cost-effective, and more lucrative, but it would essentially cut our work week down to about 3 days/nights a week. There’s only one problem… I built the entire business and the Bar Car brand with the minivans. We have so many awesome “regular” customers that just don’t need a bus (nor would it make any sense – either logistically, or as a matter of practicality- to use the buses for their transportation needs). If we only got calls from those “one and done” customers, this would be an absolute no-brainer, but… that’s not the case. Our regulars have become more than just customers or “dollar signs” to us, they’ve become friends…
Aside from the regulars, we also handle a lot of transportation which doesn’t make sense for anything but the vans. We handle the Vilas County Tavern League’s SafeRide transportation. Could I run a bus to take the SafeRide customers home? I suppose I could, but the buses get about 9-10 MPG versus the 22 MPG the minivans get.
Rule #1 in Business: If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense.
Then there are the calls to (or from) the airports, hospitals, the jail, and the requests we get to assist the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, and the Eagle River PD. I’m all about treating our customers the best I can, but if your ride somehow involves law enforcement, you’re probably not going to see one of the buses.
Eliminating the vans isn’t feasible unless I also eliminate a big chunk of our call requests. Meanwhile, if it’s only Marianne and me, having even just one van servicing calls means having to park one of the buses. That doesn’t hurt much in March, April, October, and November, but it stings like crazy during our busy months.
We’ve become stagnant, and it irritates me to death. What aggravates me even more is that I’m constantly receiving phone solicitations (after more nights with minimal sleep) from people named “Bob,” wanting to advertise and/or market for us, and the sales pitch is always the same… “But Sir, do you realize how much we can help you grow your business and increase your client base?”
There’s one thing good about “Bob” waking me up for the third time this week, despite me telling him (them) to put me on the “Do Not Call” list… “Bob” isn’t a customer calling, instead, he’s in a call center, likely located in Pakistan, and Ken does NOT CARE A BIT about letting him have it with both barrels.
I reply, “Uh, Bob? While I’m certain that (for enough rupees) the Chamber of Commerce for the Greater Pakistani Metropolitan Area could increase my client base, I’m more than capable of making this business grow larger and larger by myself.”
Bob subtly replies, “Uh, thank you for that information.” Now, completely off his call script, Bob waits in awkward silence, wondering what to say next. He continues, “So, uh, Mr. All-ee-son [that’s apparently how you say my name in Hindi...], Can we interest you in our services?”
(Now fully awake and not at all happy about it, I reply)
“Bob, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve done a pretty good job of building my business on my own, but I suppose I am dealing with a bit of a marketing problem. You see, Bob, I seem to have built a monster of a business that my wife and I can no longer contain. What would be your marketing strategy to attract new customers, while at the same time, being unable to keep up with the demand from your current client base? If you can solve that problem, Bob, I’m your customer for life. [Bob has absolutely no idea what to say or do at this point] Hey Bob? One last question… Does anyone in your call center want to drive for me?”
Please, Let Me know…
In closing we’re tired, we’ve beaten our bodies down, and we’ve neglected our own needs, and yet we still refuse to give up. I know we dropped the ball (a lot) in 2024, and we’re sorry. Shutting down for additional hours and extra days wasn’t us saying, “Screw it,” it was self-preservation. It wasn’t a choice, it was a lack of options.
As I said, I’m not sure what to do, at this point. Do we scale back our hours during the day, so we can be ready for the weekends? Do I add Wednesdays to the days that were closed, while still allowing some of our regular customers to book recurring reservations? We’ve even considered hiring a call-taker and/or an office assistant, but neither seems feasible. It’s not a matter of money, but rather my concern that I can’t teach someone how to quote reservations, how to (properly) dispatch, or when to bend a rule.
We’re at an impasse, and I’m not used to being the person who doesn’t have “a” solution, much less “the” solution. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and feedback. Just do me one favor… Fire away with your answers, but please don’t CALL OR TEXT with them!
We love you guys. Happy New Year.
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