Supporting Chezkatu Restaurant

Hi Cheries. Please know that it is extremely difficult for me to ask for assistance but I feel it would be remiss if at this point I didn’t. We have built this business from the ground up and by the grace of God your support is the only reason we have gotten through this far.

From the beginning we were able to experience such overwhelming support and the love, the joy, the excitement is something I cherish really deeply and will never forget.

In honesty, we have experienced so much behind closed doors. & I knew one day I’d want to share. I hoped I would have more time to gather myself but the time has finally come where I need to be transparent.

In 2020 we finally officially moved into our 1st Brick & Mortar. This was such a big deal for me. I signed the contract of the Asset Purchase, paid a lot of money to occupy the location as is and we finally had a real working restaurant. But not much longer into operating I realized that I had made major mistakes in choosing this location. It seemed promising, it had most of what we needed to operate however a few months in, it became a money pit. Day after day after day we sustained plumbing, electrical, equipment and infrastructure issues. I did my best to remain optimistic through it all. Made repair after repair. Most times paid 2-3 times the rightful amount because contractors, servicemen etc took advantage of the fact that I lacked experience at the time. We’d fix something it’d break again and again. Slowly but surely cash flow began drying. This plus much more began a vicious cycle that was hard to break out of.

Personally, I also experienced considerable loss. My body failed me multiple times and I emotionally and mentally suffered because of it. I tried and tried to bounce back. All the while trying to run a business mostly by myself. No executive team. No mentors and not enough adequate help. And was crippled with anxiety through it all.

I found myself pregnant again and I was terrified, terrified I’d lose again. I made a decision to be mostly hands off the business during this pregnancy to save my baby and save myself. And it showed. There were major issues, daily. I managed as much as I could. Managed customer service as much as I could but was more limited than before.

I can’t say that I had a happy pregnancy. I experienced more fear than I have ever in my life. I counted each day, each month praying for God to spare me this time. And He did! I finally gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl. The delivery was scary, we had complications. She was separated from me for 5 grueling days to recover at Joe DiMaggio. But baby Glory was finally here and healthy after all. She is the happiest baby I know and I praise God for her daily.

Roughly a month postpartum I went into overdrive. Made tough decisions. Cut back on nearly all my personal expenses and began repair to save the business.

I made a calculated decision to stop posting on Social Media to finally fix once and for all operational and systematic issues at the restaurant. I couldn’t with pride anymore post without fixing these things. I can admit that I’ve been blessed by great marketing skills but can also admit that in store there were many weaknesses that I needed to work on to strengthen the company as a whole.

By God’s grace I’ve found so so many solutions. Connected with great partner companies to provide the necessary visibility and tools needed to scale the business. & I want nothing more than to finally roll out these solutions to provide value to our customers.

Unfortunately, these things took time. So much more time than I ever anticipated and now we’ve run out of funds. I’ve done everything I could, applied to nearly everything out there and we don’t qualify for most due to significant revenue loss over the years.

I’ve considered starting over, I’ve considered pivoting. I’ve even considered closing as much as it breaks my heart to say. But my spirit can’t bring me to it. Whenever I am at the restaurant, despite how things look, you all still pour so much into me. & I just can’t bring myself to let you down.

I have big plans for scaling the business but I need help. After all I’ve done. And all is dried out. I have to put my pride aside and say we need help and no matter how your heart moves you, we are grateful for it all. And appreciate this journey we’ve gone on.