Zeus Theaters Opens

Wow, I  have been pretty busy. We are now 9 days after the opening of the theater and things are starting to fall into place. Over the past year, I have been working full time on planning, financing, building and now operating the new Zeus in Waynesboro. I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard in all my life.

Looking back on the construction, things went pretty well. My GC, Jon Sweringen was fantastic to work with. He kept me sane during a hectic schedule. We had shot for an opening on October 1st but ended up hitting October 8th. The punch list is short and the building looks great.

I would like to point out that there were plenty of the "old guard" and so called experts who happily predicted our failure. They were wrong on all accounts. Jon and I brought the building in pretty close to a tight budget and timeline. I doubt any of the old money builders could have done better. So there.

On the theater, it looks great. The lobby has a sense of community. It really feels like a fancy hotel lobby. We now have leather seating in the lobby. I have met many people who enjoy just sitting in the lobby and talking.

The theaters are fantastic. Seating is great. Sound is great. Not too much bleed from one theater to another on the noise. The HVAC is working well.

We still haven't hit full capacity yet. This week will be a real test. We are running Paranormal Activity 1 and 2 on Thursday/Friday Midnight showing. I expect to run two screens full for that one show.

The retail store is doing fine. Christmas will be the big rush I think. The party room will get going this week. Groups and fund raising start this week as well.

So far, everything is going according to plan.

The best part is when people ask me what chain Zeus belongs to. I love pointing out that this is the only one. Normally, they are shocked to hear that a single entrepreneur can just make up a brand, finance it, build it and run it all by himself. We have go to stop saying that the American Dream is dead. It isn't. The dream is there for those who are willing to risk everything they have and to work 100+ hours a week.

What Happened to the Entrepreneurs?

During every past American Recession, the recovery was always led by the return of the entrepreneur. People would move from the large companies and jump into their own startup which would fuel the next expansion. However, there doesn't seem to be a resurgence of the start-up during this recovery.

Now, this may be because this recession was pretty bad or it may be due to a lack of demand for new services which startups would find. I think it has to do with the lack capital available to the entrepreneurs. In the past, they would get a business started by running up credit cards or pulling cash out of their home with a second mortgage. However, across the nation, housing prices have dropped about 30%, which would be enough to wipe out most 30-something's equity. Add that to the tight lending environment, and you kill off new business startups.

In some cases, there will be startups funded by a third party. For instance, where people get tired of watching their stocks portfolios drops or of getting 1% on CDs, they might lend it or invest in someone's startup. But this cuts out the first-time entrepreneurs since they are not likely to get private funding without a track record.

The fix on this would be an expanded and simplified lending system for startups. The SBA has some programs out there, but they are slow and difficult to get going. A better method might be to bring back the business plan competitions of the 90's.