Hey Brad - I wish you the best of luck in this endeavour. My grandfather always told me one thing over and over again: "Perserverance over everything".
It was great advice - the first place I walked into for some advice turned me down. The next pizzeria I walked into, I just over-complimented the owner's slices and begged him to show me the ropes for free. He said sure and taught me more than I had expected. Sometimes you have to be a pushy bastard in life to get what you want. You have to keep bugging people for help. Make em laugh, break down the barrier and learn from some old timers. Two weeks in a nice whole-in-the-wall style pizzeria will do wonders for your final plan. You'll make 50lbs of dough a few times. The Aioli will school you on strecthing pies, launching them into a proper oven, and you'll write it all down. Thats what i did anyway. So I did two weeks here and there at various joints in town for free - just to learn the trade and see if I can hang. And guess what, after you stress out after a few lunch rushes. You F-up a few pies. Then you get a the full feel of what it's like to run a place. And that is what most places will do. Its normally the ex-convict whose maikng your great NY style pies - then locking up shop for the night. Just be truthful with your purpose and someone will let you in on the big pizza secrets. You'll love it. Hard work is great. It's an honest job - and if you find some cheap and creative ways to advertise, you'll get busy quick. Advertising is key though. And menu flyers work great! Just hire some kids to flyer the footprint of your potential neighbourhood, and you'll see people coming into your shop soon. Wether your pies are garbage or not... Las Vegas is living proof of successful garbage pizzeria. Everything gets better with constant practice
Also, it doesn't hurt to hire a decent looking younger female to sit at the desk all day. Someone who's easy one the eyes. You'd be surpised how many guys will come back just to have a quick superfluous conversation with a cute chick..... and then buy a couple slices and a large Coke. Its those small things that seperate a good small pizza place from a pizzeria who cranks out lousy food. It matters to me, anyway. On a sublime note - I think it matters to anybody who'll be parting with their cash.
And dont be affraid to give away a few slices here and there. Regardless of RoadPizza's claims of sky-rocketing flour prices (tee-hee... still makes me laugh a little.) Those free slices didnt cost you much at all, but it'll really resonate in the minds of hungry dudes who like that sort of thing. Its kinda like your spending a dime to make a buck, ya see what I'm getting at here? My immigrant dad taught me alot about building relationships in business. And consumers love a great host.
Anyway, that is my current advice to you. Sure, you'll get the recipies down quicker than you think. Like I already said: Put an ad on C-list for a pizza guy and you'll be flooded with talent who will be quick to show the ropes a little. You'll get a great dough recipie out of it, and maybe even a decent sauce too. Yeah, the economy sucks right now, but people will never stop eating pizza.....and flour will always be nice and cheap
