I began my life as an idea. It was a grand idea involving four friends. One came from the restaurant background and one from the nightclub arena. The other two? They were just great friends who could be trusted and had supervisory experience.
Their idea was an interesting concept. Located at a major crossroads out in the countryside with easy access from several counties, they would build a restaurant and nightclub combination. They would put the nightclub on one side and the restaurant on the other side with the kitchen in the middle that could service both sides.
It was to be a themed restaurant back in a time that rarely saw them. Another world when you walked in. Disney would have appreciated it. The story of Tolkien's Middle Earth, complete is Hobbits, Elves, and Goblins was chosen for the customer experience. The restaurant would have the lighter side of the story for family enjoyment and the nightclub would have the edgier darker side of the story for dancing the night away.
All in one complex, you could have a dinner and a night out, or a bite to eat after the nightclub closed just by walking through a door. Without any comparable competition for miles around, it was indeed a grand idea. So designs were drawn, locations were found, projections were made, and budgets were created.
There was just one problem. None of us understood venture capitalism, so when we attempted to find investors for the project - it ran into a brick wall. It was none-the-less, an interesting experience.