Almost one year old...

This week Illegal Jack's is 50 weeks old. Hurrah! Although not out of the woods yet, we've succeeded with what Business7 described this week with "service based on a smile and a philosophy where nothing is a problem." Indeed this was our first newspaper review (!) and has come at a time when so many businesses are going to the wall. Will use the opportunity here to explore this rather sad issue and what companies can do about it to survive.

Firstly, the government. Given that the current lot haven't been in situ long enough to address small business - although they did talk about business tonight on the news, good thing - will direct most of my ire at the previous jokers. For 13 years the Labour government had no policy on small business, despite this sector being a key driver of economic growth. Illegal Jack's is completely self-funded and owner-operated, and has not had a single penny of assistance despite creating 14 new jobs where a failed restaurant used to be. A good deal of our survival was down to Mother and Sister of Jack who dug deep when we were hurting, and for that I sincerely thank them. It will be interesting to see if the Coalition are serious about business: we can only hope so. What many seem to have forgotten is that the Private Sector provides the income for Public Sector spending. and this cannot be taken for granted as it has been. Alright, mini-rant over!

Secondly, quality counts. At Jack's we've taken huge hits in the first 6 months to establish ourselves as a high-quality operation. NO corners have been cut on food, or indeed to any part of the operation. Staff are paid above minimum wage, and are properly looked after. Again there is a cost to this, but one worth paying. This ties into the issue of the brand itself: from the start we were clear what we were trying to do and it is finally starting to pay off despite the recession still biting.

Finally, the new small business is likely going to struggle for several years to get established. Sadly have seen a number of similar-sized operations go to the wall during the time we have been open. The problem is this: not enough money to make advertising worthwhile, yet to raise awareness to combat this? The solution: use whatever tools at your disposal to fight this, and communicate with customers and potential customers. Social Media is at the heart of our business, and without you guys and gals out there spreading the love I sometimes wonder how we'd have survived. But thanks to the online community we're still here with wonderful food, still employing people, still collecting and paying taxes, and most importantly still having fun and living the dream. Thanks everyone, it's been more emotional than I can share here, but we're *not dead yet*, not by a long shot...! Now stop skiving and get back to work ;)

- Jack

In preparation for my 10000th tweet, have been considering what to say these last few days. So many rants about what I’ve learned about running a business: the authorities, the rules, the regs, the way Britain is badly run all sprang immediately to mind. But then I looked closer to home: you guys. The world of Twitter. So on an extremely positive note, enjoy the following…

@EdinSpotlight are to blame. It’s their fault that Jack has turned into an online persona. Encouraging, helpful, and like me the Spotlight team are a new organisation trying to be different. They made me do it – Alison and Keith you’re to blame! Also props to @benrobertsphoto and @ProScotPr. But one person was instrumental in my understanding of the media: step forward Olly….

Was in Jack’s one quiet December afternoon. “Having a great burrito in @illegaljacks” said the tweet. Well, thought Jack, there’s just the young fella out front with his lass, best go and say hallo. “Are you the Unicornkid?” “Yes” “I’m Jack, thanks for the good words on Twitter” “Anytime man, love your place” went the short conversation.

Back in the office, I looked at his profile. Knowing now what I do, 5000 people had the chance for the next 7 minutes (the half life of a tweet) to read @unicornkid’s lovely words. Damn, how could that be possible? The penny dropped…… Illegal Jack’s had to become a social media company. And fast.

So I made all the mistakes newbies make. Following too many people, jumping into conversations too quickly, not knowing the etiquette. But I learned. Spent days, weeks months, just reading. @social_penguin blog, @barrydewar, @mashable, in fact, everything I could spare time to read. Immersed myself in the area. But what was the ROI I was asked recently in an MBA thesis interview from @sonicrampage?

Have no idea TBH. As a small business owner, with a full-time academic job, ROI is not something you measure. All I know is that Illegal Jack’s at any given evening has up to a third of the restaurant with the self-styled #jackaholics dining there. And what a great crowd! Twitpics, #followfridays, offers of help. Folks, am truly humbled. The restaurant now has a new look thanks to Duncan Crawford http://bit.ly/citXW5 and Scot Carlson http://bit.ly/bgh0Fy who volunteered to photoshop what we would look like, we have free wi-fi courtesy of @harrisongilmour, The Scotland on Sunday write up thanks to @tartancat, we have awesome Twitter analytics courtesy of @macfack, we have a professional online film courtesy of @kevoneil http://bit.ly/arEtIS, an iPhone App on the way from @moggy (who’s wedding I attended!; * waves to @mrs_moggy *) , security if needed from @beambeam1, a clean kitchen canopy from @kitchenperfect, great photos from @CrayDancer, wild chilli reviews from @btocher, a forthcoming promotions team from @KarlieMacG, and the finest #socmed references from @philip_roberts and @craigmcgill. The list is endless, am so sorry I can’t name-check everyone here… #feelingbadaboutthatalready

But it goes beyond that. The Facebook page is growing steadily thanks to some dodgy videos of my wonderful staff http://bit.ly/b4T9qT , @cammeister and @chrismartindunn are two new employees courtesy of Twitter. Employing people – creating jobs from scratch with NO help from any government organisation or bank – fills me with deep pride. And the people of #edinburgh and beyond whom I’ve met are quite special. And this week, we did something few businesses do in their first year: we made a profit. We’ve taken the idea of fast casual dining, created something new, and successfully made and safeguarded 15 new jobs out of nothing. Something that GBrown, Cleggcameron and the Millisqueaks of this world have never done and will never understand.

So thanks Troops, not only for trending the word “Troops” the other day (!) but for ALL your help, support, and custom. We couldn’t have survived without you. It’s been emotional. Sincerely –

Illegal Jack

Public Sector / Private Sector & Social Media

Thanks for stopping by. For those of you used to my Thursday night rants at #bbcqt this new blog may come as no great surprise: trying to shoot down the crap spouted by unqualifed politicans in less than 140 characters isn't always easy! But they're not the target of my first blog: today the canon swings towards the public sector and their ambivalence towards Social Media.

Yesterday I presented a one hour seminar to the day job employers - a leading Russell Group university - on the pressing need for active Social Media engagement. During the day I only sent two tweets mentioning this, yet the response from the Twitter community was overwhelming and most humbling. @illegaljacks trended all day in Edinburgh, and have literally dozens of people to thank for their contributions. I will do so proudly at the end of this piece.

The presentation went well, yet despite my enthousiasm, the Uni was not really interested other than to ask for a "page or two's strategy". Well, am not convinced such a thing is needed: see for example this article: http://bit.ly/c6CkCo Indeed, I actively welcome comments on the need for a strategy doc. However, my main concern was simply this: they had no understanding of the time and committment involved, nor were they able to propose an incentive for doing it. Which leaves me thinking it's far easier to stay where I am: academic by day, Illegal Jack by night.

Whats more worrying though is the ambivalence with which the public sector treats potential income in the current economic climate. Masters students pay fees of up to £17,000 a year, anyone with a basic understanding of Social Media can see how easy it would be to convince a number of students to choose a particular university over others through active engagement. But in the words of the Head of Department: "well, we don't actually get the money - central university does - so there's no incentive to generate income". All this in a Department of Management in a Business School....

Thanks for reading -

Illegal Jack

Much love to all the good people who said Hi yesterday! And you are @housetoastonish @alisonmcgrail @dr_k_noisewater @gin_operated @belle_lulu @tinyblob @markshaw @perth_scotland @barrydewar @benwerd @martwizzle @BudgetTraveller @idle_bull @cammeister @coffeebucks @macfack @vgibson @social_penguin @AmexClaxon @bedfordsean @sanaeljamel @smallbizally @mooninadewdrop @mike_mcgrail @paulwheatley @leepayton @_millymoo @HaxSyn @MamzelleLil @abacab_75 @Cadrieu @MrsLJHall @Podlin23 @craigwebster @jordanfleming @loumoodie @Scottishroutes @Kangyrew @maginncarie @Wellhungindung @benrobertsphoto @DJSibbald @dearcaitlyn @natrs_uk @LemonRuns @jonnydobby @anievolution @Ange77H @rosscbrown @legaleagleMHM @evilneuro @coffeebucks @Lloydybags @moggy @ali_mcgill @Sheepdemon @gthubron @MartGray @KarlieMacG @philip_roberts @craigmcgill @tartancat