Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 3622 Langdale College of Business This observation then manifested itself into a “glimpse of his own dream” to provide the world with nutritious and appetizing meals that would neither break the bank nor take too much time to prepare. He took this vision with him on his continued travels, and upon his return to Atlanta, he tried to take that vision with him as he applied to and interviewed with a major food corporation. However, the thought of sitting in a cubicle, away from the kitchen, was unsettling to him. So armed with two business degrees, a vision, and the echoes of naysayers ringing in his ears, Barber moved to Athens, Georgia and opened the first Barberitos on Clayton Street in the summer of 2000. Like Coach Norman Dale from the movie Hoosiers, Barber proved that you can play with the big dogs and win. At the grand opening of his restaurant, only one Athens area Chamber of Commerce official came to participate in the ribbon- cutting ceremony. In a world where nearly 60% of all restaurants fail within the first three years of operation, a new restaurant that was designed to challenge the stranglehold that Taco Bell and Chipotle Grill have on the market was not viewed as a viable business enterprise. Yet, Barber did his best to ignore the naysayers and make his dream a reality. Barber remembers that the total sales for the first day of business barely eclipsed $200, and the proceeding days weren’t much better. He had to put his Jeep Cherokee up as collateral to get a short-term loan to float the fledgling restaurant through its first summer, and even then it was barely enough to keep the doors open. Within four months of opening, the business was more than $60,000 in the red; and, as one could imagine, this was very discouraging to Barber and his team. The University of Georgia’s football team was also not doing so well that season, particularly at home. As a result, fans were not flooding local restaurants in celebration of weekly wins… at least not until the Tennessee game. UGA scored a huge win, and fans definitely worked up an appetite. They flooded Barberitos, helping the fledgling company to achieve its biggest day in food sales. A $3000 day was a huge win for Barber and his team. It’s great what we have accomplished, but I try not to think about it. We can fail just as easily as we succeed. — Downing Barber