eBay Helps Restaurateur "Dream Big" and "Save Big"

eBay is an important source for business people. To raise awareness and celebrate this group of eBay members who use eBay as a resource for their brick-and-mortar businesses, we have launched the Dream Big. Save Big promotion that runs through 04/15/2004.

In celebration of this promotion, The Chatter staff interviewed Baldemar Hernandez, a real eBay member who is pictured in a new print ad for this promotion. He shares how he used eBay to realize his business dreams.

Baldemar Hernandez always wanted to open his own restaurant. Recently, with the help of his family, eBay, and some unexpected good luck, he bought and furnished the same restaurant that he had worked in as a boy!

The restaurant business has always played a big role in Baldemar Hernandez's life. Growing up in the small Oklahoma town of Hobart (population 4,500), Hernandez got his first job as a part-time busboy in a local restaurant. As time went on, he learned about the business from the ground up and went on to become the manager of another establishment.

Then in 1980, he and his wife moved to Houston, Texas, taking with them the dream of some day opening up a place of their own. "It wasn't an issue of doubt or ability, but timing," said Hernandez.

The pull of the restaurant industry was strong for other members of the Hernandez family, as well. His eldest daughter moved back to the little town of Hobart to work. The manager of the restaurant she worked in saw her aptitude and continually encouraged her to open up her own Mexican restaurant.

Finally, a unique opportunity for the restaurant-loving family presented itself.

The town of Hobart was holding a public auction. One of the properties being auctioned was the building that Hernandez had worked in as a boy 30 years earlier. Unfortunately, due to some personal circumstances, he wasn't able to attend himself. However, his daughter's boss, a gentleman named Roy, went and submitted a bid of $8000 for the building.

When the auctioneer started the bidding saying he had already received an offer of $8000, the other attendees thought he was bluffing, and no other bids were placed. Roy, upon his return to work, threw the keys to Hernandez's daughter, and told her, "Here is your restaurant." All she had to do was meet his price.

She was in no position to pay for it herself, but she quickly passed the offer to her parents, who jumped at the opportunity.

Hernandez explained, "She accepted the offer Roy made on our behalf, and explained that we would make the purchase, while she would be part of our staff...Roy agreed. Being a man of his word and integrity, he kept his promise and sold us the building for virtually no profit."

Having suddenly acquired a location, Hernandez's attention shifted towards getting ready for business. Unsure about the amount it would take to buy the necessary supplies, he punched "restaurant equipment" into an Internet search engine.

He had never used eBay, but many of the results pointed him in that direction, so he took the plunge. Using his mother's maiden name as his User ID, Hernandez began buying. "It was very convenient. I didn't have to leave the restaurant to search or buy. I could do it all from my computer."

Using a basic strategy of watching items and bidding near the end of the listings, he bought things for every facet of his business, from a stove to a refrigerator. He purchased meat cutters, utensils, mixers, and even an icemaker on the site -- all at huge discounts from what he would've had to pay retail.

Hernandez's wife also got into the act, helping him shop when he was busy. Once, while he was out of town, he even called her on the phone so they could go over their bidding strategy on a particular item. The attention to eBay strategy has paid off. The majority of what Hernandez and his wife have purchased to get their restaurant up and running has been from eBay. And the search is ongoing. At the time we spoke to him, he was looking for some workbenches on the site.

Lil' Hacienda (the new name Hernandez decided on for his restaurant) is well on its way to being ready for business under new management. The boy that once bussed tables there, has returned years later to manage it on his own. Hernandez says that eBay has helped make this dream possible.

"By using eBay, I estimate that so far I've saved between $10,000 and $20,000. And I believe that it will continue to save us time and money both now and in the future."

As part of the "Dream Big, Save Big" promotion, you can participate in our $50,000 eBay Business Shopping Spree* grand prize contest by answering the question, "If I won $50,000, what would I buy on eBay to help my small business, and how would it make my business dreams come true?" You can also learn how to be entered to win weekly prizes, receive special offers and gifts, and access our small business resources. Visit www.ebaybusiness.com and click on the "Dream Big. Save Big." icon to register. *No purchase necessary. Open to legal U.S. residents 18 years of age or older. Complete details available at www.ebay.com/dreambigrules. Void in Puerto Rico, Florida and where prohibited. Contest begins 2/19/04 and ends 04/15/04.