Diana Hasbrouck, left, and Dawnell Swint outside their Rain Country Restaurant.
McCLEARY, Wash. – Every community needs at least one full-service restaurant, a place where locals can gather for coffee, where grandparents can take their grandkids for a piece of pie or an ice cream float, where out-of-towners can stop for a hamburger and get a feel for the place.
In McCleary, Wash., population 1,650, that place is the Rain Country Restaurant.
Not only has Rain Country become the go-to restaurant for locals, but it is drawing patrons from Pacific County, Mason County and even Olympia – about 21 miles to the east.
Five years in business
Owners Diana Hasbrouck and Dawnell Swint, a mother-daughter partnership, opened the restaurant five years ago, ending a full-service drought in McCleary that began when the last restaurant closed around 2001.
Hasbrouck and Swint had more than 40 years of combined experience managing a restaurant in a neighboring town, but opening their own place was still a leap of faith.
For years they had driven past the vacant building, formerly Sharon’s Rose Garden, on McCleary’s main thoroughfare, so when they decided they wanted to open a restaurant of their own, that’s the first place they thought of. The property owner liked the idea of a restaurant opening in town, Hasbrouck said, so he worked with them on the price.
Expertise to get started
When they were working with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to get a commercial loan, their banker referred them to Erik Stewart, a certified business advisor with the Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
“In the beginning, he was with us every step of the way,” Swint said. “He was the guy to go to with all of our questions. He had the answers.”
The SBDC provides expert business advising, management training and market research to small business owners working to start, grow or transition their businesses. Supported by Washington State University, the SBA and other institutions of higher education and economic development, the SBDC offers one-on-one technical assistance at no charge to the client.
With Stewart’s help, Hasbrouck and Swint succeeded in getting an SBA guaranteed loan to purchase two properties – the building and the adjacent parking lot. The loan allowed them to re-fit and build out the space to its 75-seat capacity. They opened with operating capital sufficient to get them started with inventory, supplies and start-up wages.
Family pitches in
Before helping them with their loan package, Stewart asked them, “Do you plan on being married to this thing, because that’s what’s going to happen?”
They did and they are, with the full support of their respective husbands, David Hasbrouck and Shane Swint. Renovating the interior prior to opening was a family affair, and family has continued to help out when the need arises.
Now, with a crew of nine (two full-time and seven part-time), family members are rarely roped into service, but Hasbrouck’s younger sister, Judy, is a baker for the restaurant.
The SBDC has been a huge help, Hasbrouck said, and Stewart in particular has been a tireless advocate – and taskmaster.
“He gave us confidence that we could do it,” Hasbrouck said.
Good systems ease operation
A huge part of their confidence came from being well prepared.
“Erik would give us an assignment and we’d spend the week doing it,” Hasbrouck said.
In the beginning, Stewart advised them to write a business plan, create a detailed budget for renovations and cost out every single menu item to determine what their breakeven point would be.
Even though they’d spent a quarter century working in restaurants, Stewart helped them set up accounting systems and cost controls that they hadn’t known about before. Putting those systems in place has allowed them to concentrate on what they enjoy most about working in a restaurant: appreciative customers, dedicated employees and delicious food.
Continuing counsel
During the first year or two, Hasbrouck and Swint met regularly with Stewart to discuss various issues, but even now they will call him if a problem arises; or he’ll check in to see how things are going.
One continuing point of contention between client and advisor is the size of their portions – pie slices in particular.
“He says we cut them too big,” Swint said, and laughed, “but he always manages to eat the whole thing.”
As they approach their five-year anniversary, Hasbrouck said they are managing just fine, even with the big slices of pie.
“As I see it,” she said, “it’s a great little business and it’s carrying itself.”
‘Just like home’
On a recent afternoon, a young boy came skipping into the restaurant and announced to his mother, “Wow, this feels just like home.”
Hasbrouck said it was the best compliment she’d heard all month.
Rain Country Restaurant is located at 124 W. Simpson Ave., McCleary. For more information, go to http://raincountryrestaurantwa.com/
To find a nearby Washington SBDC business advisor, go to http://wsbdc.org and type in your zip code near the top of the page.