From concept to design
So, a bit about how this project came to light in the first place.
I've always been sort of a business entrepreneur. In late
2016 while still serving in the Air Force, I was attached to a
Wounded Warrior unit. During this time, I attended
various AFW2 events— one in particular, a Self-Employment bootcamp.
During
this event, I had the idea of
starting a family-owned bar and grill. I love food, and have always had sort
of
this love-hate relationship with the restaurant-industry and how
I thought I could improve upon it.
business entrepreneur + fullstack developer
The first part of any business idea, is deciding on a good name. I had plans
of
opening this restaurant with my brother Andrew, and decided on Annex Bar &
Grill for
restaurant name; Annex being a combination of our names, Andy and Alex. Next
was an attractive logo. I played around with several designs before
ultimately sticking with the one in the images you see on this page. A few
weeks later,
I had a solid brand identity, complete with a menu, website, marketing
material and even a 26-page business plan.
From there, I registered the domain annex.bar (which I no longer own), and
quickly got to work
on the R&D. I needed to learn demographics, competitors, price points,
local, state and federal business law,
gaining proper licenses for selling liquor, distributors/vendors...
But plans change. After medically retiring, I moved to the
Sunshine State to finish my business degree. Shortly after that, I relocated
to the Midwest— roughly nine years of living in the south. I still had big
plans at this point, but then COVID changed quite a bit, especially in
regard to the restaurant industry. I recognized that a restaurant may not be
the best idea for my personal growth, so I decided to go back to school for
what I loved most, computer science.
alex m.
Please bear with me as I am constantly adding new content to this site. Everything is a continuous work-in-progress as my primary focus remains on my course work.