{"id":22895,"date":"2008-11-26T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-26T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/blog\/?p=435"},"modified":"2008-11-26T00:01:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-26T00:01:00","slug":"el-bar-de-manolo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/el-bar-de-manolo\/","title":{"rendered":"Manolo\u2019s Bar."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Once upon a time, there was a bar: Bar Manolo.<\/span> In an ordinary neighbourhood in any given town, there was a run-of-the-mill bar that had been open for several years, with its regulars and the occasional passer-by. Just like so many other bars in Spain. However, something was happening to this bar and its owner, Manolo, just as it was to so many other bar owners.<\/div>\n
Over the past year, 2008, sales have skyrocketed. Yes, yes, right in the middle of the crisis, the locals are drinking more and better than ever. Although this so-called crisis is making itself felt in one respect: the way people pay. Company redundancy schemes, unemployment and unsellable, burdensome mortgages mean that customers at Bar Manolo are racking up more and more drinks on their personal tabs. Tabs that Manolo has always run on credit, collecting payment religiously at the end of the month from each of his regulars. Money is even scarcer now, and the abundance of recent years is sorely missed \u2013 at least when it comes to the loose change in people\u2019s pockets. Nevertheless, the customers think: why should they deprive themselves of those little pleasures \u2013 a coffee and a chat at the bar with neighbours and friends \u2013 now that they\u2019re on reduced working hours or out of work, if they\u2019re soon going to find a job or be able to sell whatever is weighing down their finances? After all, in this world, few things give as much pleasure for so little money as a pleasant time with friends and neighbours, a beer and a tapa, a quick game of cards or dominoes, or a simple coffee whilst discussing yesterday\u2019s Champions League fixtures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Manolo, who is a born businessman, has noticed this increase in credit accounts and has decided to capitalise on his customers\u2019 tight cash flow. So, for those who, instead of paying in cash, have their drinks charged to their account, he applies a surcharge of 10%. What\u2019s more, if anyone asks him at the end of the month to defer payment of their bill until the following month because they\u2019ve suffered some unexpected financial setback, the surcharge is 20%. Customers are happy to accept this, and he has even managed to win over a few who used to go to the bar opposite, where the stingy owner only gives credit to people over 80 accompanied by their parents. But that\u2019s how it goes for him \u2013 now it\u2019s empty, whereas Bar Manolo is always packed, whatever the time of day.<\/span><\/p>\n

His accounts for this financial year are going to be spectacular \u2013 better than ever. Sales have soared, and so have his profits. In some cases, the mark-ups reach as much as \u20ac2 for a simple cortado! The profit margin is huge, and the atmosphere at Bar Manolo is the complete opposite of that of a neighbourhood in crisis. Manolo even treats himself to buying a round when his team wins, and the bar erupts with joy. Manolo\u2019s Bar is something truly unique\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But despite all this excitement, Remedios, Manolo\u2019s wife, can\u2019t sleep at night. Nor does Manolo\u2019s brother-in-law, a builder by trade, who got him out of a tight spot years ago by lending him a fair bit of money to refurbish the bar, and who is now out of work. He needs the money he lent him because the crisis is taking its toll and there are no more building jobs to be had. What\u2019s more, he doesn\u2019t trust all this excitement at his brother-in-law\u2019s bar in the midst of the crisis, which is why he\u2019s demanding that he pay it back, even without interest.<\/p>\n

Manolo, on the other hand, is in no doubt: the crisis is for those who don\u2019t know how to run their businesses. Things are going brilliantly for him, and it\u2019s a shame that his wife and brother-in-law are so short-sighted: \u00abAsking him to pay back the loan just when business is going so well! That\u2019s why some succeed and others don\u2019t,\u00bb he thinks to himself. He\u2019s always regarded his brother-in-law as a dim-witted builder who made a windfall during the construction boom. Manolo, on the other hand, has proved himself to be a successful businessman\u2026<\/p>\n

As the bar is short of cash, Manolo is unable to repay the loan to his brother-in-law at the moment and decides to seek other partners by simply increasing the share capital. By showing them his brand-new 2008 accounts and his forecasts for 2009, he soon catches the attention of many acquaintances who flock to him like flies to a hive of rich honey.<\/p>\n

A large customer base and circle of friends. The news spreads through the neighbourhood like wildfire. And the business remains packed, selling at ever-higher prices and adding surcharge after surcharge to the bill\u2026. Bar Manolo is the benchmark for success in a neighbourhood ravaged by unemployment and the economic crisis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Some lucky residents, hand-picked by Manolo to benefit from the capital increase, can even boast that they are partners in a business with rising profits\u2026 in the midst of a crisis!!! And you can\u2019t take back what\u2019s already been done<\/span>, because some of them, if they aren\u2019t already unemployed, will soon be. The crisis is hitting harder than ever \u2013 or at least that\u2019s what those who aren\u2019t members of Manolo\u2019s party say.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the news is on the telly at Bar Manolo. Today\u2019s report is about the umpteenth capital increase by the Molocos Bank<\/span> and how cheap the shares in the R\u00edsimas Bank<\/span>, whose dividends now amount to almost 12% per annum. At the bar, some customers are discussing whether or not one should asshole<\/span> to invest in banks in times like these. And Manolo declares: \u00abWherever there\u2019s a well-run family business like this one, people should pull their investments out of the stock market and sell off their shares in banks holding bundles of American rubbish\u2026 as the Leopoldo<\/a> \u00bbThat one!\".<\/p>\n

Some people are so lucky and so talented.<\/p>\n

Characters:<\/span>
Manolo\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..Various Bankers<\/span>
Wife\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026Remedios De Estado<\/span>
Brother-in-law\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..ECB<\/span>
New Members\u2026\u2026Mere mortals<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hab\u00eda una vez un Bar: El Bar Manolo. En un barrio normal de una ciudad cualquiera, un bar com\u00fan, funcionando desde hace varios a\u00f1os, con su clientela habitual y sus clientes de paso. Como tantos otros bares de Espa\u00f1a. Sin embargo, algo le estaba sucediendo a este bar y a su due\u00f1o, Manolo, como a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sin-categorizar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}