Joanna Yoakam This is Me

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1. 1. foodservice.chef2chef.net

   foodservice.chef2chef.net/food - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/29/2007   Last Visited: 12/29/2007

   , May 1, 2007 - Joanna Yoakam's days as owner of Sweet Peas Neighborhood Bistro & Pour House (http://www.sweetpeasbistro.net) are numbered. There are just 30 days left until the close of the essay contest Yoakam created to hand over the reins of her full-service restaurant to one lucky winner.
   
   For a $199 entrance fee and a standout essay, anyone who dreams of owning and operating a restaurant has the chance to win Sweet Peas. But the contest ends at 11:59 p.m. on May 31, 2007, so Yoakam urges budding restaurateurs to send in their entries soon.
   
   "We're counting down the days until the "Win a Bistro" contest closes," Yoakam, a 25-year veteran of the food industry, stated. "I encourage anyone who is seriously interested in having their own restaurant to enter the contest and tell us their story."
   
   As anyone in the food service industry knows, restaurants have a notoriously high fail rate in the first year, and start-up financing is often difficult to obtain. So Yoakam chose to sell Sweet Peas in an unconventional way, in hopes of opening the door for people who might not otherwise be able to buy a restaurant like Sweet Peas--those with more talent than money, for example, or small business owners who would like to expand but whose capital is tied up in other ventures.
   
   "A lot of hard work went into creating Sweet Peas and growing it into the successful restaurant and bar it is today," Yoakam explained.
   ...
   After the minimum required number of entries is received, Yoakam and her team will select the best essay based on specific criteria, including genuine interest in owning the business, ability to be successful, creativity and following contest rules.
   ...
   "Sweet Peas lacks nothing except the new owner," said Yoakam. "It's all here.
   ...
   Joanna Yoakam
   
   Sweet Peas Bistro
   
   434-589-6590
   
   sweetpeasbistro@earthlink.net

2. 2. www.dinersnation.com

   www.dinersnation.com/news.php? - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/29/2007   Last Visited: 3/7/2008

   Instead, Sweet Peas founder Joanna Yoakam, who will be relocating to Florida this summer to be closer to family, wants to give one lucky person the break of a lifetime.
   
   So Yoakam has launched an essay contest. Through May 31, 2007, anyone with a dream of owning a restaurant can tell their story in 500 words or less and submit it to Sweet Peas with a $199 entry fee. After the minimum required number of entries is received, Yoakam and her team will select the best essay based on specific criteria, and the winner will receive the two-year-old Sweet Peas Neighborhood Bistro & Pour House, a 75-seat restaurant at Lake Monticello in Palmyra, free and clear--including all equipment, furnishings, inventory, lease assignments and clientele. Entry fees will be used to pay off the restaurant?s remaining debt.
   
   ?I want to be able to share the dream with someone who will take as much pride in ownership as I do,? explained Yoakam, for whom Sweet Peas is the culmination of 25 years in the food industry. ?An opportunity like this will allow someone, who might not otherwise be able, to take over a successful business, have an excellent staff in place and with almost 100% certainty be successful in continuing the business.?
   
   And that?s what makes the Sweet Peas contest so unusual. Unlike many other businesses sold through essay contests, Sweet Peas is a clean, popular, modern, fully equipped, operating restaurant and bar with a loyal staff and annual sales of approximately $650,000.
   
   Originally expecting to operate Sweet Peas until retirement, Yoakam built her business without cutting corners.
   ...
   Joanna Yoakam

3. 3. Extraordinary Jobs for Ordinary People - 30 Days Left to Win Sweet Peas Neighborhood Bistro & Pour House

   www.extraordinary-jobs.com/mod - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/1/2007   Last Visited: 11/15/2007

   PALMYRA, Va., May 1, 2007 -- Joanna Yoakam's days as owner of Sweet Peas Neighborhood Bistro & Pour House (http://www.sweetpeasbistro.net) are numbered. There are just 30 days left until the close of the essay contest Yoakam created to hand over the reins of her full-service restaurant to one lucky winner.
   
   For a $199 entrance fee and a standout essay, anyone who dreams of owning and operating a restaurant has the chance to win Sweet Peas. But the contest ends at 11:59 p.m. on May 31, 2007, so Yoakam urges budding restaurateurs to send in their entries soon.
   
   "We're counting down the days until the 'Win a Bistro' contest closes," Yoakam, a 25-year veteran of the food industry, stated. "I encourage anyone who is seriously interested in having their own restaurant to enter the contest and tell us their story."
   
   As anyone in the food service industry knows, restaurants have a notoriously high fail rate in the first year, and start-up financing is often difficult to obtain. So Yoakam chose to sell Sweet Peas in an unconventional way, in hopes of opening the door for people who might not otherwise be able to buy a restaurant like Sweet Peas - those with more talent than money, for example, or small business owners who would like to expand but whose capital is tied up in other ventures.
   
   "A lot of hard work went into creating Sweet Peas and growing it into the successful restaurant and bar it is today," Yoakam explained.
   ...
   After the minimum required number of entries is received, Yoakam and her team will select the best essay based on specific criteria, including genuine interest in owning the business, ability to be successful, creativity and following contest rules.
   
   The winner will receive the two-year-old Sweet Peas Neighborhood Bistro & Pour House, a fully staffed, 75-seat restaurant at Lake Monticello in Palmyra, free and clear - including all equipment, furnishings, inventory, lease assignments and clientele. Entry fees will be used to pay off the restaurant's remaining debt.
   
   "Sweet Peas lacks nothing except the new owner," said Yoakam. "It's all here.
   ...
   Joanna Yoakam Sweet Peas Bistro 434-589-6590 sweetpeasbistro@earthlink.net