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Simple twist of fate turns banker and marketing exec into lakeside restaurateurs

Editor’s note: Be sure to see the Rural Foodies column, “LakeShore Marina offers fun, casual setting with surprisingly good food”. You might as well get the full story.

You never know how things are going to work out. Take the case of Dan and Karen Finken. After busy, successful careers in Omaha as a bank president and marketing firm vice-president respectively, they planned to retire to a house on lovely Johnson Lake and enjoy a leisurely life of travel, boating, fishing and time with their family.

But as Bob Dylan says, you always have to “watch out for a simple twist of fate.”

Karen and Dan remember well the day they heard that the LakeShore Marina Restaurant & Lounge on Johnson Lake was for sale, and they remember their fateful decision to buy it.

Their move to a lakeshore home came true. Their vision of a restful retirement life is yet to be.

Five businesses in one

The LakeShore Marina includes a full-service restaurant; a convenience store with groceries, beer and wine; bait, boat slips and attendant services; a camp ground for 20 RVs; and ten fully-furnished cabins that rent by the night, week or month.

It’s the kind of enterprise that keeps Karen and Dan busy from morning ‘til night. But they’re determined to be busier.

The Finken’s vision for the restaurant and lounge is, “the best restaurant in the whole area until 9:30 p.m. and best bar until 1:00 a.m.” Marina cooks prepare and serve steaks, hamburgers, fried chicken, salads, fish, Tex-Mex cuisine, and pizzas just the way the guests like them. Families drive 60 miles and more to eat shrimp scampi and 14 other seafood choices on the Friday evening Seafood Buffet.

Customer’s satisfaction and the Marina’s appeal show up in the bottom line. The Finkens purchased the business in 2000. Dan says, “We’ve seen a 43% increase in the business every year since we bought it.”

Standards for food quality, cleanliness, and service are high. “We had to differentiate ourselves from any other restaurant within a 60 mile radius,” says Dan. “Steaks are among our most popular menu choices, and the Marina customers like rib eyes, fillets, and tenderloins. We buy Choice meat, age it, and cut it ourselves. Our hamburger is the best you can get.”

The restaurant volume is approximately 200,000 meals, and Dan says, “The volume increases every year.”

Attracting customers year-round

The menu changes twice a year, on Memorial Day and after Labor Day.

“When we change the menu, we invite 25 customers, give them a score card and ask them to taste our new selections,” Karen says. “We serve the recipes that score the most points.”

When their marketing data showed that 40% of the lake population leaves for the winter, the Finkens created menus and celebrations to attract customers from as far away as Kansas. Karen, the former marketing executive, mails and E-mails announcements of upcoming events to a growing list of customers and manages a radio advertising schedule.

Karen comes up with new ideas for a party nearly every month. Karen and Dan and their staff organize a monthly ladies’ luncheon, Husker football tailgate parties, Bacardi parties with bands and dancing on the deck, and a weekly Sunday breakfast buffet in addition to the Friday seafood buffet, not to mention dart, 8-ball and 9-ball leagues and tournaments.

Looking for a party? There’s probably one at the Marina. They plan a Halloween party, Thanksgiving buffet, New Year’s Eve dinner with tablecloths and candlelight, Valentine’s Day dinner, Mardi Gras celebration, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter egg hunt for the children and an Easter buffet, among numerous other celebrations. Dan says,

“We celebrate all year, and if there isn’t a holiday, we make one up.”

Building the business

Dan Finken says, “If you aren’t improving, you are standing still.”

Karen and Dan say they want the best cooks and best bartenders in the entire region for the LakeShore Marina.

“We want to be known for serving really good food in reasonable portions with great customer service,” says Dan.

Among plans for the future are a gift shop that sells Nebraska-made products, including their own signature herb dressings, sauces, rubs and mixes. Karen’s mother is a talented quilter, and she will be selling quilts in the store as well as consignments from regional artists.

And while they haven’t drawn up blueprints, they believe the lake population needs a post office and a pack-and-ship service, and just might benefit from a cyber café.

Karen and Dan Finken hadn’t really expected to be entrepreneurs in the hospitality business when they left their jobs. But sometimes a simple twist of fate steps in. And sometimes, that’s a good thing.

Who To Contact...

Lakeshore Marina
Dan and Karen Finken
2 Lakeview Acres Drive 14
Johnson Lake, NE 68937
(308) 785-2148
www.lakeshoremarinafun.com

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