Thursday, August 18, 2005
Coffee and Cookies
Manager is working up the numbers to open as just a Coffee and Cookie shop. A lovely place just came up for rent in a good coffee shop area of town, another one came up just yesterday near a mjor university at a reasonable rent, and if we're willing to go to a different town, the university in Edmund just expanded their campus and there are still a few low rent places available near-by to grab the campus coffee crowd.
We can buy a "coffee shop in a box" deal for less than $10,000 which comes with all the basic equipment and month's supply of syrups and coffees and disposables like cups and napkins. The equipment is high quality (not top of the line, but the manufacturers are in our top 5 picks, and of a higher quality than we could afford if we bought each piece separately) and the syrups are one of our favorite brands.
Add in a location and some simple decorating and furniture, and we could probably open for under $30,000.
If I could convince the bank (any bank!) to give me a home equity loan for my house, we could open in just a few weeks. I have more than $30,000.00 in equity in this house. But my monthly salary is too low to allow me to qualify for that loan. It sucks, it really truly sucks, to have the assets and no way to access them.
I may do a bit of bank campaigning to see if I can't soften a banker's heart. Sure, it may look high risk on paper, but in reality, it's not like I'm asking for the loan to go on vacation, wasted money that will generate no financial return. I'm asking for the loan to start a business; one we have intensely researched, that has salivating customers waiting for our opening, and one that will generate enough income to repay the loan, and to start our expansion plans in under a year.
