I am sitting at the second Caribou Coffee of the day across from a lady in a leather chair eating stretchy grilled cheese. I had to evacuate the last Caribou because I was embarrassed by the tears and breakdown I was having there while accompanied by my friend and colleague, Erin. We scooped up my things and got me to my car where I cried and laughed and cried some more.
The long and short of it was that I received feedback from MANY places today about the campaign. And I don’t know if it was there before, but today it was LOUD and clear and consistent. It just kept coming in many forms. Some nice, some not-so-nice. So I am writing this blog to address one of those things and will continue to address more in the coming days.
I can understand why it would seem preposterous for a for-profit business to use this sort of campaign for “handouts” and that was never my intention. Allow me to explain how this all came about.
Last summer I made a trip to Chicago where I had a conversation with a former customer from my Starbucks days. I told him about my idea to start a coffee and ice cream shop in River Falls (at that point that is as much as the product mix had evolved) and he told me that he wanted to be an investor with a 30% stake. He said that he knew how I ran businesses and was involved in my community from watching the work I did at Starbucks and that it would be successful. Little did he know that 30% is *exactly* the number that banks want to see when financing a small business. My investor also said that I needed to act fast and get a business plan done so it could open within 6 months. We even threw a few numbers around that told me he meant business. I promptly returned to River Falls and started working with the Pierce County Economic Development Corporation, River Falls Chamber of Commerce, and the Small Business Development Center on the plan. Long story short, I headed back to Chicago in November with my business plan in tow to seal the deal.
*sigh*
We met on a Monday afternoon for lunch across the street from my former Starbucks store in Palatine. I gave him everything and brought out my laptop to show him pictures of the proposed storefront and other “inspirations”. He looked at me with weary eyes and said “Sarah, I just found out that my business partner from another venture has been stealing from me. I can’t do it. I am sorry. It’s not that I see anything wrong here. It all looks great. I know I told you I could do it, but I can’t.”
I got back to River Falls and started working with many friends on brainstorming ideas to fund the business. We spoke of microloans, investors, being a co-op, and other ideas. I had piles of library books on the subject. And I was getting frustrated with the “banking system” just like everyone else. Somewhere along the way my friend Maikol asked me “Have you heard of crowdsourcing?” I hadn’t and I mentioned it noncommittally in brainstorm sessions with other friends. Then I got acquainted with Adrienne in Portland, OR through some mutual friends and it wasn’t long before I learned that she is a consultant for these types of campaigns. *shrug* The rest is history AND the story isn’t over.
So I start the campaign two weeks ago. I was naive to think that people would open their wallets to throw dough in my direction. For those of you who did, I am humbled that you were able to see my heart in what I am trying to create with it. But my idealistic vision didn’t quite happen as I envisioned it. I just thought that everyone would take the time to read the copy of the campaign and would be so excited by the possibility of making a small town more alive and that they would feel all of the romance that I feel for River Falls- the river, the artists, the cookie factory, the university, and Main Street. And Wisconsin- the cheese, beer, and farmers. It became clear relatively fast that this was going to take a lot of conversations for $1 or $3 to hit the goal. AND, I thought (and still think) “How cool would it be to have a business start in such an impossible way… for the people of the community to rise up and take action and do something that could be a trigger for other cool businesses to come to town and give residents, businesses, and students alike a reason to really patronize Main Street?” I pictured a Lifetime Original Movie. Why couldn’t River Falls be *that* town? All it takes is one person to be the tipping point. One domino to start the rest to fall, right? Well that remains to be seen. And with that being said, I also started using the campaign website and all of the other online tools to start talking to investors and personal lenders. And that is where I am at. So far I have several interested investors and other potential lenders that I am working with. Two lenders have stepped forward and given me checks written out to WeatherVane Creamery. The rest is in the works and I am committed that it ALL be wrapped up by February 23rd.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to tell you about what that looks like in case you or your friends would find yourself in a position to be an investor or lender. Here it is- if you are interested in being an investor, that is a very special conversation. Please contact me and we can have that conversation. If you are interested in becoming a lender to WeatherVane Creamery for a sum of over $1000, what is involved is a promissory note where we agree to an annual interest rate up to 10%. WeatherVane Creamery will start paying the sum off in three years of the date on the note and also will have the option to pay it off sooner. That’s how it works.
Thank you for your support. The indiegogo site is TOTALLY important to this process. Those funders as individuals are JUST AS IMPORTANT to *any* big time investor or lender to me. They are the ones who give from their hearts and want to be a part of the fun and adventure. They are putting in their votes and have a voice. I love you all. The ride isn’t over yet. There are surprises and magic around every corner. Stay tuned!
640 youtube views, $1620 indiegogo, 52 indiegogo funders, 1462 indiegogo views, 48 indiegogo favorites, 130 fb fans, $2,000 private loans, $3,620 total funded
I love Lifetime movies, as a matter of fact my all time favorite movie is a Lifetime movie, A Season For Miracles!
“Where there is no vision, the people perish”, replace “vision” with “dream”. Imagine what life would have been like without your dream and the actions to fulfill it over the last several months? Lots of tv, pubs, parties? Maybe some cheese curlies or whatever you guys eat in Winsconsin, heh! Not that there’s anything wrong with those activities, however, you would not have touched and energized the people you did, including myself. And you would not have the business you are currently building.
The dream is alive and will go on being fulfilled. It may not ncessarily be as you thought it will be, there is no stopping this train, though.
So you might as well saddle up, buckle up, get on board and whatever else you need to do Sarah to get this party on!!!
Best wishes and keep the dream alive.