For the past three days I have been working diligently on updating the business plan. According to my horoscope a few weeks ago, it said something about good fortune but that I had to make sure I watched the details. Damn. I used to watch the details back in the early days of the business plan but now that it has been “done” for several months, it feels a little overwhelming to go back and tweek and scrutinize something that I spent a great deal of time and effort tweeking and scrutinizing in the past. The thing is, WeatherVane Creamery’s location changed and all of the construction and layout plans needed to be revised to fit the new- and I mean brand, spankin’ NEW- location at 709 N Main Street in River Falls.
For those of you who didn’t already know, until financing is fully secured for WeatherVane Creamery, I don’t get paid by WeatherVane Creamery. So right now I am working at Eddie Bauer at Woodbury Lakes during the holiday season and am doing a few (any!) odd jobs to get by. I am also blessed to have a two month house sitting job that affords me two glorious rent free months. Needless to say, I am very grateful for all monies coming in. I even paid some bills in advance to prepare for this time so I am not as stressed out as I could be over the matter.
So it is time to talk to banks already! I honestly feel guilty that I haven’t had any big conversations with banks so far. Don’t get me wrong, I have had little ones and maybe even some medium sized conversations, but not the big ones. Basically, before the Empowering Taste event, I had no business talking to any banks, so the little conversations had to do. All my fundraising sentiments have been about how difficult it is to get a bank loan, and I haven’t actually gone all the way and gotten completely shot down yet. Just a little shot down (as much as I allow myself get shot down) from a very potentially pivotal bank that shall remain nameless. I assured that banker that I would not waste his time and that I would come back later when I had his concerns addressed. It was good feedback. You know, the blunt kind. I am meeting with him for the first time in person on Thursday.
Besides my own personal situation and the need to produce for my current investors, now is the time to go to banks because it is the end of the year. I learned from the Pierce County Economic Development Corporation last year that they have annual lending goals. If, towards the end of the year, they aren’t close to spending their budgeted lending money, they are more likely to lend. So here it is December, and I am hoping to catch anyone in that situation. And if they already met their goal, why then we can just resubmit everything in January when there is a big surplus, right? We’ll see and I’ll let you know if my theory is right. I also have a few other tricks up my sleeve, too.
But basically, here I am in the 11th hour. I have two meetings with banks tomorrow and one on Thursday. My eyes are sleepy and the thought of writing a blog was daunting. The plan is updated except for a few financial details and a paragraph or two. Tomorrow morning I have to organize it all together and head over to Office Max to make some copies for my meetings. My first meeting is at 2pm. Wish me luck!
And here I am at the end of my blog. What am I grateful for, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you what. I am grateful for my deserving partner who is sitting across from me right now, Shawn. As I type this blog, he is reading and updating the business plan. This might not seem like a big deal but this is our third night working across from each other working independently on MY business plan. And right now he is losing his voice and suffering from what will probably turn out to be a major chest cold. Shawn has made it possible for me to make incredible headway on my business plan this week. Miracles have occurred as a result of his help. And what you don’t know is that he had to fight his way to help me. He kept asking me how he could support me and I kept having a bunch of hissy fits and meltdowns until I finally agreed to let him help me. I am sure that there are a few of you out there who can relate. I didn’t want to burden him or have the time we spent together be spent on my big project.
And another thing, Shawn also single-handedly organized two of his northern Minneapolis co-workers and one mutual friend of ours to help at the Empowering Taste event. One helper, David, and I had never met until that evening. They all even left work early and carpooled together. And everyone was exceptional and motivated.
Thank you, Shawn, for your commitment, dedication, patience, talent, partnership, and love. Thanks for being on this journey with me and doing all of the things that you do and putting up with all that you have to put up with.
Love,
Sarah
Here I am with Shawn at the MN Cheese Fest this last summer