T MINUS 205: One Bite At A Time

I went to the construction company to help determine if the numbers I had in my line-item budget for the projected startup costs were practical. That was in March...today is June 9th and I just got those numbers from them on June 1st. Their estimate says they will need 7 months to complete the project. That 7 months doesn't include the time it will take to get the permits or the financing to get the permits or the documentation to get the financing. A dream deferred indeed.

It isn't so easy to give up now, not when I've put so much into this dream- sacrficied so much and given so much. I can't just scrap the idea completely just because there is strong possibility of not meeting the deadline I've been planning on for the last year and a half, can I? And that's why I've made myself accountable to so many people, why I've wanted to share this dream with so many people because somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I would have to lean on the support of those around me.

So, getting back...the basement floor is going to be dedicated to the conference center and meeting space; second floor to restaurant space and executive office leasing and the top floor to the Cocktail Experience Lounge. You know the Lounge is my baby, the highlight of the portfolio- the other businesses are ancillary and the revenues they generate will be to pay the expenses of the business. The revenue generated from the Lounge will be used to pay the investors. Initially, the plan was to have every part of the business operational for NYE 09...in 205 days.

I've been asked by a couple of people if I had considered opening the business in smaller chunks...How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! So this is how the project has evolved: we will get the conference center and executive office space open in order to begin generating those revenues (getting hard out here in these streets!). I asked the construction manager if would be feasible to get that accomplished and he agreed that it would be. The requirements to do that would get the plumbing, HVAC and electricity updated and make sure the fire exits are ADA accessible. We're keeping the concrete floors and are going to add the glass walls from Hufcor (www.hufcor.com) to separate the space.

The major challenge comes in determining how to acquire the space. With this new approach, I can take the property managers up on their offer to lease the space but how will that impact my application to purchase the space? That's a question for both Florida First Capital and Larin- my personal real estate acquisition guru. The new timeline aims for an open date of October 17, 2009 for the conference center and office space at a minimum. I'm not sure yet when we would get the cocktail lounge open but you know how when you're eating something that's so good and you have only one or two bites left? And that last bite is the absolute best? This one bite at a time thing may not be so bad after all!