The shop that never was.... - Page 3

Thank you so much ladies.

Yes I have been working out of my home for 7 years now, since my daughter became diabetic. That is what drove me to do all this, bake, culinary school and now the shop. And I do get busy in the summer and around the holidays. But with the shop I had neglected the home business a little and have taken cakes only once in a while so I could put the time into the shop.

Now, Yes I had HELP from, we didn't hire, a contractor, that was my fathers choice. My dad was an architect but has since retired from that and knew what needed to be done, but as we found out as we went along things changed 6 years ago. Actually until 6 years ago you didn't need a grease trap unless you were using a frialator.....the same thing with the hood only if you were frying....that sort of thing.

Oh I believe the half million on putting up a shop. We didn't build the place and we spent ALOT, not far!!!!

So our lawyer is trying to figure how some of the things can get fixed and he is now dealing with some of the city offices because of all the crap. The not having a straight answer sort of thing....he is dealing with alot of the contracts and things. I guess there is a couple that have been trying to open a restaurant for 4 years and the city is doing the same thing to them. And there is another bakery that is trying to open on the other side of town that is also having the same issues as us. Now there is a Spanish restaurant that began after I did and they are already open....they are in one of the "urban" areas that were thrown money to them. They are up and running..... So something is up. They want to build up certain areas in the city and if that is not the areas you are willing to build in than people are getting the run around. The ladies that it took two years to open, yup they are in a different part of town tooo, hummmm.. But I'm not going to blame anyone. I should have quadrupled my research and not just gone once and believed that one person from that dept....right, ya think????? Guess not.

Well according to the lawyer, things are on hold now. There is a little digging being done. 3 examples that I know of imagine when there is more digging????? But as of right now there is no "closing date" because we now have to wait on him. Oh well, the saga continues I guess. I don't know why...because we still dont have the money for the plumber???? So I am not sure why are we waiting???? But I guess we wait and see.

I want to thank everyone for all their input and advice and shoulders. This whole experience has been an amazing one, I have learned so much.

Your very first thing to have is a business plan, once you have that don't think that you are ready to go. Get someone to look at it and give you pointers, is it realistic, is it a clear vision, so on and so on. I went to score and IDK about that, so then I went to Center for Women and Enterprise and they were amazing. They have tons of workshops that guide you into building the best business plan and give you realistic goals, and advertising and you guidance. Worth every penny and hour at their workshop. And great networking too.

after that here is where things went wrong. At least now I know and maybe just maybe they can help someone else.

First..... don't believe the first person you talk to actually don't even believe the second and third.
Second....Get everything in writing. Which thank God I did because that is helping us right now.
Third....Keep a journal of who, when date and time,and what dept. That is something I also did, again helping in this journey.
Fourth....Big things first. DO all the big work the high ticket items first. I know sounds dumb but the little stuff can wait...didn't always think that way in the process. But coulda' shoulda' isn't going to change anything now.
Fifth....Try to find a place that is meant for this, just because the price sounds good doesn't mean it really is. It can cost more in the long run. Look for a closed pizza shop, maybe even a close bakery. You are half way there so it makes the permits, work a little easier.
six.....stay away form bigger cities...go around the out skirts...the money is still there. The bigger the city the more depts the more people and opinions and depts you have to deal with.

I am sure there are a hundred more I can think of but these are things that just come to mind right now. I am sure there are others here that can add more to this list. There is so much knowledge here in CC there is so much advice you can find from these talented people its insane.

I will keep you all updated. As of now we are waiting on the lawyer but like I mentioned IDK why because the money still isn't there. but whatever???? Again thanks for letting me vent on yet another day.

Love Vic

Yup we had pretty much the same order. But for some reason people started popping in out of the word works.

We had the business plan all done at the beginning of last year, so when we got into it in July we were ready. Than we had all our money, loans and everything financial all set too (or so we thought). Then we went to then we went to the city offices and set up all the appointments that we thought we needed. I say thought because when we went to get the information they (code enforcement) gave us a list with all the depts. that we needed to talk to and have inspections and things. Done, great!!!! right, not so fast. Health inspector came and all was great, actually he is the only one that I have not had issues with. He has actually been very helpful.

When we first went to the zoning dept the lady we talked to says no you are all set. Since you are not having anyone sitting down and being served you are all set. Fine. then about a month later one of the inspectors came by and said oh you have tables, I said yes, this is the area for brides/tastings. Then he went back to zoning and things changed, we had to stop the work that I had been approved to do until the meetings were all done and they decided that yes I was all set on zoning.

See I don't want anyone to think that I/we didn't do our homework. We did. We did all these things before we even signed the lease. We have a great landlord. He also helped alot when we things went haywire. He had tons of information. Anyway. It wasn't being ill prepared, we were prepared. I went online to the city website, got all the information that they have themselves for opening business and followed this guide step by step. We asked for help from people that have much more knowledge than us in this sort of thing, contractors, chef with restaurants, bakery owners, business services agencies, It's just one of those things you just can't put your finger on. It's just one of those things that have no explanation, sorta' have to be in it to see it.

We had the information it was just the lack of communication with one dept and the next, the inconsistencies from one dept and the next, actually even the inconsistencies from one inspector and the next....things like that. I guess if I were the only one I could say, oh I really messed things up. But like I mentioned before the city is giving others the same run around. Yes did we make mistakes? But nothing to make it this get this out of control. and then what I keep thinking it's not happening only to me there are others in the same boat. So it makes you think this many people can't be all making the same mistakes as me???? Makes you wonder??? I don't want to be a victim, I want something to come out of this. Maybe not the shop but at this point I don't want the city to do this type of things to others. The economy isn't great we know that but in this situation it's not the only thing to blame.

I was at a school fundraiser last night and without mentioning anything about the shop I was talking to a dad that is trying to open a dance studio and is having a hard time with zoning and things. I am sure we are not all doing the same things wrong. Why is zoning giving everyone a hard time. IDK.

Again thank you for all the advice. It has made me go back and look at all the steps and see if I crossed all my t's and dotted all my I's and more and more I realize that we did take the steps in the right order. So then why, why this out of control. Did we sweat some of the small stuff before we should have yeah we did. But again nothing that should have spiraled this out of control. It has made me look back to the depts and seeing which are the depts that myself and others are having the issues with. are they the same, are they the same people others are having issues with. I guess I'm being my own investigative reporter,

I have thought about contacting the media, but like I mentioned in a previous post the lawyer is looking into some things. We have an appointment with him next week/Thursday to see what happening. So I am anxious to see what has been going on. Again I will keep you all posted and again thanks for all the support.

Vic