Okay, here's the scoop! I have an opportunity to buy an established business housed in an 106 year-old house on Main St. in a small but quaint community. The lower level is a muffin/coffee shop that offers soup and sandwiches over lunch. The upper level is a 2 BR apartment. The business breaks even according to the realtor. I would keep the same menu with only minor changes in order to keep the present clientle coming through the door. I would offer my fav. cookies and segway into cake decorating by appt. only (at first). I don't believe I would have too much trouble getting financing but DH wants me to check into a small business loan (he thinks being female, I'd stand a good chance!) I have 30+ years restaurant experience and helped my ex-husband run a small trucking co. so I'm familiar with the business side of things. I'm excited at the possibilities but a nervous wreak at the same time. Can you advise or offer encouragement?? We have a meeting Friday!

Sounds like a great opportunity. You do have some idea about how much work this will be. Will you be living in the apartment above? If so, that saves on your overhead. (and no commuting!)

Best of luck!

That's really cool. It sounds just like a house I wanted my parents to buy so I could go into business. My naive self. . .

But really, that sounds like a great opportunity. You could be like Duff, living upstairs. . .

even if you don't get it for whatever reason..and I don't forsee why not..

applying and going through the process would be an awesome experience!

Sounds like an incredible opportunity and sounds like you have a supportive husband too (which is always helpful!).

Good Luck on Friday!

bj

In a New York Minute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Lu

Thanks for the encouragement!! We live in the country now, about 5 minutes away, so I don't think we would live in the apartment. We'd just rent that out. DH is supportive but not willing to exchange the country life for Main St!! Forgot to mention that I 'd want to spend a little on updating the interior as there is old carpeting in the dining areas now. I'd put down a commercial grade vinyl for easy cleaning and paint. It's pretty gloomy!
My biggest worry is just stepping out of my comfort zone and tackling "my own business" with all the ups and downs that go with it!!

SOunds so exciting!

In the words of Donald Trump: "If you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big."

Let us know how it goes! We're all cheering for ya!

Sounds like a great opportunity! Go for it!

Awesome. Good Luck to you. Sounds like you have all the skills needed to make this successful. And who know with just a little tweak it could end up being the next big thing.

I say go for it! If being nervous is your biggest fear, well, I think that "nervousness" is sometimes just "excitement". Onward and upward!

Write up a business plan.

Figure your monthly expenses and then figure how much business you would need to do to cover them.

If you contribute to your household expenses now don't forget to figure those in.

If you come out in the black then go for it.

Being a landlord is not all sunshine and roses.

here is the name of a book I found useful..it has a companion CD-ROM with a prewritten, editable business plan and financial statements in Microsoft word

"HOW TO OPEN A FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL BAKERY"

sharon l. fullen & Douglas R. Brown.

I got it from Amazon.com

Hope this helps you..or anyone else for that matter.

I agree with everyone else write up your business plan, then go for it.

Yeah, the landlord thing does not exactly excite me in the least. DH thinks that the apartment rent could help make the payment on the loan and since I don't contribute to our household expenses now the business would be mine to grow (hopefully)!! Trust me, if I get into the planning stage, I'll be picking the brains of my CC friends who own this type of business! Thanks, for cheering me on!!

Thanks, Risque, for the book! I'll look into it!!

well you can always use the upstaris for classrooms! .lol

have classes and invite cake people to give them..

Christeena I to am from In. Would you be talking about Metamora? I once looked at a business there with apartment above. The owner had a B and B behind the shop. If I can be of assistance to you in anyway I'd be more than willing. I've been looking for something myself. I'm in Anderson right now where are you? Sounds like a great opportunity I'd jump if I were you. Let me know. Good Luck, Debbie

Also...get an engineers report on the building. The same kind you should get if you were buying a home. They will be able to tell you how sound that building is. 106 years old ain't hay...it might have "issues" that you may not know about.

Ask to see heating bills,etc.

Why is the business only "breaking even"? Are you buying the business and the building? Ask to see the business books. Have you eaten there? Is the food so so or is there not enough traffic for the place to show a profit?

If you are buying the business check the equipement and make sure that is part of the deal. See what kind of condition it is in. The last thing you want to have to do is replace something straight off!! Ask to see their electric bills,heating costs..etc.

Your lender will probably want to see a business plan from you, so that is going to be a must.(if they lend you money without one let me know the name and address,I'm getting in on that deal!! )

Make sure you and an accountant checks their books, don't take what the real estate person has to say about it. They will say anything to make a buck. If they are on the up and up, looking over their books will be no problem.

oh, and while you're at it...BETTER EAT YOUR WHEATIES!!!!

it's alot more work than you'd think!

OMG, my head is spinning!! So much great advice!! I love you guys!! This little place is in a small town in northern IN. The current owner pretty much treats it as a hobby. They have somewhere between 3-4 part-time employees that are paid together $33K per year. I'd like to knock it down to one full-time and myself, especially during the transition stage. My hope would be that the cake part of it would help build a profit margin! She did very little if any advertising. I'd hope for a write up in the local papers as well as a web site, grand opening, etc. I'd definately be alot more aggressive in the PR and marketing aspect of things. DH is an engineer so he is going to go over the place with a cake comb!!

You are so right the 2 best ways to ensure success is LOCATION and ADVERTISE. My skin crawls when small businesses say they cannot afford to advertise----of course we know you cannot afford not to, if you really want to make it. Good Luck!

ooooooo....great opportunity! I agree with the others...just do your homework!

Just a word of caution in regards to the age of the building. This is a true story, something for you to think about. Be sure to check out the title if you are buying!!!!! Back over 100 years ago plats and surveys were done with the good ole boy in mind. In the description of the property, most were done possibly from the rail road if they had one. Some descriptions are so vague, like 25 feet across to pine tree with a notch in it, or 100 feet deep to the barbed wire fence. Also check heirs. We purchased a building, had 2 title companys, a lawyer, surveyors etc. The building was built in 1928. To make a long story short, the surveyors, used a plat from that time period and included a piece of property that was originally part of the building, in the 1940's it had been sold, the streets were made wider and another building was put on this piece of property. All the title searches, and investigation showed that everything was properly done. A new person came in and bought the building on that piece of property, he purchased the land outright with no title search, kind of like a general warranty deed. Several years went by and we had a dispute when he decided to put a gas meter on this building that had no service for many years. The meter was on our part of the property. Again to make this short, he hired some fancy attorneys, found the last surviving heir to the entire land that all of us were on, had him sign a quit claim deed, paid him 5000 dollars, then took us to court to sue us. Come to find out, his heir who owned all the property properly described all of what he owned and sold with the exception of my building which he kept. He failed to completely describe his part that he did not sell. It was not caught by anyone. Thank God for title insurance as we were paid for a faulty title, lost the piece of land to the creep next door, had to sell as our title insurance would not cover the already expensive attorneys cost if we were to go to court and lose. Sorry this was so long, but check, re-check, and re-check again. We just got screwed, and thought we had done everything the right way.

If the business broke even, and they did not advertise and had 3 employees....I think you would do better since you would advertise, have less employees, and offer cakes. how awesome! what a great opportunity this sounds like.
but I would pm the other poster who looked at this business before, to get her insight. maybe she knows something important that you haven't thought of.

let us know!!!

melody

Keep us posted! I live in southern Indiana, and some of the best places are the ones that are in smaller towns, I may have to make a road trip

two shots of whiskey(to chase away the jitters), a breath mint(to chase away the whiskey on your tongue), Jump in!

What could happen to try?

all4cake, YOU crack me up!!

melodyscakes, the other poster lives in southern IN and it's not the same place. This business is in Middlebury IN close to the MI border near a HUGE tourist attraction (Shipshewana - Flea Market/Amish County)

The only other baker that offers cakes in the same locale is the restaurant I currently work at. Nothing very creative, no fondant work, but it's edible and cheap, $1 - $1.50 a slice!! Besides the grocery stores, the two closest towns that do cakes have a total of 3 bakerys.

Another Indiana girl here (I wonder how many of us are out there?) What ever you do, I am sure you will be a great sucess.

It is very hard to get out of your comfort zone.

Best of Luck

Go Colts!!!!