No Reservations...Except Those Around Our Potential Location

Ok, so I know we've sung this tune before -- but where do we want to be? Our location is critical, as it will be the only port from which we can sell our goods...mankind has not come so far as buying fast food online. One day, my friends...one day. And we aren't a delivery kind of place, either. So to help us critique the locations we have been considering, one of our advisers instructed us to put together a market analysis detailing the contending locations for Saus.

So far we have three spots: Newbury St., Coolidge Corner, and the Faneuil area. I will take you through some of the issues we are deliberating before making a decision: Newbury St. would allow us to become a hangout for college kids and young professionals, but would we be overshadowed by the many storefronts and dining options? Also, Newbury shuts down at a certain hour. And Coolidge Corner has the college students, but is primarily a family neighborhood. Also, the Coolidge Corner spot is way too big and would require a great deal of work. Lastly (for now) we have the Faneuil location. We would be off the Quincy Market strip and amongst the pantheon of the Faneuil bar gods. You know what I am talking about. If you are or were ever a college student in Boston you visited one of the bars at the urging of your friend from Lowell...or Quincy. The spot would do wonders for late-night volumes and could get the tourists in as well (it's right on the Freedom Trail). Sounds ideal, right? But here is the sixty four thousand dollar question: Do we really want to be positioned as a late-night food joint? A large part of our business model is that we buy locally grown produce and we make everything from scratch, and in-house! Though, after 10 Sam Adams Summer Ales can one really tell the difference between homemade and microwaved frozen food? Perhaps. But the point is we don't want to diminish the value of our offerings and the experience we wish to be creating for our customers (and no, by "experience", we do not mean projectile vomiting onto our front window).

Our search does not end here, dear friends. We shall continue on the Freedom Trail of retail space led by our good broker John (who refuses to wear a tri-corner hat when he shows us these places...we'll keep trying). In the meantime, please tell us what you think. If you can answer the sixty four thousand dollar question, or at least attempt to, we will give you a big hug. Thanks.

Ready, Set...Wait. Ready, Set...Hold On. Ready, Set....

We realize that it has been a while since our last update, so here it is. Our progress with Saus has had as many ups and downs as the Dow Industrial 5 year chart (er, maybe more "ups" than the Dow). One day we're on top of the world with the promise of tomorrow at our disposal and the next day we realize that "promise of tomorrow" should not be taken literally, that it is now today and no one ever tells you that you have the "promise of today".

So we at Saus have banned that phrase altogether. We have become "today" people, which is problematic in instances where an adviser, and close family friend of mine, calls one day, 9 months into start-up planning, and says in the most loving and constructive way imaginable: "Your business plan could have been written by a 5th grader." Now, I've seen that show "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" and let me just say: I acquiesce to these prepubescent miracles. I have no doubts that they could have had this business up and running by now. Nevertheless, this is not something you want to hear from a savvy restaurant investor (on his portfolio are places to which you have most likely been if you live in Boston). So our team has decided to revise our business plan and include an operating agreement that lays out the terms for our investors and distribution of equity and dividends.

The fact is that no matter how much you labor over the business plan, it will always suck. It will constantly be changed, it will never be completely accurate (in terms of numbers), and it will never be the sum of all parts of your business put into words. Somebody will always hate your business plan. Now, for us it's pretty clear: if we want serious restaurant investors to look at our plan, it needs to include serious restaurant investor lingo and metrics.

Are we in despair over this? Not really. We are still actively looking at sites and planning away like we have been doing. After all, as our adviser noted: we owe it to our investors before taking their money to be as clairvoyant as can be.