Friday, April 3, 2009

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.

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