The First Couple Things I Did to get Started
It's the middle of a day on a Saturday, I'm drinking an espresso and listening to the new EP by my favorite punk band "drinking boys and girls choir." Think classic TonyHawksProSkater NOFX or SUM41 but most of the vocals are sang softly in Korean. getting pumped up
Right now I'm trying to appreciate the time I have off before really jumping into everything.
Last week we became official in FL, and this week we have an EIN with the IRS. we are real we are a business!!! I'm planning on signing a lease this Wednesday, meaning once we deliver proof of insurance, they deliver the space.
This took a ton of fumbling around very slowly with some things I thought I needed to do, but had no way to do quickly and effectively, because they all kind of touch on each other. It was a learning process with a lot of back and forth, and that was okay. Baby steps count, they’re progress, there is a correct path you’re waddling along.
Getting started I assumed I would need to do three things first.
1. Find & Read a lot of books, hope they point me in the right direction
Pros: In almost every case these cover the general business owner stuff you should be told. Mainly how to be a good leader, how to define then sell a product that will make you money, and how not to let your emotions get the best of you. Stuff I probably needed to read at least once.
Cons: I wasted a lot of time reading irrelevant and identical information. These books are mostly the same broad basic concepts, and when specialized cover mostly topics that will be specific to their scenarios or regions.
But hey that’s okay. No books are a magic bullet that will tell you exactly what to do. Drilling some of these common ideas into your head will put you in a good mindset, and help the really special stuff stand out.
Flat out the most helpful was "What I know about running coffee shops" by the owner of the Dublin Cafe 3FE. A couple of important pieces of info I took away were "make the worst cup better, go big or go small, and milk is slowing you down". that said, still a lot of excess.
Unfortunately the legal stuff was Ireland specific, and I do not live in Ireland. So when I started tossing terminology around I sounded like an idiot haha. Thankfully I did figure out where those lessons applied pretty quickly.
2. Write a business plan / cost excel / cost companion guide etc.
Pros: these docs will come up again and again, these are your id badge that say "i've thought a lot about this idea." Both you and the people around you will want to see these constantly. So yes! they are crucial.
Cons: these will not be something you write once and reference forever. You don't know what you're doing right away and these are going to feel like guess work the first few times, but don't worry. These are a combination of all your other documents and hard work. These will always be evolving and they will come together in the end.
Ultimately these will be more useful to you when you have a location picked out, so don’t sweat them too much in the beginning. Just remember they will be useful and keep using them.
Keep a dated notebook so you can keep track of everything and brain dump once in awhile, you’ll feel better if you do.
3. Get a lawyer and make sure I was legal
Pros: This will guarantee that your butt is covered, and get you in touch with people you might need help from later. You will be able to ask them questions and they will either know the answers, or know someone else that does. They will be sympathetic to your plight and be honest about their thoughts.
Cons: They cost a decent amount of money to do things you could ultimately do yourself, and they will take more time to do so. I've lost at least a month of time waiting on parts of the process. They also add another barrier between yourself and gears in the machine, which may cause unnecessary stress in my experience.
Ultimately it’s nice to know these people, but if you really don’t want to spend the money, I honestly don’t know that they would have been necessary to my work so far.
Basically all these things worked out for me, BUT
I wouldn't say they were all totally necessary. It's hard to know the right questions to ask in the beginning, and through doing these things I was able to find those questions. My advice would to be stick to what you know you NEED. If you need a space, go talk to a leasing agent. If he tells you to get a business plan and an EIN, go write that and talk to the IRS. Eventually you'll find your way through. Anything is possible! You got this! Forever!
Thank you for reading and have a great weekend
- Elias
