How is the new location going? When are you going to open?
I feel like I have been asked these questions a bazillion times over the past year. On any given day, the answer to those questions can be esoteric enough for me to not be able to articulate much outside of “Thanks so much for asking, it’s going great! We look forward to announcing an opening.” Often, the asker is left frustrated, wanting more details than I’m able to give.
The real answer, folks, is this is hard stuff, and it takes a lot of money, time and even more tenacity.
It took a lot of time to negotiate the sale terms, complete due diligence and arrive at an agreement. It takes time to design a space, write a killer business plan, and figure out how much money it will take to execute said plan. It takes time to engage lenders, community loan funds and grant programs, and it takes time to ask for assists from mentors and colleagues when roadblocks are encountered.
It's taken tenacity to even get to this point, first surviving through COVID, then bringing our business back from the brink of death afterward. More tenacity needed to proverbially knock on a million doors to be told “No” 999,999 times. Tenacity to wake up every single day and eat whatever piece of the elephant we can sink our teeth into even when we’re totally sick of eating elephant.
Today, we have a negotiated agreement for the sale of the property and an attorney standing by to draft the redevelopment agreement. We have partners ready to oversee the construction and buildout. We have crafted a business plan that leverages the best parts of what Rabid is today and brings expanded opportunities for us to offer mythical food and beverage offerings and a haven of joy for creatives, revolutionaries, nerds and weird ones. We’ve designed a layout for our new space, figured out what else needs to be fixed at the shopping center and arrived on a budget needed to complete the project and open the doors.
Remember earlier when I said it takes a lot of money? It takes a lot of money, more money than we have ever borrowed or spent before, just north of a million bucks. We have secured a little better than half of the capital needed to complete the project. We have applied for personal loans, small business loans and government grants to fund the difference. While we wait for those avenues to shake out, we’ve been collecting all the spare change in our house, car and pockets, and I’ve collected all my broken gold jewelry to be melted down. All in, let’s go.
So, how is the new location going? When are you going to open?
Thanks so much for asking. It’s going great! We’re really looking forward to announcing an opening sometime soon.
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