And Then There Were Six

As I stated in my last blog post, we were told to make a list of our top seven banks we would like to get a business loan through and to approach the least preferred bank first.  We knew going in to this meeting that we were going to, more than likely, get turned down by this bank.  This was our first time applying for a business loan, and it was not anything like we had expected.  We were fully prepared to be bombarded with eight million thirty six thousand five hundred twenty two questions about the business plan and why we should be approved for the loan.  This was not the case.  The banker we met with did not even read through the loan.  He was faxing it off to some unknown person at some huge office in some unknown location.  Sign here and here, here and here.  Ok!  You will know by Tuesday or Wednesday.  We left feeling a little disheartened.  We don't even get to plead our case?  We found out Thursday that we were not approved.  We found out why we were denied after several phone calls to try to get in touch with the banker who helped us.

I was not terribly upset when I found out we were denied.  As I said before, I was expecting it.  Everyone had told us that it would happen.  I am one of those people (perhaps labeled a pessimist?) that doesn't believe anything good will happen until it actually happens.  When I approach things that way, I am not terribly disappointed when it goes awry because I was EXPECTING it to happen, and if it DOES go the way I was hoping, I am happily surprised.  Some may argue that this isn't the best way to approach life, and that what you put out into the universe is what comes back to you, but it helps me make it through this crazy life without going into a tailspin.  We all have our coping mechanisms, right?

Thomas, on the other hand, seemed to be affected pretty heavily.  He mourned for an evening, and then pulled himself up and decided to figure out a different way to approach the situation.  He took the information we were given from the banker, changed the course of action, and tried again.  We were once again denied by the same bank, and they were very dismal in their assessment of us ever qualifying for a loan.  Once again, he took this pretty hard, but bounced back and approached bank number six on our list.

This bank has actually taken the time to READ the business plan.  Right there in the office.  They asked questions.  They seemed interested.  They spoke positively.  This is a huge difference from bank number seven.  The difference may be that bank number seven is a national bank and therefore much more corporate.  The bankers there have no real power to approve or deny a loan, so we aren't meeting with anyone face to face that can actually help us.  Bank number six is a local bank and so we have access to the people that are the decision makers.  It is more personal.

We are once again playing the waiting game currently.  There seems to be a lot of hurry up and wait in this stage of the process.  I am so incredibly proud of Thomas for how he has handled all of this, and am thankful to be by his side in this venture.  He shows me more every day what an amazing man he is, and I am so blessed to share this life and this dream with him.

Taking Flight

Thomas and I have been kicking the idea of a food truck around for an extended period of time.  In May, we were headed down to Port St. Lucie for a weekend away, and we got serious about it during the drive.  We started discussing specifics.  What would our food truck sell?  What would our name be?  As we talked more about it, we began to feel excitement over the idea really beginning to overtake us.  By the time we reached our destination, we had decided that this was something we really were going to pursue.  We spent the weekend talking about it with his family.  We spent the weekend talking about it between ourselves.  We spent the drive back talking about it, and doing preliminary research to really narrow down what our best options were for what we would serve.

We decided we would create gourmet, slider sized sausages. Our menu will consist of items such as chicken sausage, fried and served in a waffle as the bun and topped with collard greens for a very Southern flavor, and andouille sausage corndogs served over jambalaya.  We will offer flights of sausages, so people can try more than one variety of our creations.  This is why we decided to become A Flying Sausage.  We are going to primarily serve breakfast and lunch and will be focused mainly on large office settings where our customers have short breaks and limited other dining options.  As of now, there are no other breakfast food trucks in Jacksonville.

We have such an amazing group of mentors, colleagues, friends, and family that have had eyes on our business plan, been our sounding boards, and have been helpful in giving us feedback to make it better.  We have formed a relationship with a group here in Jacksonville that will help us acquire and build out our truck when the time comes, give us the contacts to get the truck wrapped professionally, have a facility where we can store our truck at the end of the day, and will soon also have a commissary kitchen on site for us to do our food prep in if we choose to utilize it.  They are heavily involved in getting legislature passed to make Jacksonville more food truck compatible, and have had their own successful food trucks for the last three years, and are continuing to expand their own brands.  We are so blessed to have all of these people in our lives and in our corner when it comes to taking on this new venture.

We have been told that we should make a list of the top seven banks we would prefer to get funding from, and start at the bottom of our list.  If we are turned down by our least preferred bank, we will ask questions as to why they said no, improve our plan, and head to the next bank more prepared with an even better business plan.  By the time we get to the bank we would most prefer, we will hopefully approach them with a plan they cannot say no to.  

As we sat in a cubicle applying for a business loan to get A Flying Sausage up and running, the bank was robbed by an armed gunman.  Seriously.  Let me tell you, it's way more action filled in the movies.  In fact, we didn't even know that it had happened until after it was over, when three employees stood in the cubicle next to ours explaining what had just happened to the 911 dispatcher on the phone.  The banker and I overheard the woman on the phone saying things like, "He handed a note to the teller.  He had a gun.  I think he was wearing jeans?  Let me ask the other employees.  Black pants?  No, more people think he was wearing jeans."  I take a leap and say, "This means we automatically get the loan, right?"  We won't find out until Tuesday or Wednesday, but I hope he added a footnote that we were there during an armed robbery.  I'm just saying.

We have formed our LLC, have our EIN, and opened a business checking account.  We are so ready for this to happen, and are pushing forward with everything we have to make our dream a reality!  As frightening as it is (ok, terrifying, really!) to take this leap, the exhilaration is even more so, and we cannot wait to fly!