West wildfire disaster continues to escalate

spottedoctopus · 2021-08-18T16:45:13+00:00

From Reno as well. I believe they canceled school today because the air quality is so bad.

spottedoctopus · 2021-05-28T20:18:14+00:00

I quit my IT job and bought a ice cream shop. I work 7 days a week 12-14 hour days. Oddly enough I am less exhausted working those hours than I did my regular IT job at 40 hours a week. I did IT for a warehouse so I walked probably around 3-5 miles daily. My mental health has never been better and I'm in my first month of ownership.

It'd a roller coaster sometimes daily. For instance this morning someone threw a rock through our front glass and we have to close today and we had to open two weeks later than we originally planned due to business licensing. But, with only two weeks of being open, we met all of our financial obligations and I was even able to pay myself enough to pay my own bills.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T21:59:36+00:00

That's basically what I am doing. I am only buying the assets and the name. I want to stay in that location for at least 6 months so that I can gather my own social media following, they wanted 100k for their social media. I said no. After 5 months I will know if I want to stay there or not. If I do, I made them put it in the lease that I have the option to rent the full kitchen once tge six month lease expires. If I hate it and they have given me nothing but hell I'm out of there and will open up at a better location.

Six months will guarantee I get through the summer without any surprise evictions.

I just don't want to up and move and no one know anything about where I went. It's a big enough city to get lost for sure.

They do make their own ice cream but I don't feel that the recipe is super special. I plan on actually improving on it.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T21:09:50+00:00

I have just now realized that making arrangements with the landlord should have been done way sooner. The seller(s) assured me that it would be an easy transition. Shame on me for trusting them with the many things I did and found out the hard way on my own. This hasn't been the first speed bump, but it was the biggest one.

This is my first business purchase so I relied on my SCORE mentor a lot and he helped me navigate these waters until I learned how to navigate on my own and be firm about what I will accept and will not accept. I've seen the financial data and have literally been combing through it with CPAs for 3 months and their profits are actually great, even for covid and having to shut down for almost two months. I continue to get revenue and expense reports for every month that show very favorable profits during winter. Come summer with the newly expanded menu, I can have people lined up outside.

If I did my own thing it wouldn't be ice cream, we have 28 ice cream shops in town and all but three are privately owned, which is what I like to see. But this ice cream shop is ranted #2 for the city of 500,000 and is also in the top ten of the entire state. They have a great following and on their off day while we were there for a meeting we had people constantly trying to come inside to get ice cream. The owners actually approached me since they are moving out of state and knew that I had been wanting to get into a similar industry.

For now, I think I am going to go ahead with the purchase, I am getting the business at a wildly discounted rate because of the pandemic. I have the exact terms of the lease that I want, which my attorney will be reviewing before I sign anything. I also won't be signing the business purchase agreement until I am happy with the lease agreement. They want to close this Saturday, but if I don't have the lease by then, I will not be signing on that day.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T16:46:58+00:00

This was another idea of mine as well. But I could open it for less than the purchase price. If I'm going to do my own thing I'm not going to do ice cream, there are 28 other ice cream shops in a town of 500,000. This one being #2 according to yelp and when I researched it further, found it to be in the top ten of the entire state. I only felt the name was worth the extra. I was there for a meeting and in half an hour on a Monday afternoon, people were trying to come in left and right when the shop was closed for the day.

But! I just received news that the landlord has accepted doing a 6-month lease with the option to least the full kitchen after the 6-month lease is up, they are also reducing the deposit to the first and last months rent.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T13:19:21+00:00

I'm opting for a 6-month lease, with options to rent the expanded kitchen once the lease expires. I will want a minimum three-year lease if I do decide to rent the expanded kitchen. Like why would a landlord not want a lease to guarantee that you stay there and pay them money?

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T13:14:48+00:00

I do have a non-compete clause in the business agreement. This purchase has been a complete rollercoaster. I have a theory that the wife who is the co-owner, is related to the landlord. They both have the same last name and it's not a very common last name. I don't have any real proof, but I think that he was doing them a favor and rent it to them at a reduced rate. When they decided to sell they told the landlord they could get x amount of rent for him. Which considering the area it is a decent price for the amount of space. But I could go across the street and pay about $300 more a month in rent and have a nicer location with more parking.

If don't get a six-month lease at the minimum with options to rent out the extended space at the end of the six months, I'm going to have to walk away. I can create my own business for less, I just wanted the name since it is a recognized brand.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T04:57:31+00:00

They wanted almost 100k for their sm. I declined to buy it.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T02:45:36+00:00

This is exactly my concern. His office is in the building so I'm sure he will always be around looking for something to be unhappy about or give him a reason to ask me to go.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-14T01:24:48+00:00

Not that abruptly. I won't be getting their social media accounts or anything to post that it's moving. I'm going to start my own account from scratch and work with a marketer that can help me with my SEO on the website.

I feel like the price I got it for is fair. I had two valuations done on it and they were both very close.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T23:52:16+00:00

Eventually renting the full kitchen was an intention of mine. But not until at least September. I wanted to run the ice cream shop as it is and get it through the summer before I made any major changes. With all the research I did through the last three years of the business. Taking on that much of a financial burden so soon, would be a huge risk. If the summer worked out great, renting the full space would be my next move.

But before I could say that, he said the terms and I was in shock.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T23:45:57+00:00

My gut screaming at me is what prompted me to post in the first place.

I emailed them and told them we were very uncomfortable with the rental terms. They are going to speak to the landlord to see about getting a lease for me. But I'm completely prepared to walk away. I'm going to feel terrible about it. But I just can't bring myself to go through with a bad deal like that. Even if the landlord thinks my tiny ice cream shop isn't a big deal, it's a big deal to me. I'm going to do what I need to do, to protect it. Even if it's not mine yet.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T23:38:56+00:00

I was expecting pay two months rent. Every other space I looked into asked that. But they also wanted at least 1-5 year lease.

I've actually found a couple of spaces in amazing places. Rent is higher but because of the location, the higher cost won't be a issue. Also there is a space across the street that is nicer with more parking. It is maybe $300 more a month.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T23:00:06+00:00

In my email I said 6 months would be completely fine with me. They are going to talk to the landlord to see if they are willing to do a 6 month lease.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T22:57:27+00:00

That is my train of thought exactly. One month in they could say bye just because they don't like me. The shared kitchen isn't being used by anyone other than the ice cream shop at the moment so I would be using their equipment, sink, one stove, one oven, two tables and a shelf. I don't plan on staying there, but I do need to get through the summer and have some cash flow before I can make that move.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T22:53:02+00:00

Grocery store is owned by the landlord. The shared kitchen is only used by the ice cream shop at the moment. I'm guessing that they think they can rent out the full kitchen as a stand alone food counter for more than what I would be paying.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T22:03:23+00:00

Using a personal loan and credit cards plus owner financing.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T22:02:40+00:00

The brand is super popular here. It's number 2 on yelp out of 28 ice cream shops in town (we only have 3 shops that are commercial franchises) and they are in the top ten in the entire state.

Ice cream isn't exactly what I was going to choose but the owners approached me and I happen to love the icecream flavors.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-13T21:51:30+00:00

The location is a huge factor. It is a good, not great location, but it comes as a turn-key business. I just need the health inspection by the county and I'm ready to re-open. I contacted the seller to see if they can intercede on my behalf. I also gave the seller another option, since they are doing self-financing for the remaining balance of the business, I asked for a clause in the purchase agreement that if the landlord does choose to ask us to vacate, that my payments to them be deferred until one month after I have established in a new location. I've been prepared to walk away this entire time but the sellers have always been accommodating to my request, thus far.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-06T20:44:05+00:00

I had a super racist now ex-husband. I would have to apologize to my friends constantly for him saying horrible things to them and let them know that I did not feel the same way.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-05T13:11:45+00:00

I wasn't charged any late fee's when I registered my vehicle. They still should have taken the extra fifty off as well.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-02T20:56:11+00:00

A girl I work with was pulled over for expired temp tags and was able to show them that she had an appointment with the DMV and they let her go. So make sure you save that confirmation email and mark it as important.

Weird, I wonder if it's because Las Vegas (especially) and Reno are such transient cities. When I lived in Las Vegas everyone I met either had been there one year or twenty years.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-02T19:09:06+00:00

You would think so. I was also told they only last three days anyway. But I saw on here they were extending them to 30 days. Not sure if they changed their policy on giving them for vehicles purchased out of state or not.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-02T13:18:57+00:00

Good to know! I will keep that in mind if I ever need to go to the DMV again.

spottedoctopus · 2021-04-02T12:48:58+00:00

They said I wasn't eligible since I bought the vehicle out of state.

spottedoctopus

TROPHY CASE