Tag: "featured"
Your Life or Your Bank Statements
February 20, 2013
“Um, I don’t feel comfortable sending them to you because they’re private.” One of the most interesting things I experienced as a broker and underwriter is the amount of times I heard merchants tell me their bank statements were too private to send in. I understand it’s not exactly the same thing as telling someone [...]
View PostAre The Demographics Right?
February 20, 2013
I have spent the last three years looking for just the right location to start my next venture. At every property showing, I was asked by the realtor, “What kind of a restaurant are you planning to open?” To which my response was always, “one that meets the expectations of the consumer demographics”. That was [...]
View PostWhere’s the Reserve?
February 15, 2013
5 years ago it was merchant account sales. These days it’s all about the average daily ending balance in the business bank account. As the alternative business lending industry evolved, so too did the criteria to qualify, and nothing is more important now than historical cash flow. I spent a lot of time underwriting MCAs [...]
Why Do Restaurants Fail?
February 14, 2013
There is a long standing belief that restaurants fail at the rate of 90% in the first year of operation. That myth was promulgated by a “rock star” chef entertainer in the 1990s and spread like an e-virus around the country. The truth according to academic studies performed at Cornell University, the University of Tennessee [...]
How Much Capital Do I Need?
February 12, 2013
Reason #1 for failure of a restaurant is undercapitalization. That can mean anything from not having enough funds to complete the start up phase required to open, to insufficient reserve to provide funds for operating costs until profitable. As a culinary instructor in a prestigious Charleston college, I was always taken back when my culinary [...]
