So there I was in the fun creative early stage of dreaming up WeatherVane Creamery only I didn’t have much more than the coffee part that I originally started with. I think I had heard a request from several people at this point to have “good ice cream” but that was it. And I suspected that coffee and ice cream wouldn’t carry the day financially year round so I was still fishing for something more to beef up the business plan. In any case, I was in Chicago for a class (Landmark Education’s Introduction Leader Program). I had lived in Chicagoland for seven years and had many friends in the area. After a flat tire on Lakeshore Drive, I made my way over to a friends house in a western suburb. She was a shift supervisor that I worked with at Starbucks and her husband owned a business in the town and was a regular customer (Vente Nonfat 1 Pump Sugar Free Vanilla Latte) who I also saw at local business networking events. That night, he and I were talking after his wife went to bed and I told him about my idea to open a coffee shop in River Falls. Immediately he exclaimed “I’m in! I know you will do it, Sarah. I want a piece. How much do you think you will need?” and he threw around some figures that told me that he meant business. He wanted a 30% stake which was exactly the amount of equity that banks like to see to finance the rest. But at this point the idea was not much more than a zygote. He told me to write up a business plan and to come back in six months where we could finalize the paperwork.
Six months later. I have my business plan mostly done. I tied the trip in with Peak Potentials Millionaire Mind Intensive training in Chicago. That was over the weekend and I scheduled my investor lunch for Monday thinking that I would kill it with my new “millionaire mind”. Only, the day before I needed to leave I found out there was a glitch in my unemployment pay for that week. Here it was Wednesday and I had less than $30 to my name. So, I took back a glass creamer bottle for deposit at Dick’s Market. I traded that in with a quarter or something to purchase the latest edition of The River Falls Journal where the article about WeatherVane Creamery was just published. Then I ran over to the Ace Hardware to return a wrench to get $16 back. I used ten of that to get quarters at the bank for tolls. I knew I had enough money to get there. And I remember feeling like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. All I had to do was get to Chicago and my financial worries would be cured between the class and my meeting on Monday. I even threw in my mother’s silver flatware in the trunk in case I had car problems and needed something to pawn. It was surreal. And this story would be remiss if I didn’t mention gratitude for my friend Christian who took out a loan to wire me some money, Maikol for taking care of my parking and meals during the seminar, and an ex boyfriend who gave me $100, stating “After my last divorce, money doesn’t mean anything to me.” Big time thanks to you folks.
Monday comes and I meet my investor at Durty Nellies for lunch in Palatine, IL. I show him my vision board and presentation. He signs my nondisclosure agreement. He looks up wearily towards the end and says “Sarah, you did everything I asked you to. I said six months and here it is six months later. And everything looks great. But my other business partner has been stealing from me and I just found out so I can’t do anything to help you. I am sorry.”
And here is what I think about that: without that initial investor, I wouldn’t have made the business plan. I could tell he felt horrible that day and, surprisingly, I was ok with the news. So many miracles had occurred that weekend to get me there. And my new millionaire mind told me that all I had to do was find another person for which that kind of money was a sneeze. I see it like Dumbo with the magic feather that he told he could fly with, so he did. My investor gave me the momentum to see that my dream could come true and by the time I sat down with him that Monday, I believed it, too- no matter what. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it far enough to be too far to go back. And for that I am grateful.
And please Disney Studios, don’t sue me for using your image. Thank you.