I wish I'd had this forum to read back in 1993 when a "friend" at my favorite indy record store convinced me we'd make a solid profit if I joined up with some other investors to open a CD/record store in Tampa (which grossed over a $M the first year!).
Long story short: lots of money went down the drain, along with toasted friendships, and it's death was drawn-out and painful; we were direct-with-the-majors, letters of credit, etc.
A few pre-investment questions you should answer a hard "yes" to:
- Do you know every single facet of the business you're undertaking?
- Do you have a person/employee in mind you trust explicitly to share the same business philosophy (i.e. won't steal or "give away" merchandise)?
- God forbid, have you established a $ loss figure that, once crossed, will result in immediate store closure....ceasing the bleed-it-forward?
No dream will ever be realized if it isn't acted upon....but also, every dream like this must be able to be unwound.
Best of luck!
Long story short: lots of money went down the drain, along with toasted friendships, and it's death was drawn-out and painful; we were direct-with-the-majors, letters of credit, etc.
A few pre-investment questions you should answer a hard "yes" to:
- Do you know every single facet of the business you're undertaking?
- Do you have a person/employee in mind you trust explicitly to share the same business philosophy (i.e. won't steal or "give away" merchandise)?
- God forbid, have you established a $ loss figure that, once crossed, will result in immediate store closure....ceasing the bleed-it-forward?
No dream will ever be realized if it isn't acted upon....but also, every dream like this must be able to be unwound.
Best of luck!