3000-6000 BTC loan - Hookah Lounge - 9/18/12 Update

[repentance]

I've started a "start up costs" spreadsheet dank.  You need to research some costs and fill in the numbers.  Many of the line items will need to be expanded.  For instance, you'll need to create a new line item for each individual thing which fits under "internal construction", "fittings", "office equipment", "crockery", "appliances", etc.

In many cases, you'll need to make decisions and do some research before you can fill in the line items. For instance, if you're going to aim at the Middle Eastern market you'll need to decide how many different coffee blends you're going to offer and cost those (as well as cost crockery specific to serving that style of coffee).

Pricing internal constructions and fittings will take a considerable amount of research and you'll need accurate plans to do it properly as well as plans for how how you want it fitted out.  Things such as where the plumbing is located will affect your design options.

http://www.2shared.com/file/-C10RZA6/dank.html

[TheBible]

I will prove you wrong, just as I have been doing to this very day.

Have you now?  Are you a rock star yet?  How is Dank Glass doing?  Your driving service?  Your business building structures for seasteading?

Boy, you sure showed us.

[dank]

Please stay on topic, heatstroke.

Thank you repentance, I'll look at it, even though I've already begun a budget sheet.  I can merge the two.

Stick to the graphics man, it is a trade that has demand and something you seem good at. Forget this other daydream bullshit.
You could easily leverage your talent with graphics into a business, I need banners and squeezepages made all the time for affiliate stuff I do.
You could make even more loot if you are able to split the images up / do website code css stuff.

Setup a website, get a gallery/portfolio on show, figure out how to take payments & change the attitude you have toward deadlines

No, thank you.  I have more potential than being a graphic designer.  That's just not what I want to do.  It's a nice side job.  I used to code websites along with graphic work, don't feel the drive to anymore, though.

Rurry, I will buy some nice wall tapestries and different furniture for the themes.  Perhaps install a laser machine or two for performances and such.  Will add furnishings to the budget as I look further into them.

TheBible, Dank Bank is still operating, is it not?  You're not very patient, I haven't reached my long term goals but I'm on track for them.

[Monster-Ant]

No, thank you.  I have more potential than being a graphic designer.  That's just not what I want to do.

I take it what you want to do is be homeless? Or working retail for minimum wage and being abused by customers?

You have graphic design talent, and you're just going to piss it away while you chase something you don't have the knowledge or intelligence to pursue?

Hey, in a year, can you post in the lending forum: "Need .1BTC for new cardboard box!"

[repentance]

Rurry, I will buy some nice wall tapestries and different furniture for the themes.  Perhaps install a laser machine or two for performances and such.  Will add furnishings to the budget as I look further into them.

Make sure you check your local fire code requirements before getting your heart set on specific decorative items.  There are usually limits to the amount of combustible stuff you can have in a area which is open to the public.  Also check your local EPA and OHS requirements.  Laser light shows need to be set up in a specific way to minimise the chance of vision damage to the audience and the performers.  Your insurance will not cover you if you fail to apply accepted safety standards.

[Monster-Ant]

Rurry, I will buy some nice wall tapestries and different furniture for the themes.  Perhaps install a laser machine or two for performances and such.  Will add furnishings to the budget as I look further into them.

Make sure you check your local fire code requirements before getting your heart set on specific decorative items.  There are usually limits to the amount of combustible stuff you can have in a area which is open to the public.  Also check your local EPA and OHS requirements.  Laser light shows need to be set up in a specific way to minimise the chance of vision damage to the audience and the performers.  Your insurance will not cover you if you fail to apply accepted safety standards.

Why are you spreading misinformation and negativity in this thread?

Dank doesn't have to do any of that, he will look further into everything later.

GIVE HIM MONEY BECAUSE... umm... BTCBBTCIBTCTBTCCBTCOBTCIBTCNBTC?BTC

[repentance]

Why are you spreading misinformation and negativity in this thread?

Dank doesn't have to do any of that, he will look further into everything later.

GIVE HIM MONEY BECAUSE... umm... BTCBBTCIBTCTBTCCBTCOBTCIBTCNBTC?BTC

Because it's an overcast Thursday afternoon and I'm bored, and there's a certain appeal in trying to turn a flawed concept into a workable project (I wish to hell logansryche's theatre dream could have been brought to reality because I would have loved to be part of renovating an old theatre but you would have needed to make it a bigger project and develop an entertainment precinct around the theatre to make it viable and that's not the kind of thing you can do from another continent when none of the groundwork has been done).

If nothing else, dank might learn how to properly cost an idea and how to do a feasibility study - which are skills he'll need to acquire if he has larger dreams for the future.

[BorderBits]

I used to code websites along with graphic work, don't feel the drive to anymore, though.

So what happens when you lose the drive to work your ass off the 70-100 hours/week it takes to successfully start new business?  Seeing as how you have nothing to lose besides getting a scammer tag on a forum, why would anyone invest in someone with such fickle drive? 

[dank]

I used to code websites along with graphic work, don't feel the drive to anymore, though.

So what happens when you lose the drive to work your ass off the 70-100 hours/week it takes to successfully start new business?  Seeing as how you have nothing to lose besides getting a scammer tag on a forum, why would anyone invest in someone with such fickle drive? 

I simply don't want to sit on a computer all day typing code.  I've done enough of that.  I have nothing to lose?  You serious?  This hookah business is the foundation for my life, it's a stepping stone to my dreams.

[Monster-Ant]

I simply don't want to sit on a computer all day typing code.

Let me guess, you feel that people who work shit jobs want to, or deserve it in life, or are bad people.

Nobody WANTS to sit there, 40-70 hours a week, punching code for someone else and making just above minimum wage, or abused by a company like EA.

Do what you're good at, otherwise you won't make any money.

  I've done enough of that.

You're 18. How long have you done punching code?

  I have nothing to lose?  You serious?

What are you going to lose? Seriously, what are you going to lose?

  This hookah business is the foundation for my life, it's a stepping stone to my dreams.

OK, the thing is, YOU DON'T OWN THIS TO LOSE IT!

You refuse to take advice. You refuse to do any real work.

How are you even still alive? How did you not stick your head in a hive of bees?

Between your "strong soul" crap, your just world beliefs, and your abysmal efforts that seem to consists of nothing more than 10 minutes of work, I'm amazed that you even bother getting out of bed and are potty trained.

[repentance]

I simply don't want to sit on a computer all day typing code.  I've done enough of that.  I have nothing to lose?  You serious?  This hookah business is the foundation for my life, it's a stepping stone to my dreams.

I think his point was that in the last twelve months you've regarded half a dozen different enterprises as the "foundation for your life" and you've abandoned all of them quickly.  Where are you going to draw the sustained commitment it would take to see this project through from when you haven't seen through any of your other ideas about which you were passionate?  What happens when you've "had enough of" this project?  

It's one thing to abandon a project when it no longer excites you if you're risking your own money.  It's another thing entirely to have to make yourself continue putting 80 hours a week plus into a project you've had enough of because you need to pay back the people who funded your dream.

Do what you're good at, otherwise you won't make any money.

I only agree with this up to a point.  Many people are good at things they absolutely loathe (myself included), but few people are good at only one thing.  The trick is to find something you're good at and find aspects of it you don't loathe or to think laterally about how your skill-sets can be expanded and applied to something you don't loathe.  At 18, you haven't even begun to develop your skill-sets.  You don't have any idea of all the things you'll be good at or all the things you might love/hate doing because you haven't yet had the opportunity to get out there and try them.

I've taken "for now" jobs which have taken me in totally new directions which I wouldn't have previously considered.  I've taken "dream jobs" which I've absolutely loathed.  Opportunity doesn't knock once, it will fucking bowl you over once you get out of the mentality that the only thing standing between you and staggering success is lack of capital.

[smracer]

How are you even still alive? How did you not stick your head in a hive of bees?

Hilarious.

[BorderBits]

This hookah business is the foundation for my life, it's a stepping stone to my dreams.

If you were serious in the least bit, you'd go out and start getting experience in the service industry.  How would you open a business without even knowing what a workday is?  Without ever professionally communicating with the public?  If you come across in-person like you do in this forum, how could you be trusted to be the public face of a business?  If you've never managed other people, you have not even begun to develop a leadership style.  How do you think you would recruit and retain quality employees when you have absolutely no clue what to look for in an employee and how they might mesh with you?  

[dank]

I simply don't want to sit on a computer all day typing code.

Let me guess, you feel that people who work shit jobs want to, or deserve it in life, or are bad people.

Nobody WANTS to sit there, 40-70 hours a week, punching code for someone else and making just above minimum wage, or abused by a company like EA.

Do what you're good at, otherwise you won't make any money.

 I've done enough of that.

You're 18. How long have you done punching code?

 I have nothing to lose?  You serious?

What are you going to lose? Seriously, what are you going to lose?

 This hookah business is the foundation for my life, it's a stepping stone to my dreams.

OK, the thing is, YOU DON'T OWN THIS TO LOSE IT!

You refuse to take advice. You refuse to do any real work.

How are you even still alive? How did you not stick your head in a hive of bees?

Between your "strong soul" crap, your just world beliefs, and your abysmal efforts that seem to consists of nothing more than 10 minutes of work, I'm amazed that you even bother getting out of bed and are potty trained.

You don't do what you're good at, or what others tell you you're good at, you do what makes you happy.  Life isn't about money.

I used to design games and javascript codes when I was younger.  Didn't feel like it was for me, good experience though.

You think I don't do real work because it's not done the way you want it to.  You know nothing about how much work, or thought, I put into things.

I simply don't want to sit on a computer all day typing code.  I've done enough of that.  I have nothing to lose?  You serious?  This hookah business is the foundation for my life, it's a stepping stone to my dreams.

I think his point was that in the last twelve months you've regarded half a dozen different enterprises as the "foundation for your life" and you've abandoned all of them quickly.  Where are you going to draw the sustained commitment it would take to see this project through from when you haven't seen through any of your other ideas about which you were passionate?  What happens when you've "had enough of" this project?  

It's one thing to abandon a project when it no longer excites you if you're risking your own money.  It's another thing entirely to have to make yourself continue putting 80 hours a week plus into a project you've had enough of because you need to pay back the people who funded your dream.

Anything I said before the last four months should be disregarded, I've changed a lot as a person.  I've abandoned hundreds of ideas for 'success' over my life, but only for better ones.  I do hope to get the lounge to a point where I can hire a manager and lay back on the work, but I'm fully committed to get it to that point of sustainability.

This hookah business is the foundation for my life, it's a stepping stone to my dreams.

If you were serious in the least bit, you'd go out and start getting experience in the service industry.  How would you open a business without even knowing what a workday is?  Without ever professionally communicating with the public?  If you come across in-person like you do in this forum, how could you be trusted to be the public face of a business?  If you've never managed other people, you have not even begun to develop a leadership style.  How do you think you would recruit and retain quality employees when you have absolutely no clue what to look for in an employee and how they might mesh with you?  

Let's see, I can waste time earning minimum wage, getting 'experience', or I can just start my business and get experience.  I'm quite sure I know how to communicate to other humans, thanks for your concern.  Do leaders work for other people or do they lead for their selves?  I'm also very confident in my ability to look into potential employees.

By the way, I have one investor that will put $5000 towards the business, if the loan can be fulfilled.

[repentance]

You're planning on having this up and running by the end of the year, right?  If someone gave you $20,000 tomorrow to kick-start this, what are you actually ready to go ahead with?  Have you even rung the real estate agent and found out what documentation you'd need to supply in order to put in an application to lease the premises?

When's your meeting with your lawyer, by the way?  And when are you meeting with an accountant?

[BorderBits]

 I'm quite sure I know how to communicate to other humans, thanks for your concern.  

Actually, it's quite obvious from just your forum posts that you don't have good interpersonal communication skills. 

[BorderBits]

Let's see, I can waste time earning minimum wage, getting 'experience', or I can just start my business and get experience.  

No, you can't.  You'll be wasting (your investor's) time and money learning the most basic things.  You'd probably waste an hour mopping because you don't know how to do it properly to get it done in 10 minutes. 

[dank]

You're planning on having this up and running by the end of the year, right?  If someone gave you $20,000 tomorrow to kick-start this, what are you actually ready to go ahead with?  Have you even rung the real estate agent and found out what documentation you'd need to supply in order to put in an application to lease the premises?

When's your meeting with your lawyer, by the way?  And when are you meeting with an accountant?

I would say wait another week or until I'm ready to actually put the funds to use.  I talked to my lawyer today, received his support.  Will talk to agent this week, hopefully and work on my business plan over the weekend.

[Rarity]

Could you tell us in detail what your lawyer said, or even ask him to write something out for us for the potential investors to evaluate?  I think you can do this without violating your paranoia about revealing what state you are located in.  

[repentance]

I would say wait another week or until I'm ready to actually put the funds to use.  I talked to my lawyer today, received his support.  Will talk to agent this week, hopefully and work on my business plan over the weekend.

Lawyers aren't there to give you their "support".  They're there to advise you on any legal issues associated with your proposed venture.  If you're paying your lawyer to handle all of the licensing, permits, etc, then he'll need to gather more information before it's certain your proposal will be able to proceed and he'll charge you by the hour for doing that.

When you talk to the real estate agent, make sure that you ask about any limitations on the purposes for which the premises can be used.  You especially need to know whether it can be used for food and beverage service, indoor smoking and live entertainment.  Even if the real estate agent says it can, you need to double check that information with whoever approves business zoning in your city and make sure that you fully understand any conditions which might be attached to such uses - not just licences and permits, but also physical modifications you might have to make to the premises such as installing toilets, creating exits, installing independent air-conditioning, special waste management, noise-proofing, etc in order to get approval for operating your business from those premises.

Do you know what the premises were previously used for?