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

[BorderBits]

I'd prefer not to advertise the fact that there are no hookah bars in my city.  Thanks for the suggestion though.

What does that even mean?  If you opened the bar, would you also prefer not to advertise that there's only one in town? If you would be successful, you would see competition fairly soon anyways.  You're going to want to create a buzz (no pun intended) long before the grand opening.  What better way than getting to know your clientele with a grass-roots funding effort that essentially would bring in free money?  A friend of mine just opened a microbrewery this way.  They raised enough funds to buy equipment to begin brewing very small batches.  Through their funding efforts they made connections with most bar owners in a small college town who agreed to carry their beer on tap if they got funded and started producing.  They got funded, started brewing, and then showed what they had done to a bank who gave them a very large loan to expand the operation due to increased demand.  Within a little over a year, they are already in the process of a third expansion in order to become distributed regionally.  Point being, a good idea with grass-roots community involvement can be very successful and build a loyal base before even lighting up that first hookah.  

How much did he raise initially, if you don't mind me asking?  And how long did it take?

I believe their goal was $15k and by the time the kickstarter ended (I think they usually last for 60 days or so), they had raised nearly double that. 

[dank]

Thanks, I will consider it.

[TheBible]

Thanks, I will consider it.

If your plan is foolproof, as you believe it is, why not just go to a real bank with it?  They love making money; once they see your master plan, they'll shower you in it.

[repentance]

I've been playing anywhere from 3-6 hours daily, recently.  I guess I'll have to post some more samples tomorrow.

How many hours are you spending each day on getting your hookah bar happening?  It's not going to be opening this year unless you start putting some serious time and effort into it. 

[TheBible]

I've been playing anywhere from 3-6 hours daily, recently.  I guess I'll have to post some more samples tomorrow.

How many hours are you spending each day on getting your hookah bar happening?  It's not going to be opening this year unless you start putting some serious time and effort into it. 

He hasn't even contacted the real estate agent yet.  He did try twice, though.

[greyhawk]

Dank, you practice as much in a month as Jimi did on a one-string guitar in a day, maybe two.  Eddie Van Halen played guitar daily since age 4.  Do you see how there's a enormous difference in drive and determination between you and the masters?

And then there's the thing, where Hendrix had been playing the ukulele for 10 years before he even ever got his first guitar.

[Monster-Ant]

"At age 15, around the time his mother died, Hendrix acquired his first acoustic guitar for $5 from an acquaintance of his father.... Learning "by ear" by spending "hours and hours" with the one-string instrument, "playing single notes, [Hendrix] still followed along to a couple of Elvis Presley songs on the radio." He learned to play guitar by continuing to apply himself. Daily, he practised for several hours, watched others, got tips from more experienced guitarists, and listened to Ernestine Benson's blues records by Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson and other artists."

Biggest difference right here.

Dank, by the time you actually get off your ass, someone else will have opened a hookah bar, or the local laws will have changed to completely forbid them, or the sun will have burned out.

You claim to be spending 6-8 hours a day on your guitar.

How much time are you spending on your business?

[Jovi]

As someone who knows people due to the business I am in, a good friend of mine runs a hookah lounge. If you would like, I could share a bit of insight on the business if you want.

[greyhawk]

Charlene! Get me another round of popcorn and beer!

[dank]

As someone who knows people due to the business I am in, a good friend of mine runs a hookah lounge. If you would like, I could share a bit of insight on the business if you want.

I'd love that, you can PM me if you'd like.

"At age 15, around the time his mother died, Hendrix acquired his first acoustic guitar for $5 from an acquaintance of his father.... Learning "by ear" by spending "hours and hours" with the one-string instrument, "playing single notes, [Hendrix] still followed along to a couple of Elvis Presley songs on the radio." He learned to play guitar by continuing to apply himself. Daily, he practised for several hours, watched others, got tips from more experienced guitarists, and listened to Ernestine Benson's blues records by Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson and other artists."

Biggest difference right here.

Dank, by the time you actually get off your ass, someone else will have opened a hookah bar, or the local laws will have changed to completely forbid them, or the sun will have burned out.

You claim to be spending 6-8 hours a day on your guitar.

How much time are you spending on your business?

How do you translate 3-6 hours to 6-8?  And how is it relevant to my hookah lounge?

[jwzguy]

But damned if this isn't exactly what to expect from a libertarian leaning community.  Bitcoin was already a joke, but you dank, are the punchline.

Now that's the type of horseshit I expect to be reading from TheBible!
Thanks for outing yourself!

[the_thing]

But damned if this isn't exactly what to expect from a libertarian leaning community.  Bitcoin was already a joke, but you dank, are the punchline.

Now that's the type of horseshit I expect to be reading from TheBible!
Thanks for outing yourself!

+1


Also, Dank, I suggest you should lock the thread. Everything has been said.

[dissipate]

But damned if this isn't exactly what to expect from a libertarian leaning community.  Bitcoin was already a joke, but you dank, are the punchline.

Now that's the type of horseshit I expect to be reading from TheBible!
Thanks for outing yourself!

+1


Also, Dank, I suggest you should lock the thread. Everything has been said.

Not everything. Can we get a betsofbitco.in going on the success or failure of Dank's Hookah bar?

[Monster-Ant]

How do you translate 3-6 hours to 6-8?  And how is it relevant to my hookah lounge?

So you're spending 3-6 hours a day on guitar. Since you said you aren't a sponge and aren't living off of your parents, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and figure you have an 8 hour a day job. Add 2 hours for eating, travel to and from work, washing your ass so you don't smell like a bag of hooker assholes left in the sun, and then 8 hours of sleep a night.

18 hours before guitar.
21-24 hours a day after guitar.

So, you are spending between 0 and 3 hours a day working on your hookah lounge?

Dank. Every time I started up a business, much less once I opened it, I spent between 12 and 20 hours a DAY working on that business. Sometimes my schedule was 20 on 8 off 20 on for weeks at a time after opening.

Seriously. Get your priorities straight.

You aren't Jimi Hendrix. I've heard your "playing" and right now you could benefit from some lessons.

You want to build a hookah bar, fine. But take my advice I offered before you just jumped over the shark and over Fonzi on an imaginary rocket-pack.

Stop doing things half-assed. Decide hookah bar or guitar. If it's guitar, get some goddamn lessons. Even Jimi Hendrix, who you seem to have some sort of obsession with, took advice from more experienced people.

That wasn't sitting there listening to them drop nuggets. That was watching them play, asking them advice, and probably them giving him short little lessons right there.

You won't even emulate Jimi Hendrix and listen to more experienced people when it comes to your hookah bar.

I tried giving you advice. I tried treating you like an adult. You preferred to yell "NUH-UH!" MAGIC!" and the power of positive thinking, like that would make up for the hours and hours of work you have ahead of you.

Lots of people have tried to help you.

You're like a guy at the bottom of a well who keeps getting advice, ignoring that advice in order to dig deeper, who is shocked that everyone around the well is now pissing in it.

Take a page from your guitar idol, Jimi, and LISTEN to people with more experience than you.

[dank]

No, that is nothing like what my day looks like.  Nice try.

Taking tips from people != lessons.  I'm down for advice if it comes into my life, I won't go seeking instruction though.  By the way, RIP/happy birthday Jimi.

I'm pretty sure I have acknowledged some advice given in this thread, I don't acknowledge yours because, honestly, you just seem like an angry little man.  Most of what you say though is something like get a job or classes, or something with the similar nature of "you can't do that without 'real' experience and education."

[Monster-Ant]

No, that is nothing like what my day looks like.  Nice try.

Taking tips from people != lessons.  I'm down for advice if it comes into my life, I won't go seeking instruction though.  By the way, RIP/happy birthday Jimi.

I'm pretty sure I have acknowledged some advice given in this thread, I don't acknowledge yours because, honestly, you just seem like an angry little man.  Most of what you say though is something like get a job or classes, or something with the similar nature of "you can't do that without 'real' experience and education."

Dank, this is just another group of excuses.

"Oh, I didn't listen to your advice, even when it was completely nuetral, because you didn't tell me I was special! Oh, I don't take your advice because you didn't coat it in frosting and tell me right off the bat that I'm a special little snowflake!"

You won't seek instruction? You expect people and things to come to you?

And when people who HAVE built businesses come to you and offer advice, you act like a child?

Seriously?

And I'm way off on your day?

Seriously, dude, unless you don't have a job, you aren't putting any time into your hookah lounge.

So, are you going to take ANY advice from this thread? Or only advice from people who blew sunshine up your baby bottom?

And if you think I sound angry, you're in for a hell of time the first time you try to short an employee, or the IRS comes knocking, or a customer gets injured, or a customer isn't pleased with the hovel-tastic decor you're planning.

How's the spreadsheet? Up to 100 lines yet?

[dank]

You won't seek instruction? You expect people and things to come to you?

Yes.  If something comes into my life, I will know that it was meant to come into my life.  It's part of living in the moment.  I will, however, teach myself.

And when people who HAVE built businesses come to you and offer advice, you act like a child?

As someone who knows people due to the business I am in, a good friend of mine runs a hookah lounge. If you would like, I could share a bit of insight on the business if you want.

I'm in contact with someone who has experience in this field.  And they're not being an asshole.

[repentance]

I'm in contact with someone who has experience in this field. 

Good.  You need to talk to as many hookah bar owners as possible and find out what worked for them and what they'd have done differently in hindsight. 

[dank]

Will do.  Just found out, I had a huge mistake in my spreadsheet.  I was calculating monthly expenses into the weekly profit, now that I fixed it, my estimated monthly profit stands at $24,132 from the previous $15,132 figure.  This is with 96 customers/day, or 12-16 people/hour for a two hour session.

[repentance]

Will do.  Just found out, I had a huge mistake in my spreadsheet.  I was calculating monthly expenses into the weekly profit, now that I fixed it, my estimated monthly profit stands at $24,132 from the previous $15,132 figure.  This is with 96 customers/day, or 12-16 people/hour for a two hour session.

You really need to get the information regarding the premises, licences, zoning and stuff.  There's not much point in calculating your projected cash flow and profit if you don't know what your start up costs are going to be with a high degree of accuracy. 

When you're talking to hookah bar owners, get some numbers from them about how much they're spending on complying with health regulations, indoor smoking regulations, wastage/theft/breakage, insurances, etc.  While their numbers won't be exactly the same as yours, at least it will give you some real world figures to put in your spreadsheet so that you can calculate your overheads more accurately.