Adding, Subtracting & Crunching the Numbers

In January 2018, we rolled out our first Cheezer with chicken as the main ingredient.  We been getting asked more & more frequently about chicken at the markets, so we came up a new Cheezer of the Month.  "Cluck Norris," featured a grilled Chicken Breast with homemade BBQ sauce, fresh red Coleslaw, Swiss & Provolone.

With my folks out as financial backers on the shop we needed to make as much as we could.  So, Kate & I decided to go back to doing apartment complexes on Tuesdays.  It was a short 3-4 hour setup, where could make a few hundred bucks on a good day.  That gave us six setups each week with Friday's open for catering or other pop-up gigs if they would arise.

We also discontinued our internet at home & stopped going out to eat in OB every Monday.  I started riding my bike to the beautiful Point Loma library to use their internet & work on a business plan to try & secure a loan. 

I had already ordered as much of the large kitchen appliances that we needed for the shop (besides the exhaust hood).  The interior walls were painted Pacific Coast Blue with the rest of the paint I had left. 

Now, we were waiting on Chris, our architect, (who we'd already paid nearly in full) to get our building plans stamped so we could hire & contractor & get started with the buildout.  

I had emailed, spoken over the phone &/or met in person with close to ten area contractors & had gotten bids ranging from $125K-$250K.  Luke's first sticker shock bid in December 2017 turned out to be median par for the course.

Bottom Line:  We were gonna need some serious moolah.  

We kept to the market grind, making small tweaks to entice more customers: adding several Breakfast Cheezers to the lineup at our morning markets (a.k.a. the Donnie Special, Hashy Larry & Cheezy Like a Sunday Morning).  

Kate even came up with a new beverage.  We started making our own "Sweet & Creamy Iced Coffees," with Folgers coffee & sweetened condensed milk.  

I spent most Fridays working on our business plan, so I knew just how much money we would need to borrow.  Mondays we went to the beach religiously to sit by the ocean & blow off some steam.