My Dream

Despite my debts, I continue to dream of owning my own business. I wrote about a trip I took to small town near the Kansas-Nebraska border last weekend. Perhaps some of you missed it. Perhaps, the post didn't interest you that day.

This is something that will not die. Most all of us fantasize about owning our own business, but then the thoughts go away and thats the end of. For me, there is no question, that I have the heart of an entrepreneur, as I can not stop thinking about owning my own business.

So heavy is this on my thoughts, I even went to the Credit Union, where my Emergency Fund/Insurance Savings is to see about getting a loan to pay off all my small debts and the IRS and allow them to automatically deduct like $30/week from the savings to repay the loan. Since I have $50 direct deposited into this account every week I would have the funds for this, plus enough to pay my insurance premiums every quarter.

They however as soon as they pulled my credit didn't want to talk to me or to see my plan. The reason? Because my FICO is now at an all time low. According to Experian it was 535 and for them to do any type of loan, it must be at 550.

Oh, well. I still believe I can get the small debts paid off by the end of the year, Then next year, I can wake up the IRS and work on getting them paid off by the end of the year.

As for my dream, it is my hope that I can accomplish the dream with venture capital rather then loans anyway.

My dream is to own a chain of grocery stores, convenience stores and maybe even liquor stores.

Good or Bad..I Looked At Buying A Store

I drove to the little tiny town of Wetmore, Kansas on Saturday. The goal? To look at reopening the towns only grocery store. I did have some problems with some of the information. However, for the right person it might work. It would take someone with the cash, or the ability to raise $100,000 in venture capital to get the store reopened.

The previous owner, who is in the middle of a divorce, walked away because of the marriage problems. He was the only employee and was retired military, so therefore he considered it to be a service to the town rather then a money making venture.

For me, it would have to be a money maker and I am just not sure I can do it. The other thing is if I bring in partners via venture capital, it would be even more difficult for me to make it work.


Since this store would basically have to be rebuilt, you would be talking $30,000 to buy a local building (a bargain compared to bigger towns), $10,000-$20,000 for fixtures (Shelving, coolers, etc) and then another $30,000 to get the initial stock. That's $80,000 and you haven't even opened the doors yet.

I have longed dream of owning my own business, and still would like to. However, is this the right one?