Your other point reminds me of something Lee’s been concerned about for a while – he wants to take out some kind of insurance policy on me, because if what you say above happens, he will be out of business! But he’s been so busy working on my stuff that he hasn’t had time to chase this up yet…

You see, what thought an Investor(s) would consider (Although they may not mention it directly), is what would happen if something would happen to you, as the Brand Carrier.

In our case, if my Lil Korean Dragon Lady and I would happen to be run over by a truck, our stores (Hence, our Brand) could possibly be run by someone else.

However, in your case, the investment would probably be a total loss.

This means… You guessed it. Maximum Risk.

Therefore, your Investor will need the Minimum Amount of Time, to get their investment back (To at least, Breakeven.) before something unforeseen, might happen.

This sounds terrible, but it’s business, not personal.

Anyways, are you guys working on a Business Plan yet?

I have to say that I agree with what you say about investors, which is why we’ve been so reluctant to get any until now. I believe what I have to offer is absolutely unique, so to make the most of it, I really need to do things on my own way. This is something most investors would have a lot of trouble with! But if we self-publish, it would take a very long time to generate the sort of publicity I’d need if we did everything out of our own pockets.

On the other hand, if we really put our minds to it, I’m sure we could come up with ways to generate lots of publicity without having to spend too much money. Right?

I really have to wonder though: how on earth did you get the money together to start your own stores without any investors? Maybe we should make you our investor.

So you’re after investors hey? Welcome To The Land Of Craziness

As you know, my Lil Korean Dragon Lady and I own 5 stores, and getting ready to build a 6th soon. We have actually had investors come to us, twice.

Private investors could have a couple advantages for us, but:

First, I personally built all of these stores with blood, sweat and tears. They’re filled with merchandise my Lil Korean Dragon Lady and I bought ourselves from manufacturers, we work with. Our staff are people we have hired and trained, ourselves, and some of them are very good friends who have hung-in there with us at times.

Secondly, I’m the type who has a lil trouble listening to an Investor(s) who have all of these bright ideas and suggestions, and they haven’t spent a single minute in their lives… working a retail floor.

Third, their return expections are not fitted to the real world of retailing, which takes an undetermined amount of time for a store to build and mature. If I would’ve listened to the first group of investors who rolled out of the wood pile… I wouldn’t have one of my Top Producing Stores, today. Whatever…

Finally, at the same time, if the right Investor(s) come along… We are always ready to chat. But we are also very capable of saying, Thanks… But No Thanks. We really do not need unproductive pressure from Investors. If the right Partnership presents itself, we might consider it.

All that being said, I suggest you guys sit down and design a very specific Business Plan with Strategies, Products, Services, Pricing, Promotional and Branding Tactics, Projections and so forth.

This might help… Investors, Or Not.

Hope it is a lil help.

OldiesLover
A Friend Over @ Scanlover

You may also want to talk to a lawyer or maybe an agent. Unfortunately these ideas will cost some money and I completely understand limited budgets.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.