[dblclik]

Hi,

I am wondering if someone could help point me in the correct direction. I have been on 2 year quest to start and open a retail business. While I know exactly what I want I have hit many road blocks and have been exploring how best to move foward.

What does one do when they need to raise upwards of 250,000 of capital to raise money for advanced pre-planning. Not opening up... not operating.. simple planning and reasearch.

I have approched several diffrent entities to help me develop my ideas and all the proffessionals are wanting pre-planning dollars of course. Simply put it won't be possible to be creative and unique and open this concept store without the use of many diffrent professional firms.

Growthink business planning/feesabilty study - 35,000
Retail branding and planning - 65,000
Building construction design planning - 50,000-60000

Simply put.. without all this professional planning i won't be able to ever properly present my retail concept idea and pitch it foward to the correct investors. I have a vision and a will to get accomplished.

While I have this kind of money to put down into my business. I personaly would rather borrow for the planning stages and pay off the loan + 20% at after the next group of investors have been found and I can move foward to startup and building stage.

[CIsaac]

You are in a tough spot because you would have to solidify your business idea and position. If you are in the planning stages but show that you are evolving, you might find yourself in a better position. (i.e: you're better off looking for a building, finding one that will suit the business, getting a graphic design group to design the building on paper, then taking that building as designed on paper, with the address and architectural structuring to an investor vs. telling them that you want a specific kind of building and this is how much it would cost. You know?)

Depending on your state, I would search for a community development corporation or research your state or city government to see if they have a developmental program in place for certain targeted areas and what their process is for submitting proposals. (i.e. a client of mine was able to find a building that her city was giving away for free for 3 years; she only had to submit a proposal and design it the way they wanted). Also, you can find a designer to do some quick work for you for less than 1K (not going to be exact but will help until you can get the funding to go into more detail).

Then again it all depends on your state...I would start with steps to achieve everything. Good luck!

[dblclik]

It's very hard to determin the building space requirments without the use of professionals to do so. The designers have stated that estimates of space requirments are upwards of 200,000 square feet or more may be needed. With a project estimated cost of 10,000,000. However there is to much that has to be pin pointed defined and worked out with design and branding professionals to get to the end result. The plans and presentations have to be developed to be presented to several diffrent business and venture capitalists to get the support needed to prove this concept. I know what I need to do to make the business work. Just not sure the best way to acheive it. There are so many diffrent elements that need to be combined, examined and worked over in hard details in order to begin to properly move foward.

Finding a building that already exsits that can be used will be virtually impossible. I can of course find a building to start and grow in however the downside to it is that the design, branding, and concept will constantly need to be evlovled and finding a building that will suit the needs of my business that will allow it to grow will be impossible.

I may be able to get up and going have looked at several diffrent options to do so however at the end of the day they didn't have the momentium to move me foward to the next step.

I will try to explore the information that you gave me to the best of my ability. This is why i am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[meaghannf]

If you truly feel your business has a lot of growth potential and are willing to take some risks, you might consider applying for a small business loan to get your project to the point where it is attractive to investors. You'll have a hard time getting money from people who are only going to be paying for the initial set up and planning. If you prove, however, that you believe in your idea enough to take out a loan, and get the project started, not only will you be on your way to making your retail business a reality but you'll also have something more to show potential investors. Good luck!