I received an e-mail for a colleague who had a referral that they could not handle and was requesting that if possible could I assist them. They were looking for assistance immediately.
I was curious and I had an office day scheduled, so I accepted.
This couple in Wisconsin was looking at purchasing a froyo franchise, and they wanted someone independent to look over their 10 year cash flow projection. What could possibly go wrong there…
When I talked to them over the phone, I mentioned that a 10 year projection on a new enterprise was not something to be readily relied upon. Hell, I have been in business for years and I would not want to live or die by what I would be able to pull together on my business.
We also discussed price, I figured that I would do analysis for a half hour and I offer them a written report. They stated that they wanted a verbal report instead.
Now, the thoughts that I have in my mind is what is there location going to be? For a retail operation location is key, and then what would their rent be.
What kind of waste amount did they have built in for their cost of goods sold, for give aways, drops and spoilage?
What would their marketing plan be and how much would they be spending. How would they be dragging customers into their lair?
But, then they never sent over the documents, I expect that they were working on a shoestring budget and decided it was cheaper to not spend $200 to have someone review their work. Or maybe they did find someone in Wisconsin to assist them. But if they had someone what was I the second contact for them in Illinois?