My Financial Black Hole

I literally have a financial black hole in the back of my space.  It’s called a Grease Trap.  The reason why it’s a financial black hole is because the city sewer line was not in the usual place it is supposed to be.  So not only did they have to dig around for it but they ended up finding it underneath the nail salon next door!  Which poses a big problem as well. 

So the last week I have anxiously waiting for them to find it and crossing my fingers that this grease trap project doesn’t financially ruin me before I even open.  There are a lot of worse case scenarios left that really are scaring me…. but what can I do?  my strategy is to try and put it out of my mind and not worry about things I cannot control. 

My original decision to open a bubble tea cafe was partly decided by the fact I would not need one of these gigantic pieces of concrete with antiquated technology.  However as of this past year the local municipality has decided that smoothie shops as well as all coffee shops are required to have one.  After some back and forth with the city health dept, they are still requiring me to install the thing even though I generate almost no grease….<sigh>

So my construction budget has tripled due to the grease trap and the challanges I face.  My original contract amount was a mere $11K… back then I thought that was a lot… now I guess I am numb to it all…  Here is my latest change order….

The only thing I can look at is the bright side… now that I have a grease trap… I can generate as much grease I want to!  So fried food, bbq, grills are all possibilities!  So hopefully once I iron out kinks in my business model with a few months under my belt, I can go ahead and open up a revenue stream for food as well. It will help me recoup some of my losses as well as allow me to pursue my original idea. 

At this point I am quite worried… but there is little I can control.  And I have realized that lack of control in my start up is probably the biggest obstacle I face in my path towards my vision.  Waiting on the approval of the city as well as the health dept and my contractor is the hardest thing for me.  This has strained me… but I know it has made me stronger…. pray for me….