Paint's done and the counters are ready
Painters finished up today, including priming and repainting the door and garage door that peeled off after the first coat. Looks good, but the carpets are such a mess its hard to tell.
Spent the afternoon at an event put on by out state high tech trade group (Colorado Software and Internet Association) on raising capital. Some interesting stuff. One big take-away was that the rates we pay for hard money, in the teens plus several points, aren't that bad compared to some of the alternatives. As a small business, the only choice you have that's cheaper are commercial bank loans, and you'll only get those with a strong balance sheet, strong cash flow, and a personal guarantee. Everything else -- equipment leases, mezzanine financing, receivables factoring, and any sort of equity deal (angles, VCs, private equity) is going to cost you more. Leases and factoring (essentially getting a loan based on a discounted value of invoices you've billed but not yet received payments for) work out to 20% or so. Equity deals end up giving away a chunk of your company. Really, not too different than the idea that hard money is expensive but a money partner is even more expensive.
As I'm leaving, I get a call from the counter people. "We'll be there at 8:00 AM tomorrow to install your counters." Considering the sink base is still in pieces in my garage, I don't see that working. Rescheduled that for Thursday and left a message for the carpet layers that I'm ready for them.
Picked up the compressor and checked out the paint job. Put the sink base together. I love nail guns! Tomorrow night the base cabinets have to get back in. Just three, plus the end for the dishwasher, so shouldn't be a problem.
After that, only have small items to do.
I've had several calls from the sign already, and at least one person who wants to see it.
Spent the afternoon at an event put on by out state high tech trade group (Colorado Software and Internet Association) on raising capital. Some interesting stuff. One big take-away was that the rates we pay for hard money, in the teens plus several points, aren't that bad compared to some of the alternatives. As a small business, the only choice you have that's cheaper are commercial bank loans, and you'll only get those with a strong balance sheet, strong cash flow, and a personal guarantee. Everything else -- equipment leases, mezzanine financing, receivables factoring, and any sort of equity deal (angles, VCs, private equity) is going to cost you more. Leases and factoring (essentially getting a loan based on a discounted value of invoices you've billed but not yet received payments for) work out to 20% or so. Equity deals end up giving away a chunk of your company. Really, not too different than the idea that hard money is expensive but a money partner is even more expensive.
As I'm leaving, I get a call from the counter people. "We'll be there at 8:00 AM tomorrow to install your counters." Considering the sink base is still in pieces in my garage, I don't see that working. Rescheduled that for Thursday and left a message for the carpet layers that I'm ready for them.
Picked up the compressor and checked out the paint job. Put the sink base together. I love nail guns! Tomorrow night the base cabinets have to get back in. Just three, plus the end for the dishwasher, so shouldn't be a problem.
After that, only have small items to do.
I've had several calls from the sign already, and at least one person who wants to see it.
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