Waiting and Limbo

I am grateful that I have come so far in this process and managed to overcome so many hurdles... but I hate the waiting. I feel adrift.

For a while every hoop I jumped thru had 10 more hoops waiting on the other side. Now the number of hoops is dwindling so while I wait for the HD to process my paperwork, I feel like I should be doing SOMETHING... but there is really only so much I need to do between now and when I hear back from them.

I dropped off the HVAC and hood stuff yesterday (I write everything I do each day down on a pocket calendar so when I talk to people at various agencies I know who and when I last spoke with) and the lady the HD said my packet was on someone's desk for review as of yesterday. They are SO nice down at the Health Department. Anyone who is even considering catering or a day event, it is worthwhile to go down there and pick up the various packets of free information and talk to the people.

How it works at the HD is, they have a long checklist of items you must submit to get your facility remodel approved. As you collect these items you can go in before noon and double check with a plan-checker for free that what you have is correct. Once you have the majority of items checked off, you pay a fee (there is a sliding scale depending on how big your restaurant is. Mine was about $1700) and submit your packet of stuff. Once you've submitted, they have a maximum of 20 days to respond with any needed changes. I submitted on March 2nd.

Once your plan is approved, they stamp it, and then you keep the stamped copy and then submit three copies that they keep on file. Once I have my HD stamped copy, I can make the rounds to Fire, Sewer and Building to get my building permit, signed off on my plumbing and grease trap and then my hood and fire supression system permitted (which apparently takes four weeks).

Meanwhile my contractor can tear out the old bathroom and plumb the space and put the floor back in so the rest of the work can get done. I went to Ace Hardware and made 5 copies, two for me and three for Dave and the subcontractors. I need to call Stan and warn him people will start coming to work on things soon.

I hate the waiting. I will start paying the lease pretty soon (I got a couple of months free). This is why so many restaurants go out of business in their first year. They spend their reserves before they open because getting all of your ducks in a row takes so long. So you spend all of your money on lease and insurance and everything else in the 8 - 12 months it takes to jump thru all of the hoops. And you really have no choice but to sign a lease BEFORE you pay thousands of dollars to get thru all of the various governmental departments. What if you did all that work and then someone else snapped up your space before you could acquire the lease? It is a terrible catch-22.

What I have going for me is 1. The lease is pretty cheap and 2. Because it is a heavy traffic area and I already have many catering gigs booked this year, I should be making at least some money right away. What sucks is 1. I am under funded and 2. I am trying to do this in California where the laws are super not-business-friendly.

Also I learned the other day that the Sunday Farmer's market is pretty well attended. This could be a really good thing if I want to make some extra money opening the coffee shop in the mornings on Sunday. I was thinking I would have to open for the festival Saturdays, but it may be more worthwhile if I do the Sundays. Eventually I hope to have a weekend crew that helps me with these and catering events.

I could look into a booth, and eventually I might, but it would be a whole other set of permits and licenses.

I really need to remember to go down to the Pleasant Hill City Hall next week and either renew my business license or pay the fees and things. I was going to let it lapse since I don't have anything big on the calendar until May and I will need to go get the business license in Martinez before I can open. I suppose I could also go look into business insurance just in case something were to happen during the building process. Only none of my stuff is in there yet?

I also need to meet with my payroll company to set Stein and I up. I should check with Tim and see if he is still available to be my prep-dishwasher guy?

See how the brain... it just spins and spins. And the quiet waiting spaces makes the spinning worse. But, the nice thing is, I have gotten a lot done. I still have fire, building and sewer to go, but I spoke to most of them prior to getting started to run my plans by them and got their input, and the buidling dept sounds like once you get thru the Health Department their process is pretty simple (knock on wood). And while I will need the Fire inspector to sign off before I open, we can do much of the work prior to that.

I just wish I knew WHEN. When can I get started? I miss the kitchen so much. I feel like I am sitting on my ass getting fat while my brain vegetates. I am trying to think of it as the resting time before I leap out of the gate raring to go. But OMFG it is boring.