Mistake 1: It Always Takes Longer than You Think
Even before we closed on the space, Pete was in touch with a friend who was a contractor to get estimates and a timeline for the work. His friend said we’d be ready to go by the 4th of July weekend. Despite the fact that we’d miss June, an important month for an ice cream parlor, Pete convinced me that it would be OK. After all, we were primarily a video store and were planning on selling ice cream only to increase the amount of the average sale. Plus, Pete really seemed on top of things. He was in control, and I sat back, impressed.
The First Cracks of the Hometown Partnership
Hometown Video and Ice Cream Parlor opened, and we were hopeful that our mistakes were behind us. The first few days were promising – there was a steady stream of business. We were even close to breaking even the first week. Everyone was happy. We figured that we’d soon be profitable and planning our expansion.
