The Situation

THE SITUATION

The situation:

As many of you know, I’ve been working on creating another theatre in Columbia. This theater would show older films—in that they have previously opened before 2000—and serve beers, liquors, and some food items. The idea helps me to apply myself in a position that I feel would make me happy. Be my own boss, work towards something artistic, and own my own business. In today’s market, it seems that ownership is where the strength is: owning property, houses, and businesses (successful). Columbia has only 3 theatres, and two of them are mainstream. With the closure of the Missouri Theatre for renovations, and the Ragtag doing the same thing they always do, there perhaps is a strong market for all of this. There are several things that have happened in recent weeks that have put things in perspectives. I call them The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good

Two days ago, I was told by Carrie Gartner (District City Planner) to call a Mark that owns places downtown. Though the place that he wanted me to look at was north of Broadway (something I’ve been trying to avoid, in fear that it is out of walking distance of the University of Missouri) I called him anyway and took a look. The building he owns is an old warehouse, located right next to the new artist studios (he also owns them) and a rubble pile (which he’ll turn into a parking lot.) He has offered me a substantial portion of this 10,000 square foot building, enough to house my entire theatre. On top of that, his rent is considerably cheaper than the other locations. After meeting with him, he sounded at the very least, interested in the possibility of having this theatre as part of his complex, and wanted to hear more from me. I told him that I would come up with a sample floor plan, and get back with him this coming week. He sounded happy to hear that. In terms of steps, this is getting much closer to the goal of actually having things place. On top of all this, the business plan is coming along, although there are large holes that still need to be filled.

The Bad

Some of these holes can’t be filled until other things are paid for. It is impossible to get exact prices of alcohol without owning a business license or a liquor license. To get a business license, one must have an LLC, or equivalent to start that process. To get all these things, I will need money. Though I can afford the LLC, the other things will start to build up. Per what I assume most people do, these costs are factored into the business load, which comes from a bank of sorts. That is a step that I would take once I’m sure that this was something I was sure will happen. The problem here, again, is that these people that I talked to last week are most likely going to want an answer some time soon, with regards to their building. I know that they aren’t really close to getting ready for construction, but I assume that they are interested in getting factors known as soon as possible. This puts pressure on me to make a decision.

Along with that, I am having considerable trouble trying to decide how the layout of the place should be. Our original idea was to have small tables in from of the theatre seats for people to put their food and drinks. This somewhat implies that when you come in, you should be eating something. I certainly hope that people want to eat things, and that is how I will stay in business. The problem is that the tables take up way too much room, in terms of floor space. If I am to put table in, they will reduce the amount of people that I can have in, or it will force me to change the floor plan to take up more space. I’m not sure the renters are interested in that. If I don’t have tables (the current floor plan) then I need to find some way to make sure that people know they should order food, and more to the point, are able to eat it back at their seats without spilling all over themselves. We’ve toyed with the idea that everything, including food, would be served in cups, or some sort of bowl. I wonder if that’ll work. Is it a gimmick that’ll catch on?

The Ugly

Reid was offered an increase in his salary to move to St. Louis. He accepted the offer, and is in the process of moving out there. The company that he works for has not yet made the offer in writing, so nothing stands as solid at the moment. However, he is confident that the move will take place, and that for the time being, he is going to move out there. The amount of money they have offered him will surpass what I can estimate on paper that he would be making at the theatre. He has been through hell these past few weeks and even more so with the last 10 days.

When talking to the owners of the place I looked at last week, I kept saying “my business partner,” knowing very well that there is a good chance that in one month, I will not have a business partner, much less someone to live with this next fall (I want to stay in the same place.) I can’t put pressure on Reid to decide what he’s going to do; that’s unfair. I can’t rely on him, though, to be there if this thing actually starts taking off. It’s a battle for the “Better Deal,” it seems, and time is counting down. And even if I can prove that the theatre would work, I would not expect him to take my offer over that which his current employer has offered him.

Where does this leave me? I know for sure that I can’t do this alone. I can manage something like this, and if I hired some people to work for me, I could probably do it. But now I’m looking at researching all of this by myself. I would never expect, or even ask Reid to give up what he was offered, but I don’t deny my selfish interest to keep him here in Columbia to work with me.

I meet with the owners of the location some time this week to show them my floor plan, and perhaps talk more about the concept.

So, what should I do?