The best-laid plan(s)…

It was so exciting to finish the business plan last week and get it ready to share with my new SCORE mentor, Steve. I had it looking so professional and complete. He said it was the most well-researched business plan he has seen and was particularly impressed with my level of detail, "especially for a nurse".

I guess we aren't known to function at this professional level in general society; my nurse friends, we can change this, but that is another blog post.

“Let us never consider ourselves finished nurses. We must be learning all of our lives.” ~Florence Nightingale

As Steve and I get through my pitch, he informs me that I will need to separate the business plan into 2 unique ones as I have 2 companies. There is a holding company for the land and buildings, LLL Holdings; and then Prosper in Peace is the operating company. So, I then set out to separate the plan into 2.

This proved to not be as easy as it sounds, as all of the finances had to be separated also, new loan terms figured, assets split, etc. Basically, all of the 11 pages of the spreadsheet had to be refigured twice to create a copy for each. Thank goodness for Eileen's help creating the new ones and we finished them in time to meet with my Business Development Officer from Prestamos.

"I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." ~ Thomas Jefferson

This was my first official meeting with a lender and it went well! He likes the idea (from personal experience, he understands the struggle of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's). He also felt I have solid plans in place. Our next steps are for him to send me a list of necessary items to send with my application packet, I submit those items, and then he will take it to his underwriters and community development partners to see what they can do and he will let me know.

It was such a good meeting and although I was nervous at first, once I started discussing Prosper in Peace, I felt at ease and presented myself and the business very well. I had answers to all the questions he asked and he only had to make 2 suggestions to my calculations, which increase the amount of loan I would need but if he wants to offer me more money, why would I refuse? Those Shark Tank episodes are a great coach!

"I always say don't make plans, make options." ~Jennifer Aniston

Tomorrow I meet with lender #2.

I attended a couple of seminars last week. One was excellent information on how to use Social Media for your business and broke it down into different strategies for each platform. Very informative and useful for anyone with a web presence. I am so fortunate to be connected with all of this free information about everything business-related. I am learning so much!

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.“ ~Robert Louis Stevenson

I received the survey report and will be working with Tom on completing the map for the county pre-application. Depending on how the week goes with the lender requests, I may get to finish the county paperwork this week. If not, it will be on next week's to-do list.

Our Official Survey Report

Revised Bedroom/bathroom combinations in main house

Tom also submitted a couple of design revisions on the buildings to me. I am the one who put together the floor plans for the buildings and I inadvertently cut the bathrooms slightly small for ADA compliance so he fixed it for me. We are looking for a local architect that will be willing to work with Tom on the official drawings. I am excited to see what opportunity the universe brings me in this regard.

I attended the Spotlight networking event and met up with some of the staff at Brookdale, which will be one of my most closely aligned competitors. Their sales staff agreed to give me a tour of their facility so I am excited to get that set up and see what they offer. It is very kind of them to let me tour and a great opportunity to build relationships with those with who I will share referrals when we are fully occupied.

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” ~Oprah Winfrey

Saving some GREAT news for last…we received another $1000 pledge this week! That puts our total at $3830 in pledges. Even though we likely aren't going to go full-on Crowdfunding, we may need these donations to hit our lender threshold for owner contributions. I am grateful for those that believe in this cause enough to donate; it absolutely warms my heart.

So much progress, so much left to do….I must run now. I can't wait to share the news of the lenders with you in the next post.