BurgerIM
“The SBDC were the only ones I could count on. I had to pay my lawyer and everyone else, but I didn’t have to pay the SBDC.”
Before a series of run-ins began with Murphy’s Law – including a vanishing contractor, Diane saw a business opportunity and decided to purchase a BurgerIM franchise.
Challenge
Picture everything possible going wrong and you’ll have Diane Long’s experience in Dixon, CA opening her first restaurant. “We invested our life savings – our houses are on the line. We can’t give up.” Diane was buying into a BurgerIM franchise, that is until they went bankrupt and left her high and dry to figure out everything herself. Furthermore, her carpenter proved to be unreliable and damaged her relationship with the bank and her projections weren’t penciling out in her loan applications.
Gameplan & Results
As things spiraled out of control, Diane and her sons reached out to the Solano SBDC for help. A team of advisors took Diane under their wing and together, they crafted a business plan, finalized a new set of financials that obtained her a $552,000 bank loan, linked her to all of the right people including a dependable contractor and experts to guide her on the beer and wine pairing menu. No longer was Diane navigating these trials alone, but rather she had someone to call and anytime she needed a second opinion, the SBDC offered up an expert she could call.
Just as Diane was about to make it to the finish line and open her restaurant, the pandemic hit. Well practiced in rolling with the punches, she was able to transition her business plan to focus on take out and opened her doors on April 1, 2020. With a staff of 20 and tremendous support from the community, her sales are better than she anticipated. “I’m thinking we might be back to normal in two more years. If we can maintain until then, I’ll be super happy.”
