Old Chicago Pizza
“We love working with our advisor. He has helped us a great deal all along the way in determining a timeline of priorities, projected costs as needed for funding, financials review, strategic planning, and cash flow analysis.”
Opening a second location is risky for any small business, but with careful assessment and planning with the SBDC, the owners of Old Chicago Pizza successfully added three new employees and obtained a loan and line of credit.
Challenge
Old Chicago Pizza is a mainstay of downtown Petaluma that has the same reputation today for great pizza and great service that it had when it opened forty years ago.
The owners, Joanne Hansen, and Audrey Haglund, were ready to expand into a second location and wanted to add local delivery to the pickup service. Before they made the leap, they decided it would be wise to first reach out to the Napa-Sonoma SBDC. They sought assistance in accurately assessing the costs of adding a new location and the associated build-out. They also needed help with financial planning and projections.
Gameplan
The SBDC assigned the owners their own business advisor who went through their laundry list, addressing each of their needs as well as funding options, cash flow, and sales estimates. A great deal of time and focus was also dedicated to strategic planning to ensure that the new location would set off on firm footing, increasing its chances for success.
Results
Ultimately, Joanne and Audrey obtained a loan for $100,000 and a $50,000 line of credit from Chase bank to expand into a temporary second location while build-out for a permanent second location was completed. To date, the expansion has allowed them to retain three employees and add three new employees.
