Opening a business...just how stupid do you have to be?

Honestly, I've been waiting to write this missive for a long time. And the truth is, this will probably be a multi-day struggle. You see, I'm faced with a dilemma: Do I go all Harvard Business School on you and describe the intricacies of opening up a business in a bad economy or do I tell the truth. And believe me, the two are very different stories. Business School will prepare you for so many things that you'll face when opening a business. But, Business School will never be able to prepare you for two things: the whims of the consumer and the fact that most of the time you have to be a stark, raving lunatic to go into business for yourself. If you cannot make your peace with those two things you really need to rethink going into business for yourself.

I'm being very truthful here - if you're not prepared for the consumer to reject some, part or all of your business, your baby, your heart and soul - you probably need to stay in corporate america. Because, they will reject something. No amount of market research, corner polling or advertising will insulate you from the big, Roman thumbs down. Emotionally you need a thick leathery skin. And that stark, raving lunatic comment could not be closer to the truth. There is no good time to open a business and our current economic climate makes things that much worse. But the lunatic will grab onto any positive moment and run like hell. Example: Businesses are failing right and left, record high unemployment has seized the country but rents are low. The lunatic ignores the first two points and grabs the third like a cheap Las Vegas cocktail waitress. After all, cheap rent is something that will help a business survive. This is the mantra of a lunatic and said lunatic will chant this at any occasion. There's cheap rent or, oh and I love this one, "all of my competition has gone out of business or scaled back so much that there is an opportunity." Honey, there's no competition because the economy is a wreck. Just what are you thinking?!?! But the lunatic perseveres. They are not blind to the obstacles; just way more focused on the positive. John and Russell are lunatics to the core. You have never met two people who could focus so much energy on something positive.

Now, just how does a Thick Skinned Lunatic go about starting a business? The TSL needs a motivation. But for a TSL is needs to be a special motivation. Having a great product or idea is simply not enough for a TSL. A TSL will stand for years at the precipice of the cliff but never jump until that special motivation comes along. For John and Russell it was cancer and that fight with cancer motivated my two TSL's to do a lot of soul searching. Now, mind you, a special motivation does not have to be life threatening...but it helps. TSL's, you see, are drama queens. John and Russell felt that they were given a second chance at life.  They knew that their circumstances could have easily taken a different turn. Just what was this second chance going to look like?

Russell had a little dog walking business already, and as the economy got worse he seemed to get busier. This prompted a little, "can we do something with this?" Well, they both love animals, have retail experience and management backgrounds, so why not a little shoppe...a little pet store. And, as they are total lunatics, this just became completely obvious to them. A high-end pet boutique is just what they'd like to do. It would parlay the dog walking business into something greater. Now a sane person would point out that they really didn't have any experience in running a pet supply store. Hotels, office design, airlines, retail clothing, yes, but pet supply? Nope. Just how was this going to work? The lunatic does not say how. The lunatic just makes it happen. Lunatics are sort of like artists.

A great sculptor does not see a giant piece of marble. Michealangelo did not see the marble, he saw the David within. I would venture a guess that if you could go back in time and speak with him, Michealangelo would tell you that he simply removed all of the marble that didn't look like David. A TSL lunatic looks at a business the same way. If you remove all of the obstacles what you are left with is the business you dreamed of. Goal set, John and Russell went about removing all obstacles. And boy were there obstacles.

The story goes that there were three obstacles in the very beginning: How to finance it, where to put it and what to name it. The disagreements were over the name of all things. There was an uneasy truce over the name Zara's Stuff. John thought it was cute and breezy but Russell thought it lacked direction and dignity. And then I came along. As you might have noticed in their business practices, John and Russell will bend over backwards to make a customer feel like they are being treated fairly. It is instinctive to them and permeates their lives. With my adoption they decided that I needed to be added to the coming marquee.  So it was decided that the store would be Zane + Zara's pet boutique. Zara's Stuff, inc. became the parent company for the store and the dog walking business. What to name it was checked off the list. Now, where to put it.

Being lunatics, they were not going to know where to put it until they saw it. They involved their real estate broker and the hunt began. Two spaces quickly rose to the top. One was small but it spoke to them and what they wanted the store to be: food, fashion and fun. The other was large...too large maybe. But it was a shell ready to be customized and the owner was offering 6-months of free rent. They discussed and discussed and discussed. It was just so big. But the location was good. Starbucks across the street, Red Line stop about three blocks away and a 5 minute walk from our condo. And did I mention, 6-months free rent? Who, in their right mind, passes up 6-months of free rent? They put in an offer. Floor plans were drawn and the excitement began to percolate. Well, fate has a way of protecting the lunatics. Or at least giving them little lints. The condo association, as they had done in the past, began to give the owner problems. Did we really want 10 years of legal trouble? Was this beautiful space worth the potential trouble. John and Russell politely bowed out. At that point their real estate guy said they should take a look at a space near his office. It was a more manageable size, brand new and in a great neighborhood: Roscoe Village. They saw, they loved and the rest is history.

Financing this endeavor was probably one of the most complex issues Russell and John faced. And it forced them to do something away from the lunacy. It forced them to do a business plan. Common sense told them that they really didn't want to use their own money. Using someone else's money is always a better idea. But who was going to loan money to them for a start up in a bone-suckingly bad economy? Well, how about the Small Business Administration?  Isn't that what they're for...loaning money to small businesses? The online resources from the SBA are substantial and very useful. For the uninitiated there were lessons on business plans, financing, renting vs owning, tax information, et al. As bright as they are, John and Russell made good use of the SBA web-site.

The rest of the story is typical lunacy. An obstacle would pop up and they'd remove it. The master plan for this endeavor called Zane + Zara's became a living entity. It grows and evolves every single day. John and Russell set out to be a destination for all those looking for the best in dog and cat products. You need to come in a see how they are succeeding. Come in and say hello to the lunatics.