Really complicated situation for Katymac's Sustainable Nursery

[Katymac]

Excuse my lack of proper punctuation....MN has corrupted all my apostrophies

The situation thus far

I have raised about 130K towards opening the nursery - basically I have remortgaged and sold my soul to several devils to do this and its not enough.

The architect and I recon we need about 150-180K to do it

I have been put in touch with a man (I guess he is a fixer) who can refinance it all without my house being on the line - it would be a longer pay back and there is a very large fee involved. I would get a lot of very hands on consultancy and support (legal/accountancy/HR etc)

I have some issues/problmes with it all - but it does seem to be a reasonable deal.

Deal as I see it;

I have too:
a)Pay XXX initially after contracts signed
b)Pay up to YYY each 4/5 weeks for an unspecified length of time
c)Pay expenses ? no idea of how much
d)Do everything they say

They have to
a)Provide advice
b)Arrange grants/loans totalling 180,000
c)Ensure that Walnut Corner gets up & running

OK stuff I am concerned about

1. What if the loans they arrange are so high interest I cant afford them
2. What if after they look through my paperwork etc they decide the nursery cant make any money
3. What if the person leasing me the barn doesnt want to do what they want ? I dont want him to be pressured
4. What if we have a disagreement about something integral to the concept, something I feel morally about that will cost more but that I cant (emotionally) lose

Can you lot think of anything I havent thought of or have any views on the deal??

unless my dad comes up with something I have missed - I think it's a no

This is the website

The childminding has been going 4 yrs - the bank has said even if I'd been going 10 yr they wouldn't lend anymore unsecured

I'm very upset by it all

I wonder how many MN people there are if there were 100,000 I wonder if I could sell shares at 50p each and raise it that way?

Silly idea sorry

after looking at website my honest advice would be don't take there offer you are tht close to the money we are going to have to think of another way eg is there anything you could leave out of you budget for 6 months till the business is running

No the basicas are for roof/heating/windows etc

The stuff for toys/furniture etc come off a separate assets loan - so I can't use it & borrow stuff (if that makes sense)

btw last post should disappear - I am embarassed by it

is that a silly idea? i'd buy a share or two to help you realise your dream, katy. but then i don't know anything about how that stuff all works and am a duffer with finance.

can i ask? the 'sustainableness' of the nursery? how much more is that costing you? how many more clients is it going to get you? can you do it cheaper if you ditch that bit?

No that is more now how it will be run rather than any initial extra costs - I've had to lose the eco green bit and I'm concentrating on running it as sustainabley as possible

eg local produce, fair trade, recycling, growing my own stuff etc, low chemicals, trying to be low impact

I know absolutely nothing about business, so I won't even try to help, but if I was 100 miles nearer, I'd be in like a shot. I really hope you can find a solution to make your dream a reality Katy, keep talking it out with us, SOMEONE must be able to come up with a genius idea!

I'd buy shares too

ah fuck, katy, i'm gutted for you. you can't take that guy's money, he's asking too much.

It's so stupid - earlier today I saw a book I fancied at Tescos & I nearly bought it - then I said no save the money for the nursery

& yesterday I was considering not buying DD her boat and spending that money on the nursery - but it's her money out of her account - isn't that terrible

not so terrible, it's her future you're working so hard for.

This project has been going for a fair while now, have you kept your eyes open for alternative/more suitable accommodation since you found the barn? When I eventually found my shop for rent I stopped looking at commercial properties for the 3 months it took to obtain the lease. Could you possibly check all of the areas again incase something has come up.
It may be that something better is out there for you!

I discusse dwith the bank buying a house to riun the nursery in or selling out house & buying a house big enough to live in & run the nursery

The architect & I drove round the area for about 3 hrs to see if there was anything else I could convert

I think this might be the end - sad tho' it is to say

Seriously tho' maybe I could sell shares (not on MN) but locally

5000 people at £10 a share? Or would it be better to try for 500 people at £100 a share?

And I'd pay them a %age of the profit

If I went for 60,000 that would mean a 1/3rd of my profit went on what's the word dividends?

10% to the lease chap leaving 57% for me (& reinvesting)

However I'm quite sure it isn't that easy

well i think it would cost you money to adminstrate the whole thing, but it's worth finding out about.

I'll sit DD down writing cheques once a year - her writing is readable

Or better still do it on-line - then I need to set it up once and just pay then all once a year - boring but doable

There must be a flaw in this idea

Would it be better to contact the local paper and say I have 130 & I need another 50 can anyone help??

dunno. wouldn't do any harm. do you have a story? have you won any childminding awards?

I am OUTSTANDING (well OFSTED think I am - what do they know??)

I was shortlisted for Great Customer Service Award in May & I'm up for another one atm

Plus I am an annoying little cow - so they might just intervbiew me to get rid of me

if someone asks you to thjink about whether they are a conman or not they are a bit suspect imo

give it a shot, then. an angel needs an angel, iykwim?

Did you check lottery funding? Another thought I had was, if there are no clauses in your lease/insurance to object could you sublet the nursery during the evenings to a family group such as brownies (not that that's going to bring in mega bucks) or maybe even see if there was someone wanting to become a minor investor who wanted to run a dance school during the evenings and weekends.

I don't know... just thinking out loud really, I'm sure something will come up

is there parking? i've always thought that places in busy areas could sell their overnight parking spots through the week to commuters.