The Deal Is Done

As I mentioned previously, Geoff (the President) and Ernie (the CFO) from the Chippery paid me a visit this week in order for us to get to know each other better and get our previously rocky negotiations back on track.

The guys flew into Miami International and drove up to the hotel in Boca on Monday night. I picked them up at 8 AM on Tuesday because Monday was my wedding anniversary. We had breakfast and talked about strategy, company history and our backgrounds until about 10 AM. It seemed clear to me that these guys didn't have a clear understanding of what the company's focus should be. From the beginning, I saw that the company was trying to avoid operating as a full franchisor for a number of reasons. Not the least of which was cost. They now have a full UFOC which I'm half way through digesting but they haven't registered with the numerous states that require registration. In Florida, this isn't much of a problem. The fact that they have a UFOC for review and that they comply with the SEC guidelines for Franchisors allows them to fill in a simple exemption form and pay $100 in order to do business in the state.

A good example of the lack of clarity for the company's future came in when I asked where they saw the company in five years. Geoff started answering while Ernie excused himself for a second. When Ernie got back, I asked him to answer the question and the two answers were 180 degrees apart. This may be because Ernie isn't in the office full time, but I think it's a clear example of how they operate.

After breakfast, I drove us to Wellington to meet with Jim. I drove around the town a bit to show the incredible amount of development that's going on over there and then all the way around The Mall at Wellington Green. The mall is huge, so it's very impressive. It was clear that the guys were awe struck. We walked in through the food court entrance and took some time to look around. Geoff struck up a conversation with the guy behind the counter at Ben & Jerry's. It turns out he was the owner. His spot is perfect for a snack; about 190 sq. ft. and he's doing roughly $300K in gross sales per year. He did say that his first two years were rough. That's understandable, the mall was brand new then.

We made our way over to the soft play area and met with Jim. There we started showing them the spot from a distance because we didn't want the existing tenant to get freaked out. The spot really is very good. This is why it pays to surround yourself with people that can get things done. Without Jim T., the management would never go for what we're doing.

After a bunch of pictures were snapped, we started walking around and parked ourselves in some chairs in one of the side corridors. We started talking over some of the business points that bothered Geoff and Jim went off to see if he could get us a conference room in the management office. When he called to say he got one, we moved the conversation up there. To make a long story short, we negotiated some points, but the terms of the agreement were pretty much what I had submitted to them prior to their trip. We wound things up in the conference room in under an hour and headed to Two Jay's for lunch.

After seeing Jim off, I drove the guys back to their hotel room where Ernie and I sat down to craft the language for the agreement. We brought Geoff in several times and had a few back and fourths until all the terms were documented. This took us up to around 5:00. I ran off to get the document printed and told them I'd be back to pick them up for dinner at around 6:30. I wanted Alex (wife) to take a quick look at the items that had changed but she agreed that they were all ok. I missed the kids during the day. This was pretty much the only time I saw Stephanie and Danny awake during the entire day.

When I got back to the Hotel, Geoff and Ernie were having drinks by the pool. We singed the agreement and had a toast. What a relief!

I drove them by The Town Center Mall in Boca before heading to Mark's Place at Mizner Park. We had a lovely dinner and talked about all sorts of things. I find that many of the business folks I entertain are enthralled by the story about how my family and I came from Cuba. It really seemed that they enjoyed hearing me tell it.