"Dig out your old business plan and use that as a start. Your new goal is to get a bigger location. Outline what you want in a bigger location and be specific. It's not just a bigger service bay, it's 'I've got 1,200 square feet now and I need 3,500 square feet plus a paint shop.' That way when you go to the bank for financing, you can show them specifics."
That got a grimace from both Tusker and Tessa. "That'll be fun! It was like pulling teeth to get the bank loan for where we are now. I thought they were going to take Bucky as collateral.", she said.
"Standard operating procedure.", I commented. "If you need money they don't want to lend it, if you have money they'll lend you all you want!"
"Maybe I should borrow the money from you!", laughed Tusker.
Suddenly things began to move in slow motion, with a clarity to them, and I just sat there stock still for a minute, as the room revolved around me. Everybody else turned to face me, and it was Tusker who said, "Hey, Carl, it was a joke! Don't sweat it!"
I shook my head and came out of the little trance I was in. "No, it's what you said. There's actually a name for that sort of business. It's called venture capital, where you invest in new businesses in the hopes they grow bigger. They do it in Silicon Valley all the time, for computer companies and such."
"I don't follow.", said Tessa.
Her husband was just looking at us blankly. "What, sort of like a bank that loans money, but not a bank?"
"Sort of. It's not really a loan, either, it's capital in equity."
"You'd better start using small words and big pictures, buddy."
I grinned at him. "Okay, let's say I have this idea for a new computer gizmo that's going to change the world. I start a company and start to work on it, but the banks have never heard of it and won't loan me any money, since I haven't sold any yet. Following me so far?" The others nodded, although this was flying way over Marilyn's head, I could see. "So, I go to a venture capital company and make a deal with them. They give me the money, and I give them a chunk of the company. They now own some of the stock in the company."
Tessa looked over at her husband. "You mean they give away part of the company to the bank?"
"That's pretty much it. The venture capital company is betting that my new gizmo will work and everybody will want one and I'll sell lots of them and the company makes a fortune. At some point down the road, the company puts their shares up on the stock market and the venture capital company can sell their shares and make a buttload of bucks."
"But you've also lost control of your company.", countered Tusker.
I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on how much money they put up in the first place, and how much of your company you had to give away to get the money. A lot of those big companies, the owner still has the biggest amount of shares, but maybe not even half the shares. He still controls it, though."
"And you want to do this to a bike repair shop?"
I waved my hands at him. "Hey, I'm just talking about how it's done. Theoretically, yes, it could be done. Realistically? Nobody's going to put a motorcycle dealership on the stock market." They looked a little relieved at that.
I turned to face Marilyn. "Maybe I can figure out a way to become a venture capitalist? I've got the money. After we get back from vacation, I think I'll look into that."
"Wait, you're serious about loaning money out, like a bank?", asked Tessa. "You have enough money to do that!?"
I turned towards her. "Yeah, actually, I do, at least at a small level."
"Whoa!', she commented slowly.
"I'm still the same jackass I was when I came in here, Tessa.", I told her.
"Yeah, but ... whoa!"
"You mean, you actually have enough money to loan us to expand?", asked Tusker.
I needed to tread carefully here. "Yes, I do. That doesn't mean I would be any easier to work with than a bank, though. If I do something like that, it would have to be as a business, not as a friend. That doesn't mean we wouldn't be friends, but you have to do that as a business, right?"
"Wow! I just never thought about that!"
"Well, start working on that updated business plan. At that point you can start talking to your bank and see what they have to say. We might all just be sitting here whistling Dixie for all I know. Maybe it won't be so bad." I shrugged. I'd have to talk to Jake Eisenstein and his namesake tax lawyer about something like this, in any case.
We started talking about Bucky and his latest adventures, and about our plans for a new house and moving into the townhouse. We also finished off the beers in the fridge. Eventually Bucky got fussy and needed to go to bed (which was set up in a corner of their living room), and we bundled up Charlie. As he saw us to the door, Tusked tapped me on the shoulder and asked, out of hearing of the women, "Were you serious about being able to loan money to businesses?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I could do that. I need to talk to my accounting people but it could happen. Listen, I'm serious, too. If I do that, that part has to be business. I won't be as much of an asshole about it as a banker would be, but it has to be business, you know?"
Monday Marilyn and I split up. I was sick and tired of her complaining about cars, so I had her follow me over to the local Toyota dealership and turned her loose. Then I kissed my family good-bye and left to meet with Andrea and look for property. Most real estate people don't want to deal with raw property; since they work on commission they make more money selling a house than just the land it's sitting on. Still, she had made a commission on the apartment, and I think she had me pegged as a trust fund baby she could squeeze some future work out of. I wasn't averse to that. If she did a good job, she'd be the first one I'd call in the future.
The requirements I had laid out were relatively simple, and I figured she'd be able to match something up. I wanted about twenty acres, maybe more, in a rural setting, but not ridiculously far from civilization. Maybe an old farm property, but I was flexible. I wanted something near to a main road, and not mountainous, although there really aren't any mountains in Baltimore County. I just didn't want to need four wheel drive to go home in the winter, which had been a necessity in New York.
We met behind John's office again, and I parked my car and switched to hers. Andrea must have been fairly successful since she drove around in a Caddy. Look successful and you'll be successful, I suppose. We quickly got on the Harrisburg Expressway and headed north. It was about fifteen minutes later that we got off the highway at Mount Carmel Road. "When we talked it didn't sound to me like you were looking for one of the old horse properties in the Hunt or Oregon Valley areas, and the farm properties in the Cockeysville area are starting to get expensive, as developers snatch them up for new home construction."
"I've heard that was happening." Actually, I had seen it, before. The entire corridor would become a giant subdivision for increasingly expensive homes. No thank you! "That won't cut it with my wife. She's going to want some acreage outside of town, not in a subdivision."
She nodded. "I understand. There's still quite a bit of available property in northern Baltimore County, especially if you head over to the west side, near Carroll County."