This week has been a very stressful week. We have gone to 2 banks trying to get funding. Both banks were not even sure what a distillery is. I have pictures in our business plan on what it might look like and talk about the distilling equipment and the tasting room. But they still can’t visualize on what a craft distillery business model looks like. Dave and I were warned about this in the distilling workshop.

Because they don’t know what a distillery is they can’t see it being successful. The banker last night even told us that he heard there is a distillery in Snohomish that is financially struggling. And that’s the only things he knows about it. I hope he takes the time to read my business plan. If he does he will fully understand that this can be a lucrative business if done right.

I just got the call from the bank. They will not loan us any money unless we put our house up as collateral. That is not an option. Many of you know we co-own our house with my daughter and her family. The house is my grandchildren’s home and we will never jeopardize it.

What now? God always provides and this is not an exception. We are fortunate enough to have enough money on my old Bayliner’s 401K to get the business up. We are going to have to cut a few extra corners, but I have faith we can make it work. We will most likely be looking for some investor to supplement if we think we don’t have enough capital to do a good job. We will decide this in the very near future.

This week was a clear reminder that we think we can make plans but ultimately the successful plans are always Gods plans. We wanted a bank loan to keep things simple. I guess that’s not part of the plan.

I’m thankful that we know the answer regarding our funding and can move on. Next week I hope to be able to finalize the TTB permit paperwork and file it by Friday. That will be a great accomplishment.

Have a wonderful weekend and I wish you many blessings

Cheers!

Shelly