problem.â
âThereâs where youâre wrong.â Will draws a long line from one end of the whiteboard to the other. He makes a big dot at the left end and writes Launch above it. âIâm not saying you wonât make millions, Josh, but you canât assume youâll make millions.â He makes a mark two-thirds of the way down the line. âItâll take you six months to find an adequate facility that can grow as fast as your company can.â
Will draws a squiggly line back from the two-thirds mark to a new mark one-third down the line. âYouâll need to know exactly when youâre six months out from expansion, what benchmarks youâll hit when you get to that stage and how much extra capital youâll need to make it happen.â He puts a question mark over the one-third mark he just drew. âIn shortâand this lesson is for all of youâyou canât just make it up as you go along. Business is too unforgiving for that.â Will stares right at me. âFor someone like Maggie, with very high start-up costs and high customer variables, itâs absolutely crucial. Your plan, Maggie, may be the most crucial of all.â
Heâs never called me Maggie in front of the class before. And heâs singling me out. As someone who needs the most help. I think Iâm entitled to get my dander up in this circumstance. Why couldnât he go pick on Mr. Mushroom Pasta Sauce over there? Heâs got to buy a whole industrial kitchen and packing facility. Thatâs got to be more complicated than a coffee shop.
So now you understand why I stomped down thehallway after Will the minute class was over. âWhatâs the deal singling me out?â
âMaggie, Iâ¦â
âAnd you called me Maggie in class. Forget the Miss Black? All of a sudden itâs Maggie?â
Will thumps his stack of books down on his office desk. âVery well then, Miss Black, Iâll be more careful in the future.â His eyes darkened over in a split second.
âFine.â
âAnd I did not single you out.â
âYou did. Jerry Davis has the same issues as me. If not more. I didnât see you pointing at him.â
âI did not point at you. And Jerry Davis has already turned in a comprehensive financial plan. With his first loan application. Unlike you.â
That was a low blow. âSo what on earth is he doing in class?â
âBecause he needs to learn marketing and salesmanship. Unlike you. â
Earl Grey must have been captain of the debate team. He just put me in my place and complimented me at the same time. Thatâs not fair. âI hate that planning stuff. Iâm terrible at it. Most of it seems useless to me when you factor in all the stuff than can affect a business like mine.â
Will simply glares. He could silence a pack of my nephews with a single glance.
âI hate this stuff,â I repeat. âI think you know I hate it. It takes all the faith out it.â
Will looks both surprised and exasperated. Likehe thinks Iâm blaming himâwhich, of course, I sort of am. âThis is business,â he says, his glare softening into something more like concern. âThis has nothing to do with faith.â
âYouâre wrong.â In fact, he couldnât be more wrong.
âAm I?â
Okay, I wasnât going to get into this with him, but heâs asking for it. âYou read my application. You know this is a coffeehouse with a Christian atmosphere. It has everything to do with faith. You told me on the rugby pitch that youâre a man of faith. You, of all people, should respect the fact that God gave me the vision to open this coffeehouse. Iâve not been able to think about anything else since He gave me this idea. This is Godâs plan and I trust Him with the rest of it. Trust, Will. Surely you get that. Trust and faith, even in business. Maybe especially in