Hi! Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
My name is Cari. I am 51 years old, a wife and mom to two amazing kids, although they are truly adults now. I have done my very best to raise these kids to become the incredible adults that they are today. While I worked outside of the home while they were growing up, my purpose for working was to afford a good life for them and allow them to be involved in anything that interested them. While I wanted to be able to give my kids all that they wanted, it was more important to me that they learn that you can have things that you want, if you work hard for them. You also must be deserving, gracious and generous to others. Most importantly, above everything else, you need to be a good human. Do more than what is expected of you. Make mistakes, but learn from them. Help someone when they need help. Always be kind and understanding. Always know that everyone has a story and it may be very different from your own, that does not make anyone better or worse. Leave this world in better shape than when you entered it. And something that was at the top of my list of importance was for my kids to know that I support them, I believe in them and I will cheer them on while they pursue any dream that they may have.
Back up to the year I graduated from High School, 1991. I wanted more than anything to go to cosmetology school. It was all I ever thought about. I made plans in my head about the kind of salon I would have, how it would be decorated, the different services that I would offer, the days filled with doing something that I loved. That was quickly squashed when my parents told me that they would not pay for or support me going to cosmetology school as only “dumb girls” go to cosmetology school. Not being in a position to pay for school on my own, and not being in a position to qualify for financial aid, I decided to do what my parents thought was best for me and I attended college and obtained a business degree. While this degree has served me well in many aspects of my life, it was not my dream.
The desire to be in the beauty industry never went away. In fact, there were several points during my younger adult years where I thought about going back to school to obtain my cosmetology license, but the timing was always off. Having young children did not fit well into a school schedule. In addition, I could not afford to quit my job to go to school full time, we needed the income. Now, fast forward to 2018 when I finally decided to take the plunge and change my life forever!
In 2018, my life was in a much different spot. I had one child in college and the other was a junior in high school. We had been working hard for years to pay off debt. We were in a good spot for me to quit my job and finally go to school to obtain my cosmetology license! I started school right away and obtained my license in April of 2019. I found a reasonable place to rent in my hometown, and spent the next month painting, putting in new flooring, purchasing as many used items that were suitable for a salon and I set up my very own salon. Within the first month of being open, I brought on a hair stylist to share the space (and rent) with and together (although completely separate businesses) we built a cute little place. Business was moving along just fine and then Covid 19 hit.
The beauty industry took a major hit during Covid 19. In most states/cities, we were forced to close our doors to the public. Many news sources even went as far as to say that salons were one of the biggest contributors to the spread of Covid 19. I had just started my very first business only 8 months prior and now I had to close my doors for an undetermined amount of time! The entire country was scared to death of contracting a virus that was killing many people, and even if we were able to have stayed open, many people were too scared to step foot in a salon for fear of contracting this horrible virus. I had barely started building a clientele, and with one news conference, my doors were shut.
I was barely breaking even at this point of being in business. With all of the products needed to operate a salon, I had spent a large amount of money in inventory, supplies and necessary products to do my job. I was as frugal as I could be when it came to setting up the salon, but products used on clients is something you should never be frugal with. Now I had no revenue whatsoever, but still had to pay the bills associated with the salon. We did not plan for something like this to happen, how could we have? It was a very scary and stressful time to say the least.
Because I was now self employed and considered to be “Non Essential” there were no programs for someone like me to obtain all of this money that everyone else was getting. Unemployment finally starting approving self employed people for funds, but I was never approved as I had not been self employed long enough. I had no employees, so I also did not qualify for any PPP loans. I had to use every dollar of credit I had to keep my business open, there was no way I was going to give up that easily. Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I used the time that we were ordered to stay at home to come up with a business plan for when we were able to reopen.
Our salon at the time of Covid offered hair services and nail services. To me, that was no longer enough. We needed to come back bigger and better and set ourselves apart from all of the other local salons in the area. We already had a leg up in the fact that there were no other salons in town that offered both hair and nail services at the same location. There were plenty of other hair salons in town, and one other nail studio, but none that offered both! I needed to add more services! But how? I had no money to invest in additional schooling for myself and no way to bring on additional people that offered something above and beyond what we already had to offer. I spent hours and hours of time doing research on other revenue avenues within our industry that did not require a license. There were many options, but all required training and obtaining a certificate of completion. That was fine with me, but no one was offering the classes at that time because we were all shut down.
I then reached out to my client base to get their feedback. I asked one simple question. If our town was to have a one stop salon and spa, what services would you want to see offered? The feedback poured in and helped me decide to make my next move. However, I had to be patient a bit longer while awaiting our industry to re-open to the public. After almost 4 months, we were finally given the go ahead to re-open and resume business as long as we practiced the mandatory health safety rules. At this point, I would have done anything to get back to work. So we purchased all of the PPE that was required, which was not cheap or readily available. We wore masks and gloves at all times. We were diligent with our sanitation practices. We made sure that whoever was in our salon felt safe to be there. What we didn’t expect is that even though we were now able to open our doors, no one wanted to come! This virus had scared absolutely everyone to the point that no one was comfortable leaving their homes! This went on for a lot longer than I thought it would. It was terrifying.
I waited out the storm. I waited and waited until I thought I had to close my doors. I had no more credit, creditors calling me to make payments with money I did not have. Spending more and more money to keep my business open, for no one to be coming in. And just when I thought it was the end of my business, the phone started ringing. People were tired of living in fear. They were tired of not being in control of their day to day activities. They were tired of feeling like crap about themselves because they had gone so long without self care. I have said this a million times since Covid 19 struck, the best thing to come out of Covid 19 is the realization by so many just how important self care really is. Getting your hair cut and colored, your nails polished, having a much needed pedicure suddenly became less of a luxury and more of a necessity! I was back in business!
Since then, I have worked 70 hours a week playing catch up on debt and investing as much as I can back into my business. We have moved to a bigger and much nicer location. I have become certified is Eye Lash Extensions, Spray Tanning, Cryoskin and am in the process of obtaining my license in Permanent Make Up. I have brought on a Massage Therapist and an Esthetician. We are officially a Salon and Spa! There is nothing like this within our town and surrounding area. We offer more services than any other salon and spa an we plan to grow our offerings! I am booked solid every day and could not be happier! My dream has come true! But not without extremely hard work and a lack of financial resources.
I am now at the point where I need help. In order to provide the absolute best for my community and surrounding towns, I need to start upgrading equipment, product lines and improve upon the space that we have. I have perused a traditional loan through my business banking institution only to be turned down. I have been told numerous times that the industry I am in is too volatile. There is too much competition out there to guarantee a regular customer base. Unfortunately, the people making these decisions seem to be unaware of just how loyal a customer will be when you do a good job, make them feel important, provide them with a comfortable and relaxing space and treat them like they are family. I have been going to the same stylist for 32 years for my hair. She knows me inside and out. I could not even think about going to another stylist! And that is exactly what happens in our industry when you do your job well and treat your clients as family.
In addition to being in a “volatile” profession, my credit score is not great. I am still trying to get my financial situation back to where it was before Covid. It is difficult to do and the negatives stay on your record far too long.
I am looking for a private investor that is willing to take a leap of faith on someone that has refused to let their dream die. Someone who appreciates a hard worker that is always trying to improve upon themselves. I am looking for someone who also had a dream that they once thought was impossible, but worked their ass off to get to where they are now. I hope that one day I can be an investor in someone else’s dream. When that day comes, you can count on me to pay it forward. Below is my current proposal. It is certainly a starting point and there is room for negotiation. I have never done something like this, so please forgive all of the mistakes that I have made in telling my story. I truly look forward to speaking to anyone that is interested in helping out a small town girl with really big dreams!
This Investment Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made and entered into on this day of 2024 by and between (Private Investor) and Posh Salon & Spa LLC, now referred to as PSS and Owner (Cari Coyle).
AGREEMENTS
The parties hereby agree as follows:
1. Investment. Private Investor agrees to invest a total of $120,000 into above mentioned businesses of which will be paid out in one lump sum payment, to be dispersed on or before (date).
2. Investor agrees to keep money invested into company for 2.5 years, at which time Investor can request initial investment to be paid back in full, or repayment of initial investment to be paid back in agreed upon installment payments, or to keep initial funds invested and company pays investor agreed upon interest payments for the next 12 months. If Investor agrees to reinvest after 2.5 years, the term for reinvestment will be 2.5 years
3. Company can repay initial investment plus full interest amount at any time during the term.
In return for the Investment, PSS agrees to repayment with the following terms.
A total of $12,000 in interest (10% of total investment) in monthly payments of $1000.00 for the next 12 months, starting on (month) 15th and by the 15th of each month for the remaining 11 months.
If payments are made to Private Investor past the 15th of the month due date, the following schedule of late fee penalties will be applied.
$50.00 Late Fee if 5 days late.
$75.00 Late Fee is 10 days late.
In the event Company must close the business, liquidation of company assets will occur and Investor will be paid in full from proceeds. Company assets current value is approximately $187,000.
Some assets would be;
NeveSkin Unit $62,000
Pedicure Chairs $16,000
Retail Inventory $15,000
Product Inventory $ 27,000
Furniture $12,000
This does not include all assets, but a general idea of some that the Company currently has and holds value.
Typed name and date to be considered as binding.
Cari Coyle - Owner - Posh Salon & Spa, LLC
Private Investor
Business start date of 5/20/2019
2019 Net Sales $13,176
2020 Net Sales $26,212
2021 Net Sales $67,147
2022 Net Sales $116,443
2023 Net Sales $160,839
2024 January and February Net Sales $28,740 (Please keep in mind January and February are the slowest months of the year industry wide.)
Funds will be used to pay off current rental equipment that is at a higher interest rate, upgrading salon inventory and equipment, reserves for possible hiring of employee(s), reserve for operating expenses, possible move to newer location, if not new location, revamping current space to implement additional salon/spa services.