The Truth You Have All Been Waiting For!

This is a story about a boy. A story about a boy and his three business partners; a sick partner, a sad partner, and a mute partner. But seriously folks, about two months ago our friends Todd and Lodema Wright told us that they were starting a business. They had looked through the different franchise options and found one called Husband and Wife. It's an Adult Novelty store LDS style. Everything is tastefully and tactfully done with an emphasis on strengthening marriages.

The next week they told us about their plans and how they really wanted new partners. Their current partner was a bit flaky and they didn't see him going very far with them. So they asked if we knew of anyone. We said no. But, when we went home that night Adam started contemplating the idea of running a business and how that might fit into our plans.

After a few more weeks we saw them again and they asked us if we wanted to be partners. Adam said that we were interested but that we wanted to know more before we did anything official. We were planning to help them with build out and such anyway. So they filled us in on the whole plan and we started doing things here and there; giving suggestions on how to decorate, helping look up information on creating an LLC (thank you TCC), and other things like that.

The next week we got together and pooled all our information. Todd and Lodema had met with a counselor at the UVU small business advisement center and they had the beginnings of a partnership agreement. They told us that we might as well be partners because we were doing the work and then we could get half the profit. So we pulled together a partnership agreement and met with the owners of the original Husband and Wife store and we went to the UVU center together.

I was thinking that we would spend a while talking and pondering if we should do this or not and so I was beginning to get a little nervous that we hadn't done that and we were getting so involved. I expressed my concern to Adam and he said that he thought we had talked about it. He felt good about it and he was sure that if this was not the right thing to do we would get an obvious "no." So I followed along. But the next time we met we started separating responsibilities and I didn't like where it was going. Todd was to be the legal representative and the official CEO of the company. Adam was to be the financial man taking care of all the records and such. Lodema has a almost two year old and so she won't have a lot of time so she is the back room girl. She orders supplies and labels merchandise and any other background work. That all sounded great except that it left me as the store manager. Not the easiest thing for me. I have never been a good sales person and I get really stressed by fast paced environments. But I said sure because I didn't want to back out on my partners.

A few day later (being about a week ago) I was reading my scriptures and realized that I hadn't started my study with a prayer. I immediately began to pray and my prayer turned from asking for the spirit to guide my study, to a plea for help and assurance that this was the right path for me. Now I can tell people with confidence about our business venture and not feel that I have to explain why it's not a crazy idea. It is a crazy idea, but it's what I am supposed to be doing. It will not be easy but I can do it with the Lord's help.

Last night we signed the partnership agreement and tonight we are officially purchasing the franchise. Once we have a location picked (we have three to choose from) we can get the loans we need and start to actually build and stock the store. We hope to have it open by the end of August. We still need at least one employee and some training to do but we are hopeful.

The area we are in has three times the consumer base that the original store is in and we have the advantage of knowing their suppliers and such. We are expecting to make at least what the original store made in its first year. If things go according to plan Adam and I could buy a house next year. The projected income plus my hours at the store ($10.00/hr) plus Adam's web design job means that we will be making about $50,000 a year. We plan to pay off the student loans first and then look into flipping houses.

So that's us. Tune in next time for another thrilling adventure in business and the web and the gospel!