Starting a Business: Part 1.

By Trish Anderton on Monday, April 7, 2003.

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THE NATION’S ECONOMY HAS SLOWED IN RECENT MONTHS.

BUT ONE AREA REMAINS ROBUST: SMALL BUSINESS START-UPS.

FOR MANY PEOPLE, LAUNCHING THEIR OWN COMPANY IS THE CULMINATION OF A LIFELONG DREAM.

IT’S ALSO A ROAD FRAUGHT WITH PERIL.

OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, NHPR’S TRISH ANDERTON WILL BE FOLLOWING A COUPLE…. FOLLOWING THEIR DREAM.

THEY’RE STARTING A SANDWICH SHOP IN THE FAR-NORTHERN REACHES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

THIS IS THE FIRST INSTALLMENT IN HER SERIES.

ROUTE 26 IN COLEBROOK EMBRACES THE CONTRADICTIONS OF NORTH COUNTRY LIVING.

Heading east out of COLEBROOK, you pass one of the region’s biggest heavy machinery dealerships…

ROW after ROW OF shiny TRACTORS AND LOGGING EQUIPMENT await new owners.

DRIVE A FEW MORE MILES AND YOU GET TO ONE OF THE STATE’S SWANKIEST HOTELS, THE BALSAMS RESORT.

IN BETWEEN THOSE EXTREMES, ON A QUIET STRETCH OF HIGHWAY, SITS A RAMBLING WHITE HOUSE.

IF ALL GOES WELL, THIS IS THE FUTURE LOCATION OF SCOTTY’S ROAST BEEF SANDWICH SHOP.

19 04 ** you wanna see it? You can see it.

TERRY SCOTT IS THE FUTURE CO-OWNER OF SCOTTY’S.

Your imagine has to work good to see this (jon laughs)

TERRY AND HER HUSBAND JON PLAN TO PUT SCOTTY’S IN A SMALL GARAGE ATTACHED TO THE HOUSE.

IT DOES TAKE SOME IMAGINATION TO SEE A DINING ESTABLISHMENT HERE.

THE GARAGE IS JUST WIDE ENOUGH FOR ONE CAR.

IT HAS A DIRT FLOOR AND ROUGH WOODEN WALLS.

THE FRONT AND BACK ARE OPEN, AND ON THIS DAY A BITTERLY COLD WIND HOWLED THROUGH.

NONE OF THIS DAMPENS THE SCOTTS’ ENTHUSIASM.

21 00 ok. TERRY: I figure nine feet in there’s gonna be a counter here. Right about here. Back wall you have a convection oven, grill, burner stove … JON: back here is storage, refrigerator, freezer …. ME: it’d make a pretty good freezer now! JON: yeah! (laughs)

SCOTTY’S WILL START AS A SIMPLE TAKEOUT COUNTER.

BUT AS WE WALK UPSTAIRS TO THE SCOTT’S APARTMENT, TERRY EXPLAINS THEY’VE GOT BIGGER DREAMS.
22 104 you start out small and you work toward your final goal, a lounge, a restaurant, maybe even a little catering

(DOOR OPENS)

JON AND TERRY ARE BOTH IN THEIR EARLY FORTIES.

HE’S A ROOFER AND CARPENTER, SO HE’LL BE THE ONE TO TRANSFORM THE GARAGE.

TERRY HAS EXPERIENCE IN FAST FOOD.

Mcdonalds, burger king. I actually have degree from bk university in mgt so that’s where my background is, mostly retail and food.

THE SCOTTS MET FOUR YEARS AGO ON THE INTERNET.

THEY’RE BOTH BIG SCIENCE FICTION FANS.

JON: We both love star trek, star wars. TERRY: X files, highlander, all the fantasy sci fi stuff

THEY PLAN TO INDULGE THAT PASSION THROUGH THEIR BUSINESS.

SCOTTY’S ROAST BEEF WILL HAVE A SCI-FI THEME.

26 113 I’m going to get my son to do a sign the shape of a spaceship. And we’ll have a tv up in the corner playing scifi tapes. And we’ll have diff posters of sci fi shows and we’ll change them on a reg basis so you’re not looking at the same thing.

THEN THERE’S THE ADVERTISING SLOGAN: BEEF ME UP, SCOTTY.

THERE’S SOMETHING COMPELLING ABOUT THE SCI FI ANGLE.

MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE TO THE AVERAGE FLATLANDER, COLEBROOK WITH ITS VAST OPEN SPACES FEELS LIKE ANOTHER PLANET.

JON SCOTT LAUGHS AT THIS IDEA, AND AGREES.

Yeah, middle of nowhere! You look up here you see mountains, not condos and strip malls! The people up here are diff, too. //Down in the city they’re too busy worrying about the day to day stuff. up here you just live your life.

OF COURSE, TO LIVE THEIR LIVES OFF SCOTTY’S ROAST BEEF, THE SCOTTS WILL HAVE TO TURN A PROFIT.

THAT’S NO EASY TRICK IN A TOWN OF 26-HUNDRED.

SO THEY’VE THOUGHT CAREFULLY ABOUT WHERE TO PUT THE BUSINESS.

INITIALLY THEY PLANNED TO BUILD ON SOME LAND THEY OWN JUST SOUTH OF TOWN.

WHEN THEY SAW THIS BUILDING, THEY CHANGED THEIR MINDS.

14 22 because its right on a main route, that was my first priority, plus my overhead will be min bec we will own property. My startup loan is going to be minimal.

THEIR LOCATION IS A LITTLE REMOTE, BUT THE SCOTTS HOPE THAT WORKS IN THEIR FAVOR.

THIS SPOT IS SURROUNDED BY CAMPGROUNDS AND SNOWMOBILE TRAILS, AND THERE AREN’T A LOT OF SERVICES OUT HERE.

Snowmobile trails in the winter, campers in the summer … the store up the road has a little deli, that’s it … it’s four miles either way before you actually get any food.

RECENT SURVEYS SUGGEST AMERICANS ARE FEELING LESS CONFIDENT NOW THAN THEY WERE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.

A SHAKY ECONOMY AND THE CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST ARE TESTING THE COUNTRY’S OPTIMISM.

BUT THE SCOTTS AREN’T PAYING MUCH ATTENTION TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

JON SCOTT SAYS HE COMES FROM A FAMILY OF PSYCHICS.

HE DOESN’T CLAIM TO SEE INTO THE FUTURE OF SCOTTY’S ROAST BEEF.

BUT HE BELIEVES HE AND TERRY CAN SHAPE THAT FUTURE BY HAVING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE.

You learn to picture things in your mind more, know you’re gonna have em. Don’t ask yourself how you’re gonna get em, just know you’re gonna get it.

TO MAKE THEIR BUSINESS A REALITY, THE SCOTTS WILL NEED A LOT MORE THAN A BUILDING AND A VISION.

THEY NEED A BUSINESS PLAN, PERMITS, AND SOME STARTUP CASH.

IT’S DAUNTING, BUT THERE ARE SOME ORGANIZATIONS AIMED AT HELPING PEOPLE THROUGH THE PROCESS.

WE’LL TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT ONE OF THEM IN OUR NEXT INSTALLMENT.

FOR NHPR NEWS, I’M TRISH ANDERTON IN COLEBROOK.