BUSINESS IDEAS Forum

2.0 Company Summary

• Entertaining surroundings -- All stores will feature display cooking of our featured USDA-choice sirloin steaks cooked over a mesquite grill. Our guests will also be able to view our meat-cutting cooler where steaks are hand-cut daily and aged for 21 days to ensure that they are so very tender. The bakery, salad, and hot food stations will also be visible to our guests while they pick out their favorites from over 100 deliciously-prepared items daily. Our walls will be decorated with Western antiques by (confidential or proprietary information deleted).
• Quality food -- Each Sagebrush Sam's will serve nothing but fresh meats, crisp salads, delectable side dishes and scrumptious desserts, all served with old-fashioned, homestyle care!
• 1/3 lb. Sam's Specialty Beefburger lunch -- A special treat will greet our weekday lunch guests from 11:00 a.m. till 2:30 p.m. We will be serving 1/3 lb. Sam's Specialty Beefburgers off our display grill. The Sam's Specialty Beefburgers will be ground fresh daily and seasoned with our custom blend of spices designed to enhance their taste. To complement our sandwiches, we will convert one of our hot bars to a cold "sandwich fixin's" bar, with sliced tomatoes, onions, chopped lettuce, pickles, relish and everything necessary to complement our sandwiches.
• Variety, variety, variety -- A different menu for every day of the week will feature...(confidential or proprietary information deleted)...to name a few of our special theme dinners. We will also change the menu items quarterly on these nights to spice things up.
• Open only for peak business periods -- Buffet food does not keep well during slow time periods because all hot food must be held above 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, we will close our doors weekdays between 2:30 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. and at 8:30 p.m. nightly except on Friday and Saturday when we will close at 9:30 p.m.
• Breakfast buffet -- Depending upon location, Sagebrush Sam's will serve a buffet breakfast, offering fresh fruits in-season, cold juices, hot breakfast items, and cook-to-order omelets from our display grill. Some locations may offer breakfast daily while others may only feature it on weekends.
• Self-service -- Every new guest will receive a guided tour explaining our concept and the self-serve system. We have found that by doing this we can exceed our guest perception of service 96.5% of the time. For example, if a guest is expecting to get his own drinks but a manager is walking around pouring coffee refills, we will have exceeded their expectations.
• Friendly employees -- Our employees will be ringing dinner bells when fresh-baked rolls come out of the oven or our signature steaks are ready. Our managers will make table visits a priority, and who knows? Our guests may even see our staff perform a line dance or two! We will dress casually in tailored jeans and ironed logo T-shirts that our customers may purchase for a nominal price.
• Dinner all day on Sat./Sun. -- We will feature our dinner menu all day on Saturday and Sunday. Since both days are busy all day long, we will not shut down at midday.
• Reduced dinner pricing -- On Monday-Thursday the dinner price will be slightly lower than on Fri./Sat./Sun. since we will add fried shrimp and ribs to the weekend selection.

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2.1 Company Ownership

Sagebrush Sam's - "a steak buffet" is a sole proprietor business. Samuel Brooks is the principal owner. It is Mr. Brooks' intention to offer outside ownership in Sagebrush Sam's on an equity, debt, or combination basis in order to facilitate the start-up and growth of Sagebrush Sam's.

Mr. Brooks holds a BS degree in management from the University of Alberta. He has held executive level positions in management with several successful national restaurant chains.

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2.2 Start-up Summary

Sagebrush Sam's start-up expenses cover a wide range of items as shown in the following chart and table. Below is the detailed reasoning behind these estimates.

• Kitchen Design -- (confidential or proprietary information deleted)...will be doing the kitchen design.
• Architectural Plans -- (confidential or proprietary information deleted)...has agreed to do our architectural plans.
• Travel/Lodging -- Travel expenses for Sam Brooks to monitor construction, hire, and train staff.
• Manuals/Handbooks/Recipes -- All are estimates for typing, printing of employee training information, laminating recipes for kitchen use, and binders for all manuals.
• Pre-opening Labor -- This will cover training of employees and management as well as cleaning and organizing the restaurant prior to opening.
• VIP Lunch/Dinner -- We will host both a VIP lunch and dinner. This will serve the dual purpose of training our staff and introducing ourselves to the community. The list of individuals invited will come from the Chamber of Commerce. We will pick a local charity to be the beneficiary of our event. A guest will receive an invitation for himself and one other to attend our event free-of-charge. All we will ask of our patrons is that they make a small contribution to the hosting charity. We will run the lunch on Monday, followed by the dinner on Tuesday, with our Grand-Opening on Wednesday.
• Building/Land/Equipment -- There are two methods available for the growth of Sagebrush Sam's. We can build from ground up or we can do conversions from existing or closed restaurants.

Start-up
Requirements
Start-up Expenses
Kitchen/Architectual Plans	$75,000
Travel and Lodging	$8,000
Design of Logo	$6,500
Manuals/Handbooks/Recipes	$2,420
Recruiter Fees/Help Wanted Ads	$28,500
Pre-opening Labor-staff/Mgmt/Trainers	$72,750
Uniforms	$3,450
VIP Lunch/Dinner	$6,825
Office/Miscellaneous Expenses	$5,500
Total Start-up Expenses	208,945
Start-up Assets Needed
Cash Balance on Starting Date	$160,000
Start-up Inventory	$35,000
Other Current Assets	$100,000
Total Current Assets	$11,000
Long-term Assets	$1,500,000
Total Assets	$1,795,000
Total Requirements	$2,003,945
Funding
Investment
Sam Brooks	$500,000
Investor 2	$1,503,945
Total Investment	$2,003,945
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable	$0
Current Borrowing	$0
Other Current Liabilities	$0
Current Liabilities	$1,500
Long-term Liabilities	$11,700
Total Liabilities	$0
Loss at Start-up	($208,945)
Total Capital	$1,795,000
Total Capital and Liabilities	$1,795,000

Start-up


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2.3 Company Locations and Facilities

Sagebrush Sam's will range in size from 7,000-10,000 square feet and will seat from 300-400 guests. Each location will feature authentic western antiques such as Native American blankets, cowboy gear, and horse tack. We will equip the restaurant with a state-of-the-art sound system connected to an old-time juke box where our customers will be able to select their favorite country and western songs for free. Every restaurant will be built to our prototype specifications: clean lines, open, and pleasing to the customer.

The site/building selection will be chosen based upon the following list of criteria:

• Community size minimum of 40,000 people within five miles.
• High visibility.
• Easy access to parking lot with a minimum of 120 parking spaces.
• Mid- to low-cost land not to exceed $600,000.
• Heavy blue-collar worker makeup in the community.
• No overabundance of competition in the trade area.

All of these qualities are consistent with Sagebrush Sam's goal of providing a top quality, entertaining dining experience at an unbelievably low price. We want "word of mouth" to be our best form of marketing, where our guests cannot believe the value of their dining experience and can't wait to tell their friends and neighbors.

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