A patent is key. You’ll obviously need help with obtaining one. A lawyer has a fiduciary duty to work in your best interest, so you generally won’t need to worry about the idea being stolen from them. Otherwise, get a signed NDA from anyone else with whom you share the idea.

Niche manufacturing, IP heavy

Agreed - one of the reasons why it’s a hard business to start. Also higher barriers to entry.

Others have covered the issue with him specifically. If you have other employees in addition to him, consider that they too suddenly may want to be paid in cash. If you do it for him, they will have a hard time understanding why you wouldn’t do it for them, even if you explain his age and limited hours.

In my opinion, a service business is much easier to start and requires less capital, but a product business has much higher upside given easier scalability.

Restaurant here, but I can echo the same trend lines. We were having a great year, then October hit. It was brutal and seemingly out of nowhere, the last two weeks in particular. Then November, and we’re back to exceeding last November.

Restaurant here, but I can echo the same trend lines. We were having a great year, then October hit. It was brutal and seemingly out of nowhere, the last two weeks in particular. Then November, and we’re back to exceeding last November.

Exactly, and don’t let this ruin your relationship with your husband. He’s your partner, not a bank.

For a true entrepreneur, any hobby has an opportunity for monetization.

Some initial input: There’s way too much text. And consider getting a domain name with .com.

What is the total estimated start up cost? Trying to understand why you would be 50/50 partners for the first five years. My hunch is that the cost will be well north of $100k, and it sounds like he won’t be providing any ongoing operations support due the distance and your description. The royalty will cover the recipes and concept, so I’m not sure I see the business sense in the 50/50 split.

And good luck with getting validly flagged reviews actually removed by Google. Sounds basic and probably not what OP’s looking for, but try to bury bad reviews with more recent good reviews.

If you don’t like, and I mean like, not tolerate, hard work and challenges, entrepreneurship probably isn’t for you.

I’ve never worked without a tenant broker. In my experience, larger, more professional landlords will pay their commission. If not, the deals don’t seem to come together anyway because the landlord isn’t on the same page.

Beyond the credit/loan issues already addressed, having a vehicle licensed in your business name can be a real pain depending on the state. Check with your cpa, but you may be able to register it in your personal name but claim it as a business expense. Best of both worlds.

Research your competitors. See what they do.