Opening a retail coffee house - part one

It was in the fall of 1991 when I decided to leave public accounting and start my own coffee house. I had been in public accounting for 2 1/2 years and while it was interesting, I wanted to open my own business. We were living in El Sobrante, but my husband and his sister had an electronics business in Fremont, so we decided to open a shop in Fremont so that he would be able to help me when he had time. I quit my job in October 1991 and started my search for the perfect spot. At that time there was no good gourmet coffee place in Fremont, so it seemed like a great city to start one. There was no Starbucks in Fremont. The only place I could find in Fremont that was supposed to have "gourmet coffee" was a place called Penny University. It wasn't very good at all, not like the coffee houses I fell in love with when I was attending U.C. Berkeley. It looked like there would not be much competition. I didn't have any experience looking for a retail space and didn't know that you could get a realtor to help you without having to pay them. I didn't realize that the lessor (the owner of the space) typically paid the realtor's commission. We didn't have much money and I was determined to open the place on a shoe string budget with just sweat equity. I basically just drove around and looked at spaces that looked like it had alot of traffic. A few months into the search I settled on 1,000 sqft space that was located in a small strip mall. I thought it would be good because it was on a main street and it had Blockbusters as an anchor tenant. After I found the space I wanted, I had to start making plans. I made a list of everything I needed to do:

1) decide on a name

2) decide on the type of ownership entity; sole proprietor, corporation, etc.

3) file for a FBN (ficticious business name)

4) open a bank account

5) get a business license

6) get a permit from the Alameda County Health Department

7) design the space

8) build out the space

9) design a logo

10) work on a menu

The list went on and on and soon I was overwhelmed and questioning myself.