by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Paul Boucher has an idea.
The would-be proprietor of Norm’s Pub & Post sees opportunity where others see chaos. He points to a bay window the size of a Volkswagen’s roof sitting dismembered in the middle of his building.
“This is a $4,000 window; I got it for $250. Pry it open and this will be a sandwich station right over here,” Boucher says, pointing toward a corner filled with stacks of wood. “I’ll hang a blue light over it, put up pictures of the beat cops walking this neighborhood. By the time I’m done, I’ll have a nice, 1920s-style vignette.”
That is only the beginning of Boucher’s plans for his 221 N. Laura St. shop. He sees a pub, a Memphis-style diner, a dry cleaners, a post office, even a bakery taking shape in an interior that today resembles a construction site crossbred with a rummage sale.
When Boucher moved in February, he envisioned couples chatting over cocktails, shoppers strolling casually through an inside alley modeled after Bourbon Street, construction workers drinking cold beer under lazy circling ceiling fans. He saw a Norman Rockwell scene come to life, and he hoped to be open by April 4, in time for the downtown festival.
But six months later, his building’s facade is still painted on, his doors are still locked during the lunch rush and Boucher still spends his days running through downtown chasing paperwork.
He admits he was unfamiliar to the process when he waded waist-deep into it.
“Getting permits is a definite learning curve. Zoning is a learning curve. I swear you need a degree in accounting to get through this,” said Boucher. “They want concurrency reviews, electrical plans, engineering reviews; you need attorneys to do just about everything. My general manager keeps asking me if I’m making progress on my business plan. Now we’re getting into areas I’m naive of.”
Boucher says failure is not an option. He took out a second mortgage to lease the building. Most of that $35,000 is gone. Post boxes cost him $1,000; $700 for booths; all totaled he spends about $300 daily. So far he’s earned about $200. That was the price he charged another aspiring restaurateur for four extra tables.
Boucher says he’s trying to fill a desired niche downtown: a 24-hour hangout, sitting in the shadow of The Carlington apartments. He says he needs about $100,000 to open his doors, but with better guidance through a maze of regulations, reviews and procedures, Boucher thinks he would already be in business.
“I keep hearing they want mom-and-pops to come in and create downtown. Well here I am, but it’s taking me too long. How many good business ideas down here could play out if they just had help going through the process?” says Boucher.
Boucher’s story sounds familiar to Jacksonville Economic Development Commission executive director Kirk Wendland. He heard throughout a recent review that his commission should be more responsive to small businesses. However, Wendland points out that the JEDC has limited resources. If the JEDC is going to spend tax dollars, he wants to make sure the money is spent wisely.
“We have scarce resources that we have to allocate,” says Wendland. “If we’re going to spend money we want to give it to businesses that are going to be successful. If we have to foreclose on a business and take possession of its capital, that’s not a situation that we want, and it’s a waste of the City’s money.”
Wendland says well thought out businesses are the most likely to succeed. To the JEDC, that means a business plan and capital. During the mayor’s review of his commission, Wendland said he had heard too many good ideas that simply didn’t have the backing to succeed. When the City’s money disappears in such a venture, Wendland says his commission is held accountable.
“When the Bank of America puts out a small business loan, and that business ends up bankrupt, you don’t here about it,” says Wendland. “When the same situation happens to us, the media’s on the phone saying, ‘What happened? Why are we giving money to a business that had no chance of being successful?’ ”
Wendland says aspiring small business owners should go through counseling before jumping into a venture. He says they should realize the scope of the project. “When a small guy comes through he has to be his own accountant, own architect, give his own legal advice.”
He acknowledged difficulties with the City’s permitting process — nine of 13 mayoral subcommittees recommended streamlining it — but said permits hold business owners to standards with the public’s well-being in mind.
“You can’t very well exempt small business from getting an electrical permit,” says Wendland. “Small businesses are high-risk ventures with high potential for rewards, both personal and financial. Through no one’s bad intentions they fail because they’re just not well thought out.”
Boucher says he’s gambled everything on his place and has no choice but to make it work. He admits he’s more of an artist than a businessman, but he says desire will compensate for a lack of business acumen.
“A weaker man would fold,” Boucher barks, clenching both fists. “Tenacity: that’s how you open a small business downtown.”