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Two
Luke
Luke Townsend hadn’t thought it was possible to stub both his big toes in one morning, but as he stumbled around his Hell’s Kitchen apartment, cursing bedposts under his breath, he now knew better. He’d gotten distracted, that was the problem. First he’d gotten sidetracked writing up the fitness programming for the Manhattan Youth Center, where he volunteered a couple times a week. Then he’d found himself preoccupied with a blog article titled “How to Win the Boardroom,” which had given him the brilliant idea to wear a navy polo shirt and slacks to his meeting at First Union Bank. But if he was wearing his slacks then he needed his good shoes. And if he was wearing his good shoes, then he needed good socks, which is how the toe stubbing came about. Now he was almost running late for, maybe, the most important appointment of his life.
Luke raced out the door. He had no intention of winning over any boardrooms, but he did hope to impress Mrs. Amisfield, the loan officer at First Union. Luckily, he didn’t live far—close enough to make the dash and still arrive with a couple minutes to spare. Inside, the building was nothing but white porcelain floors and frosted office doors. A bout of jitters jumped around in Luke’s gut.
“Hello, sir. Can I help you?”
A woman greeted Luke from behind her desk next to the entry. Luke ran a hand down the front of his polo, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles. “I’m Luke Townsend. I have a meeting with Mrs. Amisfield.”
The woman nodded, clicking away on her keyboard. “Just have a seat over there.” She gestured to a waiting area.
Luke slid into a sleek leather chair. Beyond those frosted glass doors, Luke could hear muted conversations. He wondered how many other people had walked in here today, chasing a dream. One of the doors rolled open, and Luke’s pulse skipped unsteadily. A short woman in a black business suit emerged. She had curly dark hair, streaked with gray, and a pair of thick glasses perched on the end of her nose. She approached Luke and he jumped to his feet, reaching for the hand she extended. “Mrs. Amisfield?”
“Hello, Mr. Townsend.” She smiled as they shook hands, then she flicked her head toward her office. “Follow me.”
Luke did, sitting in his appointed chair, clasping his hands in his lap. He felt like he was back in elementary school, waiting to be delivered grades for a poorly written test. Mrs. Amisfield twisted her computer screen toward him so he could see the file she’d started with his information. “You’re here to discuss a business loan?” she confirmed.
“That’s right,” Luke said.
“And what kind of business do you have in mind?”
Luke released a heavy breath—one that felt like it had been taking up space in his chest for years. “I’d like to open a gym.”
“A gym,” she repeated, typing away. “And what do you do for work now?”
“I’m a personal trainer.”
The corner of her mouth curved. “A logical step then.”
Her smile eased the nerves that were still dancing in Luke’s gut. Some ridiculous part of his brain had expected her to throw him from the office the moment he uttered the wordgym. He didn’t know why he thought that. A gym was a reputable business. It made sense for him considering his career as a trainer. It was probably just old worries resurfacing. His family had never exactly been on board with his vision, and they’d spent a lot of time trying to talk him out of it.Do you even know what it takes to get a business off the ground?That had been his sister.Why don’t you try for a more stable career?his mother always said.You can always go back to school. Finish your master’s.Even his brother, an avid gym buff, wrinkled his nose at the thought.Businesses come and go faster than people can think them up. And property is expensive to rent.
Luke rolled his shoulders, forcing some of the tension free. “I know there’s more to owning a gym than just showing up and working out every day, but I’d like to think that being a trainer has given me a good foundation for what works and what doesn’t when trying to attract clients to a space.”
Mrs. Amisfield clicked onto a new part of the online file. “Tell me about your gym.”
Luke laughed. “You mean my nonexistent gym?”
She nodded. “Let’s say we handed you the money today. What does this place look like? Where is it located? How does it operate?”
“Uh... Okay, well, there’s this empty building down on Eleventh Avenue. It was a warehouse at one point, but the space had been cleared out, and I think it’s perfect for a gym. It’s currently owned by an old friend of my father’s. So, if I had the money, I’d rent the space from him. It’s got a huge, industrial open floor plan, but I’d make it welcoming. I’d staff the place with hard workers, people like myself, who come from a multitude of fitness backgrounds. I’d offer a variety of fitness classes. And something I’d really like to do is provide youth programming. You know, create a safe, fun place for kids to be introduced to exercise.”
Mrs. Amisfield nodded. “I like to get a sense of my client’s vision before we really get started. I also like to make sure you’ve thought this through. That it’s not just a dream, but a reality in the making. It sounds like you know what you want to accomplish here. All you need now are the funds. So what I’m going to need from you is everything you just told me but on paper.” She handed him a checklist. “A solid business plan is going to be the key to being approved for a business loan with First Union.”
Luke scanned the list. There were at least a dozen documents he was going to need to track down. “I don’t have financial statements.”
“That’s for businesses that are already established. From you, the bank’s going to want to see financial projections. But be realistic with your numbers,” she warned. “Overly optimistic figures, especially for your first couple of years, could undermine your credibility. You don’t want to make obtaining a loan any harder on yourself.”
She handed Luke a pen and he scribbled her directions in the margins of his checklist.
“We’ll want to know how you’re going to use the money. That’s where you’ll provide a statement with your business description, company strategy, products and services, marketing plans. You basically want to show us why people are going to choose your gym. What makes you different? Why are you worth the investment?”
“I’ve heard market research can be helpful,” Luke said. “Is that something I should be including?”
“Absolutely. Because you’re not up and running yet, you should be outlining your market, the fitness industry, competition, trends. But focus on local market opportunities, not the big picture.”
“Right,” Luke said, foreseeing a lot of late nights in his future. He’d accumulated some of these things—the internet had been somewhat helpful outlining what he would need. But seeing it all on paper like this was overwhelming: Leases. Floor plans. Equipment budgets. Key employee breakdowns. Mrs. Amisfield must have noticed his wide-eyed look because she reached out to still his frantically scribbling hand.
