We Always Try To Help But Sometimes It's a Losing Battle.

Sometimes you just can't help.

Today, in the morning, a gentleman came into the office inquiring about Pirate's Pizza. Later in the day  I was called by the agent dealing with the matter to attend a meeting to answer any remaining questions. At the appointed time we were all sat down in the conference room. I shook hands with the agent's client.

"YOU CANNOT VERIFY THESE NUMBERS" were about the first words out of his mouth.

I replied, "Correct, we can't verify them, we're in Belize, you're inquiring about a small business which is probably 90% cash based."

"YOU CANNOT VERY THESE NUMBERS THEN?"

My reply: "Well, actually  you're right, I can't verify them but YOU CAN. Just site outside Pirates for a couple of weeks. See how it does."

The numbers we were given by the business owner showed that Pirates averages about 22 pizzas a night. If it did an average of 15 - 20 pizzas over the next 2 weeks or so, in the middle of the low season, then you could pretty much say the numbers would work. I was confident that Pirates would perform well. There was no possible way for us to verify the numbers but a potential buyer could easily do so just by "hangin' out" for a few days.

"SO YOU CAN'T VERIFY THESE NUMBERS THEN?' (Again).

We were getting nowhere fast. This went on for 20 minutes with our advice for the client to see for himself, with no interference from anyone, if Pirates would be a good investment for him or not, falling on very deaf ears.  It all ended badly, client stomping out because we didn't tell him what he wanted to hear, we simply told him the truth..

The moral of this sad, but true, story is: If you don't trust the numbers given to you by the owner of a business in Belize (and why would you?) go and spend some time and see for yourself if it's successful. It's your money, find out for yourself if it's worth spending.

For those of you (like the guy in this true story) who just want fancy accounts and books placed in front of them that LOOK GOOD but are probably garbage you'll probably pay the price after buying. If you're also too lazy or stubborn to visit a business for a few days to see how it really does, the cartoon below applies.

We can't help you. We do not wish to waste any more of your valuable time.