If a person is low on capital, starting a bricks-and-mortar business from scratch can be a slow process. You add to it piece by piece, if you are lucky enough to find a very cheap space. Without that space, you don’t stay open long enough to build.

Getting people in the door is a magic that often doesn’t track with the development process.

Mostly you cheat. You entice promises out of relatives and friends to visit. Then, you gently lure in these committed people in. Slowly you start to network. Your commercial imagination opens up.

You face the push-pull between a fertile mind on the one hand and what people are used to on the other. You map out possibilities. It’s a worthwhile education.

Tom Maguire

Whitefield