SCORE Mentor — Notes & Goal-Aligned Action Plan

Program: SCORE NW Indiana (free small-business mentoring) Mentors: Paul Yadron & Don Pelka (Chapter Co-Chairs) · paul.yadron@scorevolunteer.org · 708-955-5717 Meeting: Call Aug 17, 2026 (notes emailed Aug 18) · Next call: Thu, Sept 10, 2026 @ 4:00 PM CST Venture: The Daily Pour / SnS Hospitality Group LLC

How to read this doc: the raw SCORE input is preserved at the bottom for fidelity. The top is the part that matters — their advice filtered through our own Decision Framework (the Three Gates: Time · Net Worth · Freedom) and the non-negotiable "I own, I don't operate" principle. Not every good idea is a good idea for us right now. This sorts them by our goals and stage.

The lens (our goals, unchanged)

Target: $150K/yr to Sam from trailers within 5 yrs → 2–3 ramped trailers get us there.
Bottleneck is execution speed, not revenue — every month without a trailer open ≈ $11.7K foregone.
Founder role: capital allocator + systems builder. Never work a shift. Every system runs without me.
Compound, don't consume: Trailer 1's profit funds Trailer 2.

So SCORE's advice gets sorted by one question: does it accelerate opening T-00 well and building a repeatable system — or is it a distraction from that?

Tier 1 — Act on now (directly serves the goal; do before/at launch)

SCORE recommendation	Why it passes our gates	Owner
Lock a local roaster partnership (their #2 priority after location)	Net Worth + Freedom — it's our only durable moat (no chain can claim a South Bend roast) and a systemizable supplier relationship. Aligns with Bendix Coffee Roasters already in the plan.	Sam + Kiowa
Design trailer flow / throughput (how fast we make + serve)	Net Worth — throughput is revenue at $8/ticket; and a documented production SOP is exactly the "runs without me" system. Bakes speed into the build, not a retrofit.	Sam + Kiowa
Licenses · ServSafe · Insurance	Freedom — non-negotiable gate to open; already in `required-docs-and-compliance.md`. A lapse pulls me in.	Kiowa
Written location contract (lot lease)	Net Worth + Freedom — no signed lot = no trailer. The #1 thing gating T-00.	Kiowa
Bakery partnerships (the 2 identified)	Net Worth — a margin add-on with a local-sourcing story; delegable to Kiowa, off my plate.	Kiowa

Tier 2 — Do once, cheaply, for leverage (high insight-per-hour, then move on)

SCORE recommendation	Principled read	Owner
Talk to the Portland shop owner (our inspiration)	One call. De-risks the model from someone who's lived it. Time-boxed — not an ongoing relationship.	Sam
Study The Coffee Can (Taylorville, IL) — Airstream, doing great business	Free competitive/ops intel on a proven mobile model. A visit or call, once.	Sam
Talk to a franchisee about startup + obstacles	Cheapest way to surface unknown-unknowns before we spend capital. One conversation.	Sam

Tier 3 — Systems to define, not agonize over (SOP work, delegable)

Menu · waste handling · equipment list · storage/cups. These are T-00 operations design — capture each as an SOP so it's repeatable across all 10 trailers (that's the compounding play). Don't let menu perfectionism delay opening; ship a focused menu, iterate live. → Sam + Kiowa

Already handled — report back to SCORE (shows momentum)

"Have you formed the LLC?" → Yes. SnS Hospitality Group LLC, EIN 42-4288652, formed 8/6/2026.
"What's the agreement with your partner?" → Done. Signed multi-member OA (incl. Kiowa's 5%→15% vesting + tax-distribution clause).

⚠️ Corrections to raise on the 9/10 call (keep SCORE working from real numbers)

Startup cost: SCORE's notes say ~$450K. Our real figure is $50K per trailer (~$500K is the 10-trailer fleet total). Correct this — a 9× overstatement distorts every recommendation and any funding intro they'd make.
Barista/hiring framing: SCORE noted "looking for a barista." Reframe per our hiring philosophy — we hire one reliable Location Manager per trailer (character over craft; espresso is trainable in 2 weeks), not a "barista." This matters because the whole "founder doesn't operate" thesis rests on that lead hire.

What I'm deliberately NOT prioritizing (and why)

Chasing a "moat" beyond the roaster/relationships/execution-speed — SCORE-adjacent worry, but our framework says the moat is speed of profitable expansion, not defensibility. Don't over-engineer it.
Over-investing in menu/equipment optimization pre-launch — fails the Time gate if it delays T-00. Open, then optimize from real data.

Next step

Follow-up call: Thursday, Sept 10, 2026 @ 4:00 PM CST (Paul & Don). Bring: corrected startup #, roaster-partnership status, signed lot-lease status, LLC/OA done.
(Separate: in-person meeting with Tracie, Sept 1, South Bend.)

Raw notes (verbatim from Paul Yadron's email, Aug 18, 2026 — preserved for fidelity)

What SCORE was told:

Works for Amazon, wants to start a mobile coffee shop in South Bend. Business plan developed; trailer type identified. Name: The Daily Pour.
Open 1, then ~10 around the area heading west from South Bend. Eventually hire a manager for day-to-day; first one Sam is hands-on.
Idea discovered from a mobile coffee shop in Portland. Has a partner + social-media + IT help. Looking for a barista.
Estimated startup $450K; projected revenue $250K first 2 years. Has someone scouting a heavy-traffic South Bend location. Identified 2 local bakeries.

What SCORE recommends: Location is #1; coffee is the next biggest thing — find a local roaster to partner with. Touch base with the Portland shop owner. Study The Coffee Can, Taylorville IL (converted Airstream, great business).

Items to think about: trailer flow/production (speed to make + serve) · waste · equipment needs · menu · storage/cups · license · ServSafe classes · insurance · partner with the bakeries · talk to a franchisee about startup & obstacles · what's the agreement with your partner · keep working on BP + revenue projections · have you formed an LLC · contract with the location.

Next step: Call Thursday 9/10 at 4pm CST.

— Paul Yadron & Don Pelka, Chapter Co-Chairs, SCORE NW Indiana

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