Author: Margaret E.J. Broderick, 2005,
ISBN:  0976259761

The following review was contributed by: Paul Lappen & CLICK TO VIEW Paul Lappen's Reviews

This is the true story of two women, Margaret (the
author) and Angee, who decide to start a woman-owned
winery in the American Midwest.

In general, things go exceptionally well. There are
the usual ups and downs as with any startup, but for
Margaret and Angee, it's mostly up. They experience
double-digit growth each year, their winery becomes
known internationally, and their business reputation
is excellent. They also go through a number of
salespeople, of varying degrees of competence.

After six years of long nights and weekends, and after
failing to get financing for expansion, the decision
is made to close the winery. Margaret and Angee
already had a plan in place to take 90 days to
complete the closing. That way, the creditors would be
paid, and it could all be done the "right" way. The
bank said No; they wanted their money now. Throughout
the whole closing process, the (unnamed) bank exhibits
a level of professional incompetence that borders on
unreal. At one point in the process, Margaret and
Angee are refused entrance to the winery, by the bank,
in order to sell bottles of wine already on the
shelves to raise money to pay off creditors. At
another point, a barrel of unbottled wine has to be
dumped because it has gone bad. Margaret and Angee are
refused entrance into the winery in order to bottle
and sell the wine.

Around this time, Angee contracts an undiagnosed,
chronic pain condition that puts her out of action for
much of the closing process. A poorly planned auction
for the winery's assets is held by the bank. It nets
them a couple of percent of the value of the assets;
if the bank had followed the Margaret and Angee Plan,
they would have received over 90 percent of the value
of the winery's assets.

The reason for the bank's strange behavior is
discovered later in the book. They are in trouble with
the FDIC over their debt level, and have been told to
reduce it, now. The American Dream of entrepreneurship
becomes a nightmare of lawyers, bureaucracy and court
appearances.

This is an excellent book. It isn't just an
interesting startup story, it's also a must-read
cautionary tale for all small business owners. Don't
assume your bank is one of the Good Guys; prepare
yourself, financially, ahead of time. A good place to
start is to read this book. At the risk of sounding
like a cliche: This could happen to you!