We were lucky to catch up with COURTNEY MONTES recently and have shared our conversation below.

COURTNEY , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Anchorage party store has been in the exact location for many years, but it has changed multiple owners and was closed due to poor management. We decided to re-open the convenience store with a Cuban deli to give us another footprint for our co-owned restaurant, Havana Grill. We decided to pursue a new liquor license, remodel the store, and change our name to stand out from the typical liquor store. Without these changes, we feared blending in with the crowd. Our goal was to be anything but bland. The whole process took about 6-8 months to remodel, and obtain a new liquor license, we needed multiple licenses. We need to find vendors, that would support the convenience store side and the deli, just to give you an idea of the licenses that are needed ServeFood, suresell , MDARD, sdd, and sdm, and every one of the agencies needed to do an inspection.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We started when my husband, Lener Montes, opened Havana Grill with his brother on felch st and 120th on the north side of Holland; from there, as other opportunities came about, we would either do the project/business together or solo somewhere along the way we found ourselves making improvements, bringing ideas to the company, and filling in a new in our community and once we felt it was established we move forward with another project. We got the first Cuban/Latin American cuisine to West Michigan and added a small portion near Holland State Park with our Convenience store, Dockside Marketplace, serving some Cuban options. Coming soon, we will split the store into one sidebar and the other side convenience store. I would say this is not your normal

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Getting a no from anyone, including local or state officials, doesn’t mean no. The real question is, How can we make it work? Too many business owners don’t move forward or give up because whatever the answer is, what is it? When we applied for a class C license and already had the convenience store, everyone questioned how it would be possible; it was not illegal or expected, and we would ask how we could make it work. We spoke with commercial planning, the township, and the state, and everyone was willing to help because they were also curious if I could be a thing to split a convenience store and make a small bar.

The question was bars, already serve you on-premise and sell you beers, can we do the same? how is it different?

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

Yes, we sold a business. Don’t underestimate anything inside the business, even if the buyer doesn’t see its worth. Take those items with you and sell them on your own…inventory anything you did to the business, and remember you are not just selling a property or items, you are selling your dream and vision, you are given someone a track to run on that inspired them to buy it from you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://docksidemarketplace.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/docksidemarketplace/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=36f818a1-7ab3-45a3-b609-eee4364e14b4
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DocksideMarketplace1

Image Credits
Lc properties for all pics.