Based in New York City Chef Russell Jackson says financing his restaurants has always been a balancing act. But the current combination of high interest rates, high inflation and tight credit makes the situation more precarious than ever.
Since his most recent venture, a fine-dining restaurant called Reverence, which opened in late 2019, Jackson has run the operation with a rotating mix of personal savings, Small Business Administration loans, Paycheck Protection Program funds, private grants, community donations and his first business venture Kept running – any company credit card that has already been maxed out.
Now that he has accumulated debt that he believes is in the six-figure range, Jackson faces a double challenge. He's trying to secure another line of credit that would allow him to expand to a second location, while also considering how he'll afford the rising interest payments on the debt he already owes.
“We went from manageable to unmanageable very, very quickly because interest rates basically quadrupled,” Jackson told Barron's from his restaurant in Harlem.
Continue reading this article with a Barron's subscription.
Show options
Comments are closed.