LSUS Small Business Development Center

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After spending eight years researching, acquiring and renovating property and responding to naysayers, Shreveport's Matthew Linn achieved what he had always wanted to do in September 2002.

He opened a restaurant.

Linn's restaurant, Columbia Café, is celebrating three years in business in Shreveport's historic Highland neighborhood.

"It took a lot of diligence & perseverance," said Linn, who forged ahead with his own money

after being turned down by bank after bank. The restaurant employs 20 part-time and full-time employees. The restaurant features fine dining and a bar in a casual atmosphere. He is in a former residence that had been vacant for 18 months.

Part of Linn's diligence was making several trips to the LSUS Small Business Development Center, where he worked on cash flow projections before opening.

"It's a place to go where they give you an encouraging word," Linn said.

As it turned out, his operating expenses, particularly employee wages, have far exceeded what he anticipated but, fortunately, sales have been higher also. Now, Linn reviews his business plan "in my head everyday" and tries to make more formal revisions regularly with the help of a restaurant business counselor.

The restaurant features culinary school-trained chefs preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner. Live music also is available every night, and the restaurant caters. Columbia Café's location in a neighborhood bistro atmosphere halfway between LSU Health Sciences Center and Centenary College, attracts an eclectic mix of customers who enjoy fine dining and a bar in a casual atmosphere.

"I like the diversity of the neighborhood," Linn said. "The restaurant has the tendency to attract more independently-thinking people."

Columbia Café: Kings Highway at Creswell in Shreveport's Highland neighborhood
Website: www.columbiacafe.com
Business: fine dining restaurant, bar, catering business
SBDC assistance provided: business plan development, cash flow projections
Success: Employs 20 full and part time; celebrating three years in business

Client Quote: "(The SBDC) is a place to go where they give you an encouraging word."