Decent week, met too many people to even start on remembering 1 out of every 10 of their names. Working hard to remember the names of neighborhood associations members, business association members, teachers and nearby business workers nearby who will feed new customers to me. Also working on figuring out those people who have given me nice mentions on social media.
Sales have strengthened nicely over the week. I'll be able to cover all my fixed costs but not all my variable costs. I have a few thousand dollars in capital costs coming due soon that will probably come out of savings as well. Felling OK about my financial position and really want to knock out final payments on equipment and contractor work so I can concentrate on only grinding operational costs to break even.
Both my grinders broke this week. I haven't a clue why my drip grinder went down but I refurbished it myself and was able to strip and recalibrate it in about 15 minutes after I got someone to bring me some tools.
My espresso grinder was under warranty and was only down for an hour or so before a mechanic came and showed me what went wrong and how to fix it.
Both these things stressed me out badly but turned out to be OK in the end.
My roaster concentrates on pour over at his own shop and I'm mostly doing drip. One of the coffees he brought this week was not good as a drip coffee. I called him and complained that it tasted like shit. He came down to the shop and tried some grind and time adjustments and it still sucked. We agreed to give it a day to gas and see what it did. It still sucked. He had pulled out a dripper to brew it at his roastery that morning and texted me early that he thought it wasn't going to work and brought me some more suitable coffee. It made me glad, I like his coffee when it's good, I like him, I was getting ready to call my second choice. He's still on probation.
Probably seeing two cash transactions for each credit transaction. Way more than I would expect. Helps on the margin.
My body is holding up just fine. I'm generally healthier when I'm physically active, i think I can hold 70 hour weeks for a bit before I start to seriously burn out. Not as young as I used to be but in the past I've found that the more I work the more comfortable I am working long hours
Guess that's it. Loving my cold brew, learning my espresso machine and it's whims better, drip coffee could use some work.
Oh yea. Social media... Getting a ton of business from an app called Next Door. The people who it brings in are really nice and supportive. Facebook is a mixed bag. People complain that the shop isn't "nice" enough, people complain that I'm gentrifying the neighborhood. People mostly complain that I don't have a particular flavor of disgusting syrup or tell me that I really need to have a poetry night. Luckily I have no involvement in the Facebook page, I've never seen it, I'll never read it, and I think that if I did, it would only take me too a bad place. My vice president of social and print media gives me a summery, asks me answers to pertinent questions and deals with it herself.
I second this; I think it's quite inspiring to actually hear about alternatives to a 9 to 5 job, and directly from the person him/herself instead of another person investigating. Whether it be a success or not (I hope the best for you, cgod) it still proves an insight to a world I may never be able to enter. Take care of your health though.
#coffeeski? #businesski? #coffski? #brewski? (I'm sure that one's taken) #dripski? (sounds like an illness) #cgodrunshimselfragged? #creamnosugar? (sounds vaguely sexual) Hmm... we'll get there, we'll get there...
I second this! Also if it'd be possible to pm me the link to your Facebook page I'd be happy to add a like to your social media metrics and see what's going on! Think I'll be in Portland at the end of this month / beginning of September, and am very much planning on stopping by when that happens. The poetry night thing is kind of hilarious.
I'll be updating on a weekly basis in the near future. I won't be having a poetry night if I'm the guy that has to stand behind the counter. I look forward to meeting you! I'll try and to remember to send you the Facebook link tomorrow, I'm keeping it in quarantine and will have to pull it out.
For what little it's worth coming from the opposite coast, I'd consider "never going to have to listen to someone's dramatic reading of plagarized Smiths lyrics while waiting for your espresso" a huge point in your favor if I were looking for a new coffee shop.or tell me that I really need to have a poetry night.
Like, Will and Jaden and Willow?plagarized Smiths lyrics
I imagine you are on your feet a lot. Maybe look into like compression socks, and some support in the shoes. I know it is not something you are probably worrying about, but I've heard it helps when on your feet a lot for work. It's great to see you thriving so much, and I'm with everyone on creating a tag to stay updated.
I'm loving the updates, cgod - best of luck to ya and hey, good that you're learning to do some of the servicing yourself. that should keep things running smoothly.
So good to hear! Congratulations. Love it. I would love regular updates as well.
Nice read. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I missed this in your first post, but do you have wi-fi there?
Asking the real questions. There is a coffee shop near my new place that has rather limited seating. Like we're talking probably less than 30 people in a town that's got 3 colleges within spitting distance. They have these small placards by the cream and sugar for people who come there to read or write or whatever solo, but take up a full table. They read 'This table is open to quiet, polite and unobtrusive strangers' and there is a variant that indicates an openness or reservation towards chit-chat. I think it's a good system, but I've never been in there during peak school-rush hours.
I'd give them free coffee right now to sit and make me look busy in off hours at the moment. Going forward who knows, if you are giving me your money I'll try and make things work for you. One dollar or ten dollars in profit I hope I can value each person for helping me pay my mortgage and feed my family.
I hear ya. When I was in grad school, more than any other student I know, a great deal of my time was spent drawing/studying/reading in coffee shops. I absolutely loved the environment. The constant flow of people provided a lovely backdrop to my headphoned, wi-fi-ed world. I always considered myself a bit of a leech though, in terms of cost benefit, as a customer. Taking up space and not spending much. Do you hate students like me, or are they nice pieces of furniture in your coffee shop?
It seems like you've got plenty of daily dilemmas but you're killing it in the long run– best of luck to ya man. You mentioned that record player in the store? I've always had this idea of opening a coffee and tea shop with a few circular bean-bag chair style seating arrangements (think Hubspokes) and a record player in the middle. People could come by, grab a cup of whatever and chill listening to other peoples' records. It's a plan with plenty of awkward holes to fill but it'd be sweet I think. edit: I removed my inquiry about pics of your setup– I understand the concern about private info etc.
How are you doing your cold brew? I love mine, but I'm always looking to experiment and tweak.