The History of Cafe Evoke (Part 3)

This is a multi-part series discussing the history of Cafe Evoke -- from the time I started this blog to today. The posts are rather long which is why I am breaking them up into several parts. In December of 2005, it was time to start over - again. We began talking with our vendors to describe the delay and to let them know that we will get opened and we will use their products - we just needed a building first! We began the process of finding a space for Cafe Evoke. This time, we decided we should hook up with some leasing agents and Realtors in hopes that it would give us an inside track. We had been doing most of this work on our own from the start. This was a great time to begin working on our business plan re-write - Business Plan 2.0. I was always told that business planning was a process, not an event. In the midst of writing the new plan, we had a few great meetings with developers and began to find some great buildings on Bozeman's Northeast side. I still particularly love this one! All of this continued into January, 2006 as we set a goal to have a formal letter of intent or lease signed by the end of that month. We had a few set backs that we thought we go smoothly. While we never really felt deflated from these setbacks, we still had to work to understand that this was all part of starting our business and getting to our dreams. We decided that it was time to really get to know our community. A building owner told us that we would not be accepted in this part of town if we wanted to stay open later than about 9:00 pm so we knew we were going to have to just ask the neighborhood what they thought about our hours, our services, and our business ideas. This began our intensive market research project for the Northeast Neighborhood in Bozeman - we took a much needed vacation to get regrouped before really going after our plans to reach out and get to know our neighbors. We set out creating all new handouts that we would use to pass out to the residence. These handouts were brochures of what we stood for, what we wanted to do in the community, and a form asking for suggestions, comments and questions. We then contacted NENA - the North East Neighborhood Association to talk to them. NENA is the most active association in Bozeman and one that if you get on your side, you normally get things rolling in your direction. We began sending out emails to people in town (bloggers quite a bit) and then we went into a holding pattern while we waited for building owners to get back with us. Market research continued and by March, the brochures are completed and ready to be passed out. During this time, we were having meetings with groups of people in Bozeman and were making progress. Check out the archives during February/March for more posts! ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, oklahoma, oklahoma city The Global Exchange Fair Trade Store is your Online Source for Socially Conscious Gifts